Marquette's Kolek, Smart named AP Big East player, coach of the year
(L-R) Tyler Kolek of the Marquette Golden Eagles, Marquette University president Dr. Michael Lovell, and head coach Shaka Smart pose for a photo during a celebration after a game against the St. John's Red Storm at Fiserv Forum on March 4. (Photo by
Marquette's Tyler Kolek is the Associated Press Big East player of the year and Shaka Smart is the unanimous pick for coach of the year after the two led the Golden Eagles' surprising run to their first regular-season championship in 10 years.
Xavier's Souley Boum was voted newcomer of the year in balloting by 11 writers and broadcasters who cover the conference.
Kolek and Smart led No. 6 Marquette to a school-record 17 conference wins and its highest national ranking since 1978.
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Kolek, a unanimous All-Big East first-team pick along with Providence's Bryce Hopkins, is among the conference leaders in five categories and is playing some of his best ball of late.
Kolek will enter the Big East Tournament at New York's Madison Square Garden off three straight double-doubles, averaging 20.3 points and 11.3 assists in those games. His 7.9 assists per game for the season leads the Big East and is second nationally.
Smart combined high-scoring offense with aggressive defense to make the Golden Eagles the first team since the Big East formed in 1979-80 to win at least a share of the title after being picked ninth or lower. Marquette beat every league team at least once for the first time since it joined the league in 2005-06.
Hopkins, in his first season at Providence after transferring from Kentucky, has 10 double-doubles and leads the Friars with 16.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
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Joining Kolek and Hopkins on the first team are Boum and big men Adama Sanogo of Connecticut and Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton.
Boum played at San Francisco and UTEP before landing at Xavier this season, and he emerged as the Musketeers' top player. He's second in the Big East in scoring with 16.8 points per game and third in 3-point shooting at 42.2%. His 4.5 assists are second on the team and tied for sixth in the league.
First team
- Guard: Tyler Kolek, Marquette
- Guard: Souley Boum, Xavier
- Forward: Bryce Hopkins, Providence
- Forward: Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
- Center: Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
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Second team
- Guard: Kam Jones, Marquette
- Guard: Colby Jones, Xavier
- Guard: Jordan Hawkins, Connecticut
- Forward: Eric Dixon, Villanova
- Center: Joel Soriano, St. John's