Big East Preseason Honors

Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera has been chosen the 2014-15 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches. 

Seton Hall freshman guard Isaiah Whitehead has been named BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Smith-Rivera, a 6-3 junior, is the sixth Georgetown player in BIG EAST history to earn Preseason Player of the Year honors. He finished third in the league in scoring last year with a 17.6 average. He led the BIG EAST in free throw shooting, making 87.3 percent, and shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

One of the league’s ironmen, Smith-Rivera was fourth in minutes played in league action, averaging 37.0 minutes per game. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., he finished strong late in the season, averaging 21.0 points per game over the last six contests.

Smith-Rivera was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2013-14 and a BIG EAST All-Rookie Team pick as a freshman. 

Whitehead is a 6-4 guard who was a 2014 McDonald’s All-American at Lincoln H.S. in Brooklyn, N.Y. He also was named Mr. Basketball in New York by the state’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The 2014-15 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team includes three seniors and two juniors. In addition to Smith-Rivera, the members include seniors D’Angelo Harrison of St. John’s, JayVaughn Pinkston of Villanova and Matt Stainbrook of Xavier. The other junior is Kellen Dunham of Butler.

Harrison also earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors last year. He has led the Red Storm in scoring in each of the past two seasons. Last year, the 6-4 guard averaged 17.5 points per game and won the Haggerty Award as the top collegiate player in the New York Metropolitan area. A native of Missouri City, Texas, he leads all BIG EAST players with 866 career points in league play. Pinkston was a prime contributor in the Villanova success that included a 29-5 overall record and a BIG EAST regular-season title. A 6-7, 235-pound forward, he supported the balanced Wildcat attack with a 14.1 scoring average and was one of three players to average 6.1 rebounds per game. Pinkston hails from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Like Pinkston, Stainbrook is a powerful low-post presence. The Xavier forward averaged 10.6 points and a team-leading 7.4 rebounds. He ranked second in the BIG EAST in field goal shooting, making 55.6 percent. The 6-10, 263-pound native of Bay Village,  Ohio, earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention  recognition last year. 

Dunham emerged as one of the top shooters in the BIG EAST last season. His 16.4  scoring mark helped earn him All-BIG EAST Second Team honors. He is the league’s third top returning scorer. His 78 3-point baskets ranked fifth in the conference. A 6-6 native of Pendleton, Ind., Dunham shot 80.3 percent from the foul line. 

The Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team is a younger group than the First Team with two seniors, a junior and two sophomores. 

DePaul sophomore guard Billy Garrett, Jr. was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year last season. He ranked first among league freshmen with a 12.4 scoring average and 93 assists. 

The other sophomore is St. John’s guard Rysheed Jordan who averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 assists. 

The lone junior is Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono, a two-year starter who averaged 9.9 points and 3.5 assists. He was an All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention pick. 

Hilliard, Arcidiacono’s backcourt teammate, was a contributor to the Villanova balanced success with a 14.3 scoring average. He shot 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. Hilliard shared the BIG EAST Most Improved Player award with teammate Daniel Ochefu. 

The Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention group includes three juniors: Butler guard Roosevelt Jones, who missed all of last season with a wrist injury, St. John’s center Chris Obekpa who is already the school’s all-time blocked shots leader and Seton Hall guard Sterling Gibbs who was the team’s second leading scorer with a 13.2 average.

2014-15 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year

D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown

2014-15 BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year

Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall

2014-15 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team

Kellen Dunham, Butler, G, Jr., 6-6, 185, Pendleton, Ind.

D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown, G, Jr., 6-3, 214, Indianapolis, Ind.

D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s, G, Sr., 6-4, 204, Missouri City, Texas

JayVaughn Pinkston, Villanova, F, Sr., 6-7, 235, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Matt Stainbrook, Xavier, C, Sr., 6-10, 270, Bay Village, Ohio

2014-15 Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team

Billy Garrett, Jr., DePaul, G, So., 6-6, 205, Chicago, Ill.

LaDontae Henton, Providence, F, Sr., 6-6, 215, Lansing, Mich.

Rysheed Jordan, St. John’s, G, So., 6-4, 185, Philadelphia, Pa.

Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-3, 195, Langhorne, Pa.

Darrun Hilliard, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-6, Bethlehem, Pa.

2014-15 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention

Roosevelt Jones, Butler, G, Jr., 6-4, 227, O’Fallon, Ill.

Chris Obekpa, St. John’s, C, Jr., 6-9, 240, Makurdi, Nigeria

Sterling Gibbs, Seton Hall, G, Jr., 6-2, 185, Scotch Plains, N.J.