City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The reigning Big East Player of the Year and All-American candidate Maddy Siegrist was named Big East Preseason Player of the Year on Tuesday, as the league announced both its mens and women’s preseason teams and rankings for its annual media day.

Siegrist, a 6-foot-1 senior forward out of Poughkeepsie (N.Y.), broke the Big East single-season scoring record a year ago, averaging 27.9 ppg during league play (25.3 ppg overall), to go along with 9.2 rpg, shooting 49.3% overall and 34.6% from 3-point range for the 2021-22 season.

While Siegrist was the only individual Villanova women’s player honored, a trio of men’s players — Justin Moore, Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon — were all named to the preseason All-Big East Second Team, while freshman forward Cam Whitmore was named the league’s preseason Rookie of the Year.

Moore, a 6-4 guard from DeMatha (Md.), was a second team All-Big East and first-team All Big 5 selection last year, averaging 14.8 ppg and 4.8 rpg before tearing his Achilles tendon the Wildcats' Elite 8 win. Dixon, a 6-8 forward from Abington, was the Big 5's Most Improved Player last year, averaging 9.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg during his redshirt sophomore season. Daniels, a 6-3 guard and Tulane transfer in his third year with Villanova, averaged 10.2 ppg and 3.8 rpg last year.

Both the men’s and women’s Villanova squads were picked to finish third in their respective leagues, each receiving one first-place vote from the 11 league coaches. It’s a sign of respect for both programs to be picked so high despite some significant turnover on both rosters.

Though Denise Dillon does have Siegrist back in the fold, the third-year coach does have to move forward without her second and third-leading scorers from a year ago in Lior Garzon (13.1 ppg) and Brianna Herlihy (10.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg), the Wildcats needing a number of their sophomores and juniors to step up into starring roles to build on last year’s 24-win season that saw them reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Dillon will turn to her sophomore class to step up: point guard Lucy Olsen, a Spring-Ford grad, will be counted on to take a big step forward after starting all freshman year, while Zanai Jones, Kaitlyn Orihel, Anahi-Lee Cauley and Christina Dalce all were valuable reserves last year.

The Villanova men are entering a new era, with Naismith Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright retiring after 21 years and 520 wins, leaving the program in the hands of former ‘Nova assistant Kyle Neptune. 

Neptune has plenty of work to do to keep the Wildcats’ on the roll they’ve been on for the last decade, when they averaged 28.3 wins per season, made the NCAA Tournament every year and won two national championships: in addition to the graduations of Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, he’s dealing with injuries to Whitmore, Daniels and Moore.

But with Moore saying earlier this offseason he played to return before the New Year and the likes of Daniels, Dixon, Whitmore and more on the roster, there’s still plenty of talent for Neptune to work with once they’re all healthy. Fifth-year wing Brandon Slater, second-year forward Nnanna Njoku and second-year guard Jordan Longino all are ready to step up, while freshmen Mark Armstrong and Brendan Hausen are both four-star prospects who could compete for minutes immediately.

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Big East Women’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Connecticut (100 points, 10 first-place votes)
2. Creighton (89)
3. Villanova (83, 1)
T-4. DePaul (68)
T-4. Seton Hall (68)
6. Marquette (56)
7. St. John’s (47)
8. Providence (34)
T-9. Butler (21)
T-9. Georgetown (21)
11. Xavier (18)

Big East Women’s Preseason Player of the Year
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, Sr., F*

Big East Women’s Preseason Freshman of the Year
Ayanna Patterson, UConn, Fr., F

Preseason All-Big East Women’s Team
Caroline Ducharme, UConn, So., G
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn, Jr., F
Azzi Fudd, UConn, So., G*
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, Jr., G
Emma Ronsiek, Creighton, Jr., F*
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul, So., F*
Jordan King, Marquette, Sr., G
Janai Crooms, Providence, Sr., G
Kadaja Bailey, St. John’s, Fifth Year, G
Sidney Cooks, Seton Hall, Grad., F/C
Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall, Sr., G*

* = Unanimous pick

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Big East Men’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Creighton (98 points, 8 first-place votes)
2. Xavier (86, 2)
3. Villanova (85, 1)
4. Connecticut (77)
5. Providence (62)
6. St. John’s (52)
7. Seton Hall (44)
8. Butler (36)
9. Marquette (32)
10. Georgetown (21)
11. DePaul (12)

Big East Preseason Player of the Year
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut, F, Jr., 6-9, 245, Bamako, Mali

Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year
Cam Whitmore, Villanova, F, Fr., 6-7, 232, Odenton, Md.

Preseason All-Big East First Team
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, C, Jr., 7-1, 260, St. Louis, Mo. 
Jared Bynum, Providence, G, Gr., 5-10, 180, Largo, Md.
Posh Alexander, St. John’s, G, Jr., 6-0, 200, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Colby Jones, Xavier, G, Jr., 6-6, 207, Birmingham, Ala.
Jack Nunge, Xavier, F, Gr., 7-0, 245, Newburgh, Ind.

Preseason All-Big East Second Team
Arthur Kaluma, Creighton, F, So., 6-7, 225, Glendale, Ariz. 
Ryan Nembhard, Creighton, G, So., 6-0, 170, Aurora, Ont.
Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall, G, Jr., 6-6, 210, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Caleb Daniels, Villanova, G, Gr., 6-4, 210, New Orleans, La.
Eric Dixon, Villanova, F, R-Jr., 6-8, 255, Willow Grove, Pa.
Justin Moore, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-4, 215, Fort Washington, Md.