Big East Basketball: 19 Player of the Year candidates for 2020-21 season
By Brian Foley
Veteran Favorites
G Collin Gillespie, Villanova
2019-20: 15.1 ppg, 4.5 apg, 3.7 rpg, 41/36/82 percent shooting
Gillespie is just the latest steadying point guard presence in a long line of such figures at Villanova. His raw outputs spiked with more responsibility as a junior, all while managing to maintain his shooting efficiency. Gillespie certainly does not possess elite athleticism or size, but his deep range from three forces defenders to pick him up well beyond the arc, which in turn allows him to burrow into the paint for two (he shot 60 percent at the rim last year).
Gillespie has a little Malcolm Brogdon in his game, and their stat lines through three seasons follow very similar trajectories. As a senior, Brogdon averaged 18 ppg and earned the ACC POY award for a UVA team that captured a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Who’s to say Gillespie couldn’t do something very similar for a Villanova squad that is widely regarded as one of the national title favorites in the preseason?
G Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton
2019-20: 16.1 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.8 rpg, 49/42/76 percent shooting
Nearly everything said about Gillespie holds true for Zegarowski as well. In fact, Zegarowski and Gillespie are the only two high-major players who posted a 15/4.5/3.5/1 stat line last season and are returning to school in 2020-21.
While Gillespie has a defensive advantage, Zegarowski possesses the higher offensive ceiling and appears best positioned to move into a 20+ ppg role for the Jays. He posted nine games of at least 20 points in 2019-20 – including 32 against Texas Tech – and will have the ball in his hands even more frequently with the departure of Ty-Shon Alexander. Zegarowski also has the second-best assist rate among returning Big Easters.
Creighton will enter the season as Villanova’s biggest roadblock to a conference championship, so the Big East title and the POY award may come down to those head-to-head matchups.
F Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall
2019-20: 11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 54/43/66 percent shooting
The Pirates are exiting the Myles Powell era, but will at least be able to turn the keys of the offense over to rising senior Mamukelashvili. Mamu has been a staple in Kevin Willard’s starting lineup over the past two years, and has put together short bursts of scoring that have carried SHU.
During a seven-game stretch from February to March after returning from injury, Mamukelashvili averaged 16 & 7 on 61 percent shooting. If he can sustain that production over a full campaign for a Pirates team that pushes for the Big East title, he will find himself in the POY conversation.
Three-point shooting will make or break Mamu’s season, where his percentages jumped from 30 percent in his first two seasons to 43 percent as a junior when he was spoon-fed corner treys. Mamukelashvili must prove he can still knock down threes at an above-average rate; otherwise, he will be forced to change the rest of his offensive game, starting with his willingness to take on contact inside. Among all high-major big men (listed at 6-foot-8 or taller), Mamukelashvili ranked just 138th in free throw rate out of 152 qualifiers.