Big East Basketball: 19 Player of the Year candidates for 2020-21 season
By Brian Foley
Dark-Horse Youngsters
G DJ Carton, Marquette
2019-20: 10.4 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.8 rpg, 48/40/76 percent shooting (20 games)
Carton joins the Golden Eagles after a year at Ohio State where he quietly posted eye-popping numbers in a backup role. Over the last 11 seasons, here is the list of high-major freshmen who averaged at least 10 ppg on 40 percent three-point shooting while playing less than 25 mpg:
- Carton
- Markus Howard (two-time All-American)
- Daniel Oturu (2020 all-Big Ten honoree)
- Devin Booker (NBA All-Star)
- Kouat Noi (solid two-year career at TCU before joining the Australian pro league)
Not bad company to keep. And if you include mid-major names, talented players such as Mike Daum, Anthony Lamb, Isaiah Canaan, and Zach Collins join the list. With more minutes this season – in an offensive-oriented program, to boot – Carton’s box score numbers could absolutely explode, especially when you consider his upper-echelon passing instincts (26.5 percent assist rate).
F Dawson Garcia, Marquette
247Sports Recruiting Profile: No. 32 nationally, No. 4 among PFs
The McDonald’s All-American is the Big East’s top incoming freshman. He will be hard-pressed to match Henry Ellenson’s 17 ppg/10 rpg stat line that led to a first-team all-Big East nod for MU’s one-and-done star in 2015-16, but those kinds of numbers would at least put Garcia in the POY conversation, especially if the Golden Eagles can claw their way into the top half of the conference.
F Julian Champagnie, St. John’s
2019-20: 9.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.2 spg, 45/31/75 percent shooting
Champagnie put together a red-hot finish to his freshman season, averaging 13.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg over the Johnnies’ final 10 contests. The Red Storm is losing its two highest-usage players in LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron from a year ago, opening the door for Champagnie as the new focal point of the offense.
The Brooklyn native has also flashed active hands as a high-energy defender, a must for any Mike Anderson player. Averaging 15 ppg & 8 rpg with a block and a steal per game is very much in play for the budding frontcourt star.
F Romeo Weems, DePaul
2019-20: 8.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 43/37/61 percent shooting
The Blue Demons have not featured a conference Player of the Year winner since Quentin Richardson grabbed the C-USA award in 1999. But hey, it’s 2020 – crazier things have already happened.
Weems is the first DePaul freshman to average over 30 mpg since Brandon Young in 2010-11, and now that Paul Reed is off to the professional ranks, he’ll be well-prepared to take on more offensive responsibility. Over a seven-game stretch from February to March, Weems averaged 11.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg while knocking down nearly 48 percent of his three-point attempts.