Big East Regular Season Awards

Syracuse's Dion Waiters

With the Big East regular season coming to an end, it is time to reward the top players and coaches with numerous accolades. Who the actual winners are will be announced later, however these are some names that will be in the running for the top awards.


By Lauren Dellipoali


Player of the Year- many would assume this would go to a player from Syracuse, however it is likely that the Orange’s four possible candidates, Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine, Fab Melo and Dion Waiters will split the votes as it is impossible to say which one has been the key to the Orange’s success this year. That leaves the door open for players like Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom and West Virginia’s Kevin Jones. With Marquette having a slightly better season than West Virginia, and Marquette defeating West Virginia on their home court, it may be tempting to give Johnson-Odom the award, but his stats do not match Jones’. Johnson-Odom is second, to Jones, in points in the Big East and has scored in double figures in every game this year except one, against West Virginia where he was suspended for the first half and had nine points. Jones seems to be most deserving of this award as he is leading the Big East in points and rebounds, 20 points and 11 boards and has had 18 double-doubles this year. If we are going on stats, Jones is the choice, but Johnson-Odom has been great on a better team, and it will be interesting to see if stats or wins decide this award.  

Now, onto Coach of the Year. This is a no-brainer right? It has to be Jim Boeheim who has lead his Orange to only one loss this year despite the off-court distractions concerning Bernie Fine and Fab Melo’s suspension.  However, Mike Brey of Notre Dame can make a case that he has done a better job than Boeheim. Brey’s team is the only one to defeat Syracuse, and they did it in dominating fashion. Brey was also dealt what some deemed a death blow when his senior and best player Tim Abromaitis took a season ending ACL injury. The Irish were picked to finish ninth in the league, but Brey and his team have surprised many and find themselves near the top of the league with a 12-5 record.  Marquette’s Buzz Williams can also toss his name into the running as the Golden Eagles have surprised many with their stellar season. In the end do you go with wins or a guy who has kept his team together after losing their best player? Seeing as “you play to win the game” and Boeheim has won a lot of games, he will probably get the nod for Big East Coach of the Year.

Sometimes these awards can be handed out to unsuspecting candidates, so there are no sure things. It is very possible that Syracuse, the best team in the league and second best team in the country, can have no regular season awards handed to them. Wouldn’t that be something?