Former Wahoo Jay Huff is G-League Defensive Player of Year

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia fans were thrilled to learn that former Cavaliers standout Jay Huff was voted the 2022-23 NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year for his work with the Capital City Go-Go, the NBA G League affiliate of the Washington Wizards, and the South Bay Lakers.

Huff, a part of UVA’s 2019 national championship team and a fan favorite, owned the league’s third-highest player impact estimate (a metric used to gauge a player’s all-around contribution to the game) with a 16.0 rating.

A “Two-Way” player for the Wizards as of March 1, Huff led the G League with 3.1 blocked shots per game in the regular season (he appeared in 28 games). The 7-footer was also second in the league for block percentage with 65.9 percent. Huff posted 15 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, along with his 3.1 blocks.

While he played most of the season for the Lakers’ G League affiliate, he finished up with the Wizards’ Go-Go.

He even worked in five games with the parent Wizards, including perhaps his best game as an NBA player this past Tuesday when he stacked up 17 points and 9 rebounds in 27 minutes (all career highs) against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the same night that he was presented the G League Defensive Player of the Year Award during a ceremony at the Capital One Arena.

Wahoo fans certainly won’t be surprised to read Huff’s modest comments about the honor.

“It meant a lot,” Huff said of the award. “I wanted to be able to cut it into thirds or fourths just because I’ve got some teammates that I owe most of that to … If I could, I would cut it up, but it’s kind of glass.”

Huff hasn’t lost his sense of humor either.

“It felt awesome to see a few 3s go down,” Huff said of his big offensive performance against the Bucks. “That might’ve been the most 3s I’ve taken in a professional game actually, and that was fun. Coach was drawing up a couple of plays for me, so I appreciate him for that and it was just great being out there.”