FOREST, Va. – Putting the finishing touches on season that places him atop the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC for steals, Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) secured his second ODAC Defensive Player of the Week honor for the Guilford College men's basketball team for the week ending on February 22^nd, as announced by the conference offices on Monday afternoon.

A couple of six-steal showings did the trick for the Cary native, as he racked up an even dozen thefts on the week along with a block, six rebounds, five defensive, and nine assists. In the Quakers postseason-clinching win against Averett on Wednesday night, Clayton put together one of his top all-around showings of the year, scoring seven points on 2-of-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line while also grabbing six rebounds, one offensive, dishing five assists, blocking a shot, and swiping six steals in the Quakers' 92-79 victory. GC swarmed the Cougars defensively for the second time this season, forcing 23 turnovers while holding their hosts to just .397 shooting from the field and .310 from three in the victory. While Guilford ended up on the wrong side of the decision on Saturday against Shenandoah, the senior guard was solid with another six thefts plus four assists and four points on 2-of-4 shooting before fouling out. The Quakers harassed the Hornets to the tune of a season-high 33 forced turnovers including 21 steals though unfortunately SU was lights-out once they got shots airborne in the game, resulting in a 78-72 final.

Clayton's surge places him atop the ODAC leaderboard at the regular season's conclusion in both total steals, with 66, and steals per game, with 2.64. Clayton's total thefts mark ranks 19^th in Division-III this season and is the second-most ever by a Quaker in a single year, behind only Tyler Dearman's '23, MISM '24 mark of 75 during the 2023-24 campaign though Dearman reached that mark in 31 games against Clayton's 25 to this point. As a result, the senior's 2.64 steals per game, that ranks 23^rd nationally, would be the program-best mark all-time if it stands.  

The Quakers have really cleaned up the ODAC weekly honors this winter as a team, claiming either Offensive or Defensive Player of the Week recognition in eight of the 15 weeks in which awards were distributed, though GC was only active for 13 of those. It is believed this year's Guilford team is the first-ever to have their entire starting-five grab an ODAC weekly honor, collecting a total of eight, evenly split between offensive and defensive commendations. Clayton joins Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) as GC's multi-time honorees, with Salters getting recognized three times. Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.), Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.), and Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.), all got weekly recognition once for Guilford this season.  

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