Big East Basketball: Ranking of top 5 big men for 2023-24 season

By John Makuch | Nov 2, 2023

HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 03: Donovan Clingan #32 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four championship game against the San Diego State Aztecs at NRG Stadium on April 03, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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Big East Basketball Joel Soriano #11 of the St. John’s Red Storm (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

5. Joel Soriano, St. John’s

Rick Pitino got a huge gift in the fact that Joel Soriano was going to return to the Red Storm this upcoming season. He was an absolute anchor for a team that did not have a ton of talent around him, and now that Pitino has taken over that has all changed.

The senior comes in at 6’11, 265 and his huge frame is something that this team will look to utilize quite a bit this season. Soriano was a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Semifinalist and received the Big East Most Improved Player Award.

Soriano is a reliable double-double machine, last season he put up 15.2 points per game along with 11.9 rebounds per game, and with another season under his belt, the senior will look to make an even stronger impact for a team that has higher hopes than it has had in a long time.

Soriano is not a big that will stretch the floor, but his size and physicality make up for that, he will be a force yet again as a rim protector and will be the go-to in pick-and-roll situations. Pitino will be glad to have a big man who can compete with some of the other talented players in this conference because Soriano would be a clear-cut number one or two big man in other conferences, but the Big East is different.

The star out of Yonkers will look to put together yet another strong campaign as the Red Storm look for a successful first season under Pitino, but who else stands in their way?

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