Big East Basketball: 19 Player of the Year candidates for 2020-21 season

By Brian Foley | Aug 9, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 01: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats dribbles the ball against Marcus Zegarowski #11 of the Creighton Bluejays in the second half at the Wells Fargo Center on February 1, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Creighton Bluejays defeated the Villanova Wildcats 76-61. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

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NEWARK, NJ – MARCH 04: Justin Moore #5 of the Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Attempting to predict the Big East Basketball Player of the Year race in an unpredictable college basketball landscape.

Last offseason was so comfortable. Not only did we know there was going to be a college basketball season, we knew the Big East Basketball Player of the Year race was almost certainly going to be a two-man battle between Markus Howard and Myles Powell.

This summer, however, everything is up for grabs, and predicting what the world will bring next week, much less in seven months when the Big East Tournament rolls around, is impossible. But if the NCAA does eventually cobble together a college hoops season, the Big East is in for a wild ride.

Between one preseason top-five program (Villanova), another likely top-15 outfit (Creighton), the return of a prodigal member (UConn), and a beefy pack of mid-tier teams, the nightly schedule – and the ensuing POY campaign – will be a must-watch.

Beyond the uncertainty of the season actually occurring, the POY race could turn in so many different directions because of the sheer star power that exited the conference after 2019-20. Not only did Howard and Powell – the Big East’s last two award winners – graduate, the two potential heirs (Ty-Shon Alexander and Saddiq Bey) both bolted to the NBA with eligibility remaining.

All told, only two of the 13 players recognized on last year’s all-conference teams will return to school this fall: Collin Gillespie and Marcus Zegarowski.

That brings us to our first tier of Big East POY candidates: The Veteran Favorites.

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