Byline: Mike Waters Staff writer
While the Pittsburgh Panthers emerged as the consensus pick to win the Big East Conference this season, The Post-Standard preseason writers' poll produced a number of choices for player of the year in the Big East.
Pittsburgh received 10 out of 16 first-place votes to easily outdistance Villanova and Syracuse for the top spot in the poll. The Panthers were picked no lower than second on any of the ballots.
Villanova followed at No. 2 in the poll with Syracuse, Georgetown and West Virginia rounding out the top five.
In an unusual display of agreement, only four writers had any of the top five teams -- Pitt, Villanova, Syracuse, Georgetown and West Virginia -- picked to finish lower than fifth.
However, the player-of-the-year vote revealed a variety of opinions. Seven players received at least one vote. Georgetown's Austin Freeman was named on six ballots, making him the highest vote-getter.
'I like his size, his skill, his approach, his coach, his supporting cast and the opportunity for him to become even more of a focal point in the absence of Greg Monroe,' the Hartford Courant's Mike Anthony said of Freeman. 'It just feels like the circumstances are right for Freeman to carry a pretty good, experienced team. I think he can change a game more than any other conference player.'
Other players receiving mention included Syracuse's Kris Joseph, Villanova's Corey Fisher, Pittsburgh's Ashton Gibbs and Connecticut's Kemba Walker. Those four, plus Freeman, made up the writers' preseason All-Big East first-team.
West Virginia's Kevin Jones also received two player-of-the-year votes, but he wound up on the writers' second team. Similarly, Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell picked up one vote, but also was on the second team.
'Kevin Jones has all the tools to be one of the league's most dynamic players,' said Tom Noie, of the South Bend Tribune. 'Can he put it all together? For the first time in 13 years of covering Big East basketball, I've never had a tougher task of naming a preseason player of the year or all-league team. There are no clear-cut candidates.'
Joseph, Syracuse's 6-foot-7 junior, won the Big East's sixth-man-of-the-year award last season. He was the only member of the writers' first team who didn't make the All-Big East first-, second- or third-team last season.
'I think Kris Joseph is the most talented player in the Big East, and I always start with talent,' said Mike DeCourcy, college basketball columnist for The Sporting News. 'The next element would be opportunity, and with Wesley Johnson and Andy Rautins gone, the opportunity is obvious. The final piece is motivation. Does the player want to be great? Can he handle the responsibility? I believe Kris will be a special player this season, but to be honest, the last part is up to him.'
Due to a tie, the second team consisted of six players: Jones, Hazell, Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis, Marquette's Jimmy Butler, Seton Hall's Herb Pope and Cincinnati's Yancy Gates.
Fabricio de Melo, Syracuse's 7-foot freshman center, won the rookie of the year vote handily. Melo was named on nine of the writers' ballots. Marquette's Vander Blue received three votes, while Syracuse freshman Dion Waiters earned two nods.
The Big East will announce the coaches' preseason picks today at the conference's annual media day in New York City.
Mike Waters can be reached at 470-3086 or mwaters@syracuse.com.
All-conference team
Corey Fisher, Villanova
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Kris Joseph, Syracuse
Kemba Walker, Connecticut
Player of the Year
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Rookie of the Year
Fab Melo, Syracuse
CAPTION(S):
GRAPHIC: Writers' poll, now and then The Post-Standard.
Big East writers predict that Pittsburgh will win the conference championship this season (with first-place votes in parentheses). The other two columns show how accurate the writers were in last year's poll.
2010-11 predicted 2009-10 2009-10
predicted actual
1-Pittsburgh (10) 9 2
2-Villanova (3) 1 4
3-Syracuse (2) 6 1
4-Georgetown 4 8
5-West Virginia (1) 2 3
6-Marquette 12 5
7-St. John's 11 13
8-Louisville 5 6
9-Notre Dame 7 7
10-Connecticut 3 12
11-Seton Hall 10 10
12-Cincinnati 8 11
13-South Florida 14 9
14-Rutgers 13 14
15-Providence 15 15
16-DePaul 16 16
