Big East Basketball: 10 key questions looming for 2021-22 season

2. Who’s the early favorite for Big East Player of the Year?

For the first time in league history, three different players shared the Big East Player of the Year award with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Collin Gillespie (Villanova), and Sandro Mamukelashvili (Creighton) each earning honors. Collin Gillespie returns but who is his competition? Here’s a look at three players to keep an eye on:

Julian Champagnie | 6’8 Forward | St. John’s Red Storm – He was one of last season’s Most Improved Player of the Year and returns after testing the NBA waters briefly. He produced 19.8 point, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.3 assists per contest as a sophomore with seven double-doubles in 2020-21.

Nate Watson | 6’10 Center | Providence Friars – Watson returns as the Friars’ leading scorer from a season ago after putting up 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. The 6-foot-10 big man shot 60.2 percent from the field to earn All-Big East second-team honors in 2020-21.

Zach Freemantle | 6’9 Forward | Xavier Musketeers – Freemantle will look to lead the way like he did for the Musketeers in 2020-21 while earning the other share of the league’s MIP award. He  put up 16.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg and 1.4 apg while shooting 32.1 percent from 3-point range and 51.3 percent from the field along with eight double-doubles.

Look for things to get interesting again in Big East play with some teams looking to make a lot more noise than they did this past season.