The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the men's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. The head coaches of the league's teams (currently 15) submit their votes following the end of the regular season and before the conference's tournament in early March. The coaches cannot vote for their own players.
The award was introduced following the conference's first season in 1980, in which it was presented to John Duren of Georgetown. Patrick Ewing, Richard Hamilton, and Troy Murphy each won the award twice, and Chris Mullin won three consecutive times from 1983 through 1985. Ewing, who shared the award in 1984 and 1985 with Mullin, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 after playing 17 years in the National Basketball Association between 1985 and 2002. Mullin was inducted into the Naismith Hall in 2011 after a 16-year NBA career (1985–2001). There have been six ties; the most recent instance was that between DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut in 2009.
Three players have been awarded a national Player of the Year award in the same year that they received a Big East Player of the Year award. In 1985, Ewing and Mullin shared the conference award, while Ewing was named Naismith College Player of the Year and Mullin was given the John R. Wooden Award. The following year, Walter Berry received the Wooden Award and the Big East Player of the Year award. Connecticut and Georgetown have had the most winners, with seven each. As of 2012, nine of the conference's 16 current teams have had a winner. Providence is the only original 1979 member to not have a winner, while Rutgers is the only other current member—aside from the schools added in the 2005 expansion—without a winner. West Virginia also did not have a winner during its tenure as a full Big East member from 1995 to 2012. As of 2012, the award has been given 39 times in 33 seasons. Thirty-three players from 11 schools have received the award: 18 seniors, 13 juniors, eight sophomores, and no freshmen.
Read more about Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player Of The Year: Key, Winners, Winners By School
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