NEW YORK — Defending national champion Connecticut and Syracuse are co-favorites to win the Big East, according to a poll of conference coaches released Tuesday.
Connecticut, facing life without standout point guard Kemba Walker, received seven first-place votes, while Syracuse tallied five. Louisville and Pittsburgh also got first-place votes.
Georgetown’s squad with 10 freshmen and sophomores was picked 10th in the 16-team conference.
A year after since-graduated Austin Freeman was the Big East preseason player of the year, the Hoyas didn’t land anyone on the preseason all-conference teams. Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs is the preseason player of the year and Connecticut’s Andre Drummond is the rookie of the year.
The complete preseason poll:
1. Connecticut, Syracuse; 3. Louisville; 4, Pittsburgh; 5. Cincinnati; 6. Marquette; 7. West Virginia; 8. Villanova; 9. Notre Dame; 10. Georgetown; 11. Rutgers; 12. St. John’s; 13. Seton Hall; 14. USF; 15. Providence; 16. DePaul.
The preseason all-conference teams:
First: Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh; Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut; Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette; Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame; Kris Joseph, Syracuse; Kevin Jones, West Virginia.
Second: Yancy Gates, Cincinnati; Alex Oriahki, Connecticut; Peyton Siva, Louisville; Scoop Jardine, Syracuse; Maalik Wayns, Villanova.
Honorable mention: Andre Drummond, Connecticut; Shabazz Napier, Connecticut; Cleveland Melvin, DePaul; Jae Crowder, Marquette; Augustus Gilchrist, USF.
• Nathan Fenno can be reached at nfenno@washingtontimes.com.
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