Who is the BIG EAST Men's Basketball Player of the Year at the half-point of the season?
Thabeet, Blair Share BIG EAST Player of the Year Award; Georgetown's Monroe Named Rookie of the Year; Villanova's Wright Selected As OppenheimerFunds Coach of the Year
NEW YORK – Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet and Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, two of the nation’s top centers, have been named BIG EAST Co-Players of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
The sharing of Player of the Year honors is the first since 2001-02 when two players from the same schools, Connecticut’s Caron Butler and Pittsburgh’s Brandin Knight, were tabbed by the BIG EAST coaches. Splitting the award between two players has occurred five times in the 30-year history of the BIG EAST.
Both players helped their respective teams to 15-3 BIG EAST records which tied for the second place in the conference.
This season, Thabeet was the defensive anchor to Connecticut’s success. The 7-3 junior averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and a blocked shot mark of 4.5 that is second in the nation. With 89 blocks in league games this season, Thabeet is already second on the all-time BIG EAST blocks list with 243, trailing Patrick Ewing by only five. Thabeet has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the past two seasons.
Blair was the force in the paint for the Panthers. The 6-7 center averaged 15.6 points and a league-leading 12.4 boards. He shot 59.6 percent from the floor and posted 17 double-doubles. The sophomore was the only unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Last year, Blair was named BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year.
Monroe was an all-around contributor for Georgetown in his debut season. The Preseason BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year, as selected by the league’s head coaches. He averaged 12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals. Monroe, who hails from New Orleans, La., connected on 57.3 percent of his shots from the floor.
Wright has won Coach of the Year honors for the second time. The first was in the 2005-06 season. This year, he had directed Villanova to a school-record 25 wins in the regular season and a 13-5 league record. The Wildcats are expected to receive their fifth straight NCAA Championship bid this Sunday. In eight seasons as the Villanova head coach, Wright owns a record of 173-89 (.660).
BIG EAST Players of the Year Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh
BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Greg Monroe, Georgetown
OppenheimerFunds BIG EAST Coach of the Year Jay Wright, Villanova
Courtesy: Associated Press
