NEW YORK — Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. and John Thompson III made a clean sweep of the major awards Tuesday at the Big East Tournament.
Porter Jr. was named Big East Player of the Year, while Thompson III is the Coach of the Year.
The 6-foot-8 Porter Jr. led the Hoyas to the Big East regular-season crown and was the only unanimous selection. In league games, he was second in the Big East in scoring with an 18.1 average, fifth in rebounding with a 7.3 mark and tied for third in steals with a 1.8 average. He made 44.1 percent from 3-point range, which ranked second in the league.
“He’s the best player in college,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said last month after Porter Jr. dropped 33 points in a Hoyas win at the Carrier Dome. “There’s no question in my mind.
“Georgetown is certainly the surprise team of the league and Porter’s the reason,” he added. “He’s the most versatile player that I’ve seen in a long time. He can dribble the ball, pass the ball, rebound it, he can block a shot, he can shoot the 3.
“He’s the most versatile player we’ve seen in this league in a long time.”
Porter Jr. is projected as the No. 11 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
Despite the midseason loss of talented sophomore Greg Whittington to academic issues, Thompson III led a Georgetown team that was picked fifth in the Big East to a 14-4 record, a share of the Big East regular season crown and the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament.
Should the Hoyas win the tournament this week in New York, they would be in position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This is his first Big East Coach of the Year award; his father, John Thompson Jr., won the honor three times.
Photo: Georgetown Athletics
