The Men’s College Basketball season officially kicks off tomorrow, so I’m getting these pre-season picks in right under the wire before I get an actual feel for the rotations that some of these teams are going to be playing this year. As always, unlike the pre-season picks that the Big East makes, my teams are made up of 5 players apiece, you know, like how many players can be on the actual basketball court at a time for a team.

First Team

Tyler Kolek (Marquette)

Bryce Hopkins (Providence)

Justin Moore (Villanova)

Joel Soriano (St. John’s)

Donovan Clingan (UConn)

Second Team

Oso Ighodaro (Marquette)

Kam Jones (Marquette)

Trey Alexander (Creighton)

Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)

Devin Carter (Providence)

Third Team

Stephon Castle (UConn)

Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall)

Baylor Scheierman (Creighton)

TJ Bamba (Villanova)

Eric Dixon (Villanova)

Honorable Mention:

Jordan Dingle (St. John’s), Desmond Claude (Xavier), David Joplin (Marquette), Da’Sean Nelson (DePaul), Al-Amir Dawes (Seton Hall), Garwey Dual (Providence) Jayden Epps (Georgetown) Alex Karaban (UConn), Posh Alexander (Butler), & Josh Oduro (Providence)

Player of the Year: Tyler Kolek (Marquette)

Coach of the Year: Dan Hurley (UConn)

Defensive Player of the Year (Big): Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)

Defensive Player of the Year (Wing): Devin Carter (Providence)

Most Improved Player: Donovan Clingan (UConn)

6th Man of the Year: Corey Floyd Jr. (Providence)…I hate picking this in the pre-season because starting lineups are so fluid in college basketball. It’s much easier to pick the winner at the end of the year.

All-Freshman Team:

• Stephen Castle (UConn) – Big East Freshman of the Year
• Garwey Dual (Providence)
• Trey Green (Xavier)
• Soloman Ball (UConn)
• Simeon Wilcher (St. John’s)

All-Transfer Team:

• TJ Bamba (Villanova) – Big East Transfer of the Year
• Jordan Dingle (St. John’s)
• Josh Oduro (Providence)
• Logan Duncomb (Xavier)
• Jayden Epps (Georgetown)