Big East Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

By Joey Loose | Jul 4, 2023

Dec 13, 2016; Villanova, PA, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Josh Hart (3) gets congratulations from head coach Jay Wright and guard Jalen Brunson (1) after leaving the game late in the second half against the Temple Owls at The Pavilion. Villanova defeated Temple, 78-57. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

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Big East Basketball Creighton Bluejays forward Doug McDermott (3) talks with head coach Greg McDermott Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Doug McDermott

McDermott is a 6’8 forward from Grand Forks, North Dakota who played his entire collegiate career at Creighton for his father. The first three years of his impressive career came in the MVC and he really balled out there, winning two straight MVC Player of the Year awards and scoring a ton of points for the Bluejays. Today’s inclusion and placement is solely based on his senior season, coming in Creighton’s first season in the Big East, but you’ll agree that it’s warranted based on that year.

McDermott averaged 26.7 points and 7.0 rebounds a game, putting up even better numbers than he had previously in the MVC. He scored 30 points on thirteen occasions, with Creighton winning all but one of those games. That included a career-high 45-point performance against Providence and incredible production in his only Big East Basketball Tournament. McDermott dropped 30 points on Louisiana in the NCAA Tournament’s first round before Baylor would end his career in the round of 32.

No one scored more points than McDermott that season and no one received more honors. McDermott was AP Player of the Year, won the Naismith Award, Wooden Award, and plenty of other honors. Unsurprisingly, he also won the Big East Player of the Year award, an impressive honor in a program’s first year in any new league. McDermott was just a really special player and he proved it with that one year in the Big East.

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