Big East Basketball: Predicting statistical leaders for 2019-20

By Brian Foley | Aug 14, 2019

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 06: Myles Powell #13 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrates in the second half against the Marquette Golden Eagles on March 06, 2019 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.The Seton Hall Pirates defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles 73-64. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 03: Josh LeBlanc #23 of the Georgetown Hoyas grabs a rebound against Eric Paschall #4 of the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on February 3, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The new season is only three months away, so let’s project our Big East basketball leaders for eight major statistical categories entering 2019-20.

I went through this same exercise ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, and well… it was a total flop. Of the eight statistics I projected (all stats are per game) – points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage – I finished a remarkable 0-8. You can laugh at my 2018-19 predictions here.

My one saving grace was that at least four of the eight predicted leaders did finish in the top-five of their selected categories, while two others – Martin Krampelj with field goal percentage and Sam Hauser at three-point percentage – finished inside the top nine. The two whiffs were Joseph Chartouny (steals) and Taurean Thompson (blocks). Note to self: don’t trust transfers!

But no matter. The only way to go is up, especially now that we have set the incredibly low bar at precisely zero correct guesses. Can I forecast a single statistical leader this year? Let’s find out!

Here are the eight picks – with dark horse candidates thrown in – to lead the Big East’s major statistical categories in 2019-20.

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