Kris Dunn of Providence was named the league’s preseason player of the year, with Ryan Arcidiacano of Villanova and Jalen Reynolds of Xavier rounding out the first team all-league honorees. “They play like the old Big East, they want to bully you”. The Blue Demons tallied 1,569 points in 18 conference games for an 87.2 average. She also registered the second-highest single-season point total in school history (655), recorded four double-doubles on the season and shot 47 percent from the floor. In addition to being an All-America candidate in 2015-16, Dunn should be a BIG EAST Player of the Year, Wooden Award, Naismith Award, Cousy Award and National Defensive Player of the Year Award candidate this season. Hrynko went on to be selected 19th overall in the WNBA Draft, while Podkowa leads a group of 11 returning letterwinners.
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Two-time defending league champion Villanova was a unanimous selection to win the BIG EAST. According to Wright, the gap is closing with the competition after his team lost three seniors, including JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard who combined to average 24 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season.
St. John’s was picked second and Villanova third. A contender for BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors last season, Sydney Lamberty also returns for 14th-year head coach Jim Flanery.
“Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of hungry guys (at Villanova)”, said St. John’s forward Durand Johnson, who started his college career at Pittsburgh in the old Big East. “And they play together and they play defense, so that’s where I feel like they’ve separated themselves the most”.
Butler placed third and Xavier was fourth, while Providence rounded out the top half of the preseason poll.
DePaul is in a familiar spot in the preseason, atop the Big East standings.
Of the six Big East teams that were in the NCAA Tournament, Xavier made the deepest run, reaching the Sweet 16. Brunson led the United States to the gold medal in the FIBA under-19 world championships in Greece and was named tournament MVP with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a 79-71 win against Croatia in the final.
Georgetown returns all five of its starters including reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Dorothy Adomako. “But we need to appreciate and look at all the great things and the positive things that we did previous year”.
BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the YearBrittany Ward, Butler, Fr., F, 6-1, Indianapolis, Ind.
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Marquette was chosen ninth and boasts the youngest roster in Division I. Second-year head coach Caroline Kieger has just two juniors (one of which is new to the program), one sophomore and eight freshmen on her roster.
