Dan Hurley wins Big East Coach of the Year Award. Castle and Diarra receive individual awards.
Dan Hurley was named East Coach of the Year, and Stephon Castle and Hassan Diarra received individual awards.
The winner will receive a trophy. The Male Basketball Team N ° 2 Uconn has just finished the historic dominant regular season. Until the ball is pointed at noon at noon between the Grand East Tournament and the UCONN tournament, the festive conference has individual prices until the purpose is not for more command equipment.
Dan Hurley was named Big East Coach of the Year, which is a great honor, but he’s pretty tired of it. With this award, Hurley became the first UConn coach in over 35 years to win this award.
The Huskies were ranked third in the Big East preseason poll, but never clinched the top spot. There was a reason for the dissatisfaction, and it made sense. Creighton and Marquette looked overwhelmed and UConn had a lot of question marks. How will “Carpenter” and his team replace three retired NBA players and two other key rotation players?
Once again with blue-chip transfers, a freshman class, and some good old-fashioned Player development, that’s the current situation. Yukon broke the record of 17 league championships held by Yukon (1995-96), Syracuse (2011-12) and Marquette (2022-23). They had the highest scoring record since the 1984-85 Georgetown Hoyas, led by a guy named Patrick. The Huskies also set a program record with 28 regular season wins.
Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway also won the award and turned a Pirates team that was picked ninth in the preseason to a No. 4 seed, but the extraordinary feat Hurley and his team accomplished this year I can’t deny it. Speaking of freshmen, Stephon Castle was named All-Big East Freshman of the Year, but the Covington, Ga., native earned a conference-record 11 All-Star honors as a Big East freshman. When you think about it, it makes sense.
The 11 wins this week broke the conference record originally set by Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony. After a slow start to the season and injuries, Castle became a mainstay on both Yukon teams.
The freshman frequently used an opponent’s best offensive weapon and was able to shut down players like Tyler Kolek and East Player of the Year Devin Carter.
He has also improved as a scorer, scoring 20 or more points three times this season and showing improvement in his defensive range. Castle is averaging 11.2 points and 3.0 assists per game for the Huskies this season. But perhaps the sweetest reward, at least for the fans, will be Hassan Diarra winning the Eastern Sixth Man of the Year award.
Headband Hass is averaging six points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this year, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. His pace and defense alone have impacted at least four college games. He’s looking at three doubles along the way, not to mention 14 points, six assists and five rebounds against Xavier, Villanova and Marquette. home market. Most recently, he tore the hearts of Providence fans.
According to Evan Mir’s BPR rankings, he is the 54th most valuable player in the country. Remember, Diarra was on the bench this time last year, not playing more than 13 minutes in March 2023 and mostly relegated to mop-up duties.
His always excellent defensive positioning was undermined by erratic passing and lack of outside shooting. A year later, Hass is playing in controlled chaos, changing the pace of the game when he comes in, shooting 38 percent from 3-of-1.6 and 77 percent from free throws. ing.
His veteran presence gave Hurley the confidence to shut out games and serve as assistant manager in various lineups when needed. If Castle gets into foul trouble, Hass will be effectively undefeated in many areas of the game.
There hasn’t been a game like this since November of last year. His story has changed so much that fans are eager for his return next year when his intangibles are desperately needed. But that’s a topic for another time. There are just under 24 hours left until the playoff quest begins. Enjoy the spoils of a great season and the well-deserved recognition it has generated.
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