Providence sophomore point guard Kris Dunn and Villanova junior point guard Ryan Arcidiacono were named co-Big East Players of the Year on Wednesday.
Other players also received votes for Player of the Year, multiple sources told SNY.tv.
The 6-foot-3 Dunn earlier was named co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Sir’Dominic Pointer of St. John’s. Dunn averaged 15.5 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals for the Friars (21-10, 11-7 Big East). He is projected as a late first-round pick in the NBA Draft by Draft Express.com.
The 6-3 Arcidiacono came on strong in the last two weeks to overtake his teammate Darrun Hilliard — who was the consensus vote of the coaches two weeks ago. Arcidiacono averaged 10.7 points and 3.6 assists on the season for a Villanova team that is 29-2, 16-2 in the Big East entering the Big East Tournament.
“Congrats to @RyArch15 on his honor of being named @BIGEASTMBB Co-Player of the Year!,” tweeted Villanova head coach Jay Wright.
Wright won Coach of the Year honors after winning the regular-season league title and losing just two league games while putting his team in position to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Villanova is 32-4 in the Big East in the last two seasons.
Wright beat out Butler coach Chris Holtmann, who took over on an interim basis in November for Brandon Miller, who took a medical leave of absence. After officially being named the head coach, Holtman guided Butler to a 22-9 record and a 12-6 Big East mark. That followed a season in which Butler went 14-17, 4-14 in the Big East. Holtmann led the fourth-biggest turnaround in league history.
As expected, Seton Hall freshman forward Angel Delgado was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 9.3 points and 9.9 rebounds and leading the league in double-doubles.
Butler did pick up some hardware when Alex Barlow was named the Big East Scholar Athlete.
Photo: USA Today Sports
