Justin Lewis, Marquette’s forward, won Monday’s Big East’s Most Improved Player Award. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s center was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Jared Bynum, regular-season champion Providence’s point guard, won the top sixth man prize. Georgetown captain Donald Carey received the league’s sportsmanship honor.
Lewis was rated the best NBA prospect in the Big East last season, scoring 7.8 points per game and grabbing 5.4 rebounds per match. He will be 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds in 2021-22.
Shaka Smart, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Baltimore, made a big impression on him. He earned a spot on all-Big East’s first team and won the league scoring title with 18.2 points per game.
Lewis was the only Big East player to be ranked among the top five in rebounding and scoring.
After Lewis scored 28 points in Saturday’s 85-77 win over the Red Storm, St. John’s coach Mike Anderson stated that Shaka had done a great job of letting him lead.
Kalkbrenner, a St. Louis sophomore at 7 feet 1, led the Big East with 80 blocked shots. His defense, which ranked second in league field goal defense defense (40%), and second in scoring defense (67.5 PPG) during conference games, was led by Kalkbrenner.
Bynum, who is 5-foot-10, helped the 11th-ranked Friars (24-4 and 14-3) to their first Big East regular season championship. Although he only started three conference games, Bynum led the team’s scoring with an average 15.6 points per game during league play. This includes a string of clutch shots.
With 4.9 assists per game, Bynum was third in the conference and shot 46.5% from 3-pointers. In 25 years, Bynum was the first Big East player to score 25 or more points from the bench three times in a single season.
Carey scored 14.2 points, despite the fact that the Hoyas finished last in conference competition at 0-19. Carey was second in league shooting at 91%.
Under coach Patrick Ewing, Carey was the first Georgetown team captain.
Big East head coaches choose the award winners. They are not permitted to vote for their players. Before the conference tournament begins, the conference’s scholar-athlete, coach, and player of the years will be announced at Madison Square Garden Wednesday afternoon.
