Big East Basketball: Top 5 storylines heading into 2020-21 season

Re-Shaping the Big East Basketball Honor Roll

When a conference loses basically an entire honor roll there is no way to predict what any of the Big East awards will look like. However, there are lots of really good players coming back or entering the league, and I see no harm in prognosticating. Let the vitriol ensue!

1st Team All-Big East

G- Bryce Aiken, SR Seton Hall

G- Marcus Zegarowski, JR Creighton

G- James Bouknight, SO UConn

G- David Duke, JR Providence

F- Jermaine Samuels, SR Villanova

F- Jeremiah Robinson Earl, SO Villanova PLAYER OF THE YEAR

There are tons of players capable of making the first team. Villanova is stacked and has a handful of guys who should be considered when all is said and done. For now, Robinson-Earl (10.5 Pts, 9.4 Reb, 1.9 Ast), a unanimous All-Freshman recipient from a season ago looks primed to be the leader of that group in Philly and Samuels (10.7 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 2.0 Ast) is looking to have a breakout senior season. Zegarowski, one of the few all-league honorees remaining from a season ago will look to make the jump from the 2nd team last year to the 1st team in 2020-21.

2nd Team All-Big East

G- Justin Moore, SO Villanova

G- Romeo Weems, SO DePaul

G- Jamarco Pickett, SR Georgetown

F- Sandro Mamukelashvili, SR Seton Hall

F- Bryce Golden, JR Butler

Honorable Mentions

G- Mitch Ballock, SR Creighton

G- DJ Carton, SO Marquette

G- Julian Champagnie, SO St. Johns

F- Nate Watson, SR Providence

G- Collin Gillespie, SR Villanova

There are a lot of toss-ups here when considering who makes the 2nd team. Gillespie, who I currently have as honorable mention could easily swap with his teammate, Moore. Gillespie actually made the 2nd team in 2019-20. Again, Villanova just has so many options, the main reason why they are the overwhelming Big East favorite going into this season and Moore is a former top-50 recruit who is ready to take that next step.

The Big East is also relatively thin in the post outside of Villanova, which gives guys like Golden of Butler and Watson from Providence a great opportunity to garner postseason accolades. Swap those guys too if you like.

All-Freshman Big East Team

G- Andre Jackson, UConn

CG- Scooby Johnson, Butler

F- Dawson Garcia, Marquette Freshman of the Year

F- Ryan Kalkenbrenner, Creighton

F- Jamari Sibley, Georgetown

None will be the freshman of the year, but one of the reasons Butler is going to be fine next season is the deep freshman class Lavall Jordan signed. Scooby Johnson leads a pack of top 150 recruits and will have a good shot at All-Conference Freshman honors for the Bulldogs. Garcia and Jackson will go back and forth this season with Freshman of the Week awards and it will be a tight race for Big East FOY. Expect other freshmen to join the discussion as well.

Big 4 Awards

POY- Jeremiah Robinson Earl, SO Villanova

DPOY- Theo John, SR Marquette

FOY- Dawson Garcia, FR Marquette

COY- Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

The most controversial take I’ve got in here is probably about Patrick Ewing. The guy has demonstrated that he can coach while handling adversity as well as anyone in the league. The Hoyas have been making moves to find the right guys that fit the culture they are trying to build and with people sleeping on them, it’s going to give them an opportunity to surprise some people with where they finish. It creates a perfect storm for Ewing to sneak into the COY conversation.

While much of the buzz for Marquette surrounds Carton, the Golden Eagles look pretty good in the post next year too by adding a top 30 rated big man in Garcia and pairing him next to one of the best shot blockers in the Big East in John.

June 2020 Updated Big East Power Rankings:

1.       Villanova

2.       Seton Hall

3.       Creighton

4.       Providence

5.       Butler

6.       Marquette

7.       Georgetown

8.       Xavier

9.       UConn

10.   St. John’s

11.   DePaul

Nova is again the team to beat and there are more than likely only four teams that get into the Big Dance this coming season. Nonetheless, it will be incredibly competitive and Butler, Marquette, Georgetown, Xavier, and UConn will all have an opportunity to play postseason basketball and potentially even in the Field of 68 if a couple of breaks go their way.

This conference has a litany of compelling storylines, which will make it a whole lot of fun to follow once college hoops return in 2020-21.