NEW YORK – Seton Hall senior forward Shadeen Samuels was selected 2019-2020 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, as announced by the Conference on Thursday. The reigning BIG EAST scoring champion is the first preseason player of the year from Seton Hall since 1988. Marquette newcomer Jordan King was voted BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year, the first Golden Eagle player to earn the recognition.
Samuels won the BIG EAST scoring title in 2018-19, averaging 20.2 points over 17 conference games. She ranked seventh in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game, while posting five double-doubles in league play. On the year, Samuels averaged a conference-high 18.3 points over 29 games, along with the fourth-highest rebounding average (8.6). She reached the 20-point mark 10 times and the 30-point threshold twice. Samuels was voted BIG EAST Most Improved Player last season and was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection. The only other BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year in Seton Hall history was Geraldine Saintilus in 1988. With Myles Powell tabbed the BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, Seton Hall is the first school since Connecticut in 2003 (Emeka Okafor, Diana Taurasi) to sweep both men’s and women’s preseason major awards.
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball
Preseason Player of the Year |
| Shadeen Samuels, Seton Hall, Sr., F |
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball
Preseason Freshman of the Year |
| Jordan King, Marquette, Fr., G |
| Preseason All-BIG EAST Team |
| Kristen Spolyar, Butler, Sr., G |
| Jaylyn Agnew, Creighton, Sr., F |
| Chante Stonewall, DePaul, Sr., F |
| Kelly Campbell, DePaul, Sr., G |
| Selena Lott, Marquette, Jr., G |
| Mary Baskerville, Providence, So., F* |
| Tiana England, St. John’s, R-Jr., G* |
| Qadashah Hoppie, St. John’s, Jr., G |
| Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall, Jr., G/F |
| Mary Gedaka, Villanova, Sr., F* |
A’riana Gray, Xavier, Jr., F*
*unanimous selection |
From Rockton, Ill., King attended Hononegah High School where she scored 2,505 career points to set a NIC-10 Conference record, while also establishing the single-game standard of 39 points. Among her accolades are IBCA First Team All-State for class 3A/4A, AP First Team All-State and News-Gazette First Team All-State. King is one of six freshmen on this year’s young Marquette squad.
Seton Hall and Marquette each had an additional player voted to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Junior guard/forward Desiree Elmore represented the Pirates on the squad after averaging 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and .534 shooting in 18 conference games in 2018-19. Elmore finished the season on a tear, scoring 15+ points in six of the last nine outings, including three 21+ point games, averaging 14.9 during that stretch. Marquette’s top returning scorer, Selena Lott, earned a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team after starting 15 league contests a year ago and averaging 9.0 points. The junior guard is Marquette’s most experienced returner, seeing action in 35 games a year ago and scoring in double figures on 10 occasions.
Expected to be among the top teams in the BIG EAST in 2019-2020, DePaul and St. John’s each placed two players on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Reigning BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player Chante Stonewall was joined on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team by fellow Blue Demon Kelly Campbell. Stonewall led DePaul to its fourth BIG EAST Tourney title in the last six seasons and its 17
th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. She was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2018-19, averaging 14.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Campbell, the lone active BIG EAST player with a triple-double to her credit, is one the top all-around players in the league. Over 18 BIG EAST games, the senior guard posted the top assist-turnover ratio (4.5), while listing second in assists (4.7) and sixth in rebounding (8.2).
One of four unanimous selections, St. John’s redshirt-junior guard Tiana England was the BIG EAST’s assists leader in 2018-19, reaching the 10-dime mark three times and averaging 5.7 dishes over 31 appearances. In BIG EAST play, she led the Red Storm in scoring at 12.0 points per game, along with 5.4 assists per contest. She earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention accolades. St. John’s overall leading scorer, junior guard Qadashah Hoppie (11.6 PPG), also garnered a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Hoppie scored in double figures 18 times last year.
An All-BIG EAST Second Team selection a year ago, Villanova senior forward Mary Gedaka was unanimously selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Gedaka was one of the top shooters in Division I in 2018-19, finishing third in the NCAA by making over 66 percent of her attempts from the field, while leading Villanova in both scoring (15.3) and rebounding (6.9).
Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Mary Baskerville was also unanimously selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Baskerville boosted Providence to its finest season since 2009-10, including a national postseason berth (WNIT) and its first BIG EAST Tournament victory since 2001. Baskerville, a sophomore forward, is the Friars’ top returning scorer (9.4) and rebounder (7.3) and was an uncontested selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team in 2018-19.
Rounding out the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team unanimous selections was Xavier junior forward A’riana Gray. Gray had a breakout year in 2018-19, averaging a double-double both overall (13.9 points, 11.5 rebounds) and in BIG EAST play (13.4 points, 12.1 rebounds). She led the conference in rebounding while also registering a league-best 15 double-doubles. She claimed All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention recognition at season’s end.
Butler and Creighton each had representatives on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Senior guard Kristen Spolyar was recognized for the Bulldogs. Spolyar is Butler’s top returning scorer, finishing second on the team in 2018-19 with a 13.0 points per game average over 18 BIG EAST contests. She reached the career 1,000-point mark in Butler’s season finale. Senior forward Jaylyn Agnew is Creighton’s top returner after averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds over 18 BIG EAST contests. Agnew also eclipsed the 1,000-point threshold in her 2018-19 finale.