LSU hoops picked sixth at SEC Media Days

 

BATON ROUGE — Devin White is the first LSU linebacker to be awarded the Dick Butkus Award.

The Tigers junior was presented the 34th-annual Butkus Award on Tuesday afternoon in a ceremony held inside the Lawton Room on the campus of LSU. Matt Butkus, son of the legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus, was on hand to the present the award, which is given to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker.

White beat out fellow finalists Kentucky’s Josh Allen, Michigan’s Devin Bush, Clemson’s Tre Lamar, and Alabama’s Dylan Moses.

White also is the first LSU football player to claim a national award since Odell Beckham Jr. won the 2013 Paul Hornung Award.

The Butkus Award is just the latest honor for the Tigers defensive star.

White was named first-team All-SEC by both the Associated Press and SEC coaches this week after a season where he recorded 115 tackles (second best in SEC) and 12 tackles for a loss. White also was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice during the season.

For his Tigers career, White has racked up 278 tackles, 29 tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks.

White becomes only the seventh SEC player to win award but third-straight to do so. The other SEC linebackers to win the Butkus are: Alabama’s Derrick Thomas (1988), Ole Miss’ Patrick Willis (2006), Alabama’s Rolando McClain (2009), Alabama’s C.J. Mosley (2013), Alabama’s Reuben Foster (2016) and Georgia’s Roquan Smith (2017).