This season is the first time in 10 years that college basketball has had multiple players average at least two steals and two blocks per game.

Their names?

Duke’s Zion Williamson and Washington’s Matisse Thybulle.

Both players appeared on the 15-player Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List that was announced in late January, and they’re also members of an elite class of defenders from the last 25 years.

Only 20 players since the 1992-93 season have averaged at least two steals and two blocks per game, according to data from sports-reference.com.

Here they are shown in graph form with some notable names highlighted. (Note: Shane Battier in 2000 & Chris Wray in 2018 both averaged 2.0 steals and 2.1 blocks during their respective seasons while Haminn Quaintance in 2005 & Damian Saunders in 2009 also averaged 2.1 steals and 2.4 blocks apiece.)

Among those players, Thybulle is averaging a season-high 3.3 steals per game.

He’s also on pace to be the only guard to accomplish the two-steal, two-block feat since at least 1993.

Former Kentucky forward Nerlens Noel had the highest blocks average among this group with 4.4 blocks per game in his injury-shortened 2012-13 season.

Here’s the full list of the 20 players in chart form, listed in reverse chronological order starting from the 2018-19 season.

Season	Player	School	Steals Per Game	Blocks Per Game
2018-19	Matisse Thybulle	Washington	3.3	2.2
2018-19	Zion Williamson	Duke	2.2	2.0
2017-18	Chris Wray	Mount St. Mary’s	2.0	2.1
2012-13	Nerlens Noel	Kentucky	2.1	4.4
2010-11	Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2.3	2.7
2009-10	Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2.8	2.9
2008-09	Tony Gaffney	UMass	2.0	3.8
2008-09	Marqus Blakely	Vermont	2.0	2.7
2008-09	Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2.1	2.4
2004-05	Danny Granger	New Mexico	2.1	2.0
2004-05	Haminn Quaintance	Jacksonville	2.1	2.4
2003-04	Zakee Wadood	East Tennessee State	2.8	2.1
2002-03	Zakee Wadood	East Tennessee State	3.2	2.3
2000-01	Shane Battier	Duke	2.1	2.3
1999-00	Shane Battier	Duke	2.0	2.1
1999-00	Sitapha Savane	Navy	2.1	3.8
1998-99	Frantz Pierre-Louis	Wagner	2.1	3.1
1998-99	Venson Hamilton	Nebraska	2.0	2.4
1998-99	George Evans	George Mason	2.2	2.6
1996-97	Kenyon Ross	Mississippi Valley State	2.2	2.2
1996-97	Rodger Farrington	Arizona State	2.0	4.2
1994-95	Eric Cuthrell	UNC-Greensboro	2.2	2.3
1993-94	Albert Burditt	Texas	2.1	2.1
1992-93	Bo Outlaw	Houston	2.6	3.8

 

Using data from kenpom.com, which dates back to the 2001-02 season, here’s a look at the steal and block percentages for the players who have averaged at least two steals and two blocks in a season since 2002.

Steal percentage is the percent of opponents’ possessions in which a player forces a steal.

Block percentage is the percent of opponents’ two-point shots that are blocked by the player while he’s on the floor. That means Zion Williamson’s two blocks of attempted three-pointers by Virginia last Saturday, including this physics-defying block against De’Andre Hunter, aren’t included in block percentage.

That means the last column in the chart below, which is titled “Combined Percentage,” is an imperfect stat since steal percentage is measured in terms of possessions and block percentage is measured in terms of two-point attempts, but it’s an attempt to quantify the combined impact of a player’s steals and blocks.

Here are the players who have averaged at least two steals and two blocks in a season since 2002, listed in descending order of combined steal and block percentage.

Player	School	Season	Steal Percentage	Block Percentage	Combined Percentage
Nerlens Noel	Kentucky	2012-13	3.9%	13.2%	17.1%
Matisse Thybulle	Washington	2018-19	6.4%	8.1%	14.5%
Tony Gaffney	UMass	2008-09	3.4%	10.5%	13.9%
Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2009-10	4.3%	8.5%	12.8%
Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2010-11	3.8%	8.6%	12.4%
Marqus Blakely	Vermont	2008-09	3.6%	8.4%	12.0%
Zakee Wadood	East Tennessee State	2002-03	5.1%	6.8%	11.9%
Danny Granger	New Mexico	2004-05	4.2%	7.5%	11.7%
Haminn Quaintance	Jacksonville	2004-05	3.7%	7.8%	11.5%
Zakee Wadood	East Tennessee State	2003-04	4.7%	6.8%	11.5%
Zion Williamson	Duke	2018-19	4.1%	6.8%	10.9%
Damian Saunders	Duquesne	2008-09	3.4%	7.4%	10.8%
Chris Wray	Mount St. Mary’s	2017-18	3.7%	7.0%	10.7%

 

Williamson, who’s known for his explosive athleticism and highlight-reel dunks, has proven to be an excellent defender in college and that’s part of the reason why he’s on the short lists for both National Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

While this hasn’t been a banner year for the Pac-12, given the potential for only one team from the conference to make the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Washington has been the best of the bunch, thank to its top-15 defense. The Huskies are 10-1 in Pac-12 play with a three-game lead and their adjusted defensive efficiency of 92.1 points allowed per 100 possessions ranks 13th nationally.

Considering that this is certainly the last college season for Williamson and Thybulle, who’s a senior, make sure to remember the duo for their historic dominance on the defensive end of the floor.

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