March 9, 2002

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Providence College senior guard John Linehan (Chester, Pa.) was named ESPN.com Defensive Player of the Year on March 7.

Andy Katz, a senior writer at ESPN.com, selected Linehan as his top defensive player.

"John Linehan was the best on-the-ball defender this season, last season and maybe the season before that. In case you missed it, Linehan will leave college as the all-time leader in steals and had 134 this season (4.5 spg). Every point in the Big East lists Linehan as the toughest player to get past in the league. He never got the national publicity he deserved and will be sorely missed. He actually loves playing defense, loved it since he first played basketball. He made Tim Welsh's job easier, always knowing that his defense would be pushed out further from the basket because of Linehan's pestering play."

Linehan, who is second in the nation in average steals per game (4.5), made 139 steals in 31 contests this season. He set the NCAA career steals record with his 377th steal on February 26. Linehan finished his career with 385 steals. In addition to the NCAA career steals mark, Linehan also established the BIG EAST career steals record (226), the BIG EAST single-season steals record (77) and the BIG EAST single-game steals record (11). This season, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

This season, he also was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, All-BIG EAST Second Team, NABC District 1 First Team, USBWA All-District 1, and College Insider.com 2002 All-Defensive Team member.

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story link: http://espn.go.com/ncb/columns/espn/awards/1347396.html