NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference has announced the winners for four individual awards for its 2020-21 season on Monday.
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors will be shared by Connecticut forward Isaiah Whaley and St. John’s guard Posh Alexander. The BIG EAST Most Improved Player award will be shared by St. John’s guard-forward Julian Champagnie and Xavier forward Zach Freemantle. UConn’s Tyler Polley has been tabbed the winner of the BIG EAST Sixth Man Award. Creighton’s Mitch Ballock has won the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award.
The league’s head coaches select the award winners and they are not permitted to vote for their own players.
The BIG EAST will announce the remaining individual awards: Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete on Wednesday, March 11.
Whaley’s defensive prowess has helped UConn to an 11-6 conference record and a 14-6 overall mark. A 6-9, 230-pound senior from Gastonia, N.C., Whaley ranks second in the BIG EAST in blocked shots with 2.7 per game and pulls down rebounds at a 6.0 clip. He is a key figure in a Husky defense that ranks first in the BIG EAST defensively, allowing only 65.2 points per game.
Alexander has been the point guard leader of the St. John’s pressing defensive game. The 6-0 rookie from Brooklyn, N.Y., leads the BIG EAST in steals with a 2.6 average, which ranks eighth nationally. The St. John’s defense leads the league in forcing turnovers. Their opponents have committed 16.5 turnovers per game against the Johnnies.
The Most Improved Player honors are split between two sophomores who made the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team last season. Champagnie went from averaging 9.9 points per game last season to winning the BIG EAST scoring title in 20-21. In league games, Champagnie averaged 19.5 points. In all contests, he was also first in the league at 19.9 points per game. He also averaged 7.3 rebounds. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native also ranked first in free throw shooting, making 88.7 percent.
Freemantle, a 6-9 sophomore from Teaneck, N.J., averaged 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds. This season, Freemantle is fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 16.3 points and a league-leading 9.0 rebounds. He has produced a points-rebounds double-double in five of his last six games.
In earning the Sixth Man Award, Polley, a 6-9 senior forward from Miramar, Fla., has averaged 7.6 points, while coming off the bench. He plays a healthy 20.7 minutes per game and recently posted season highs of 19 points and nine rebounds in an important 69-58 win against Seton Hall on March 3 that helped push the Huskies to a No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Creighton’s Ballock has been a four-year fixture known for his hoop accomplishments and his exemplary conduct on the court. With the expansion to 20 league games this season, Ballock set a BIG EAST record by playing -- and starting – 74 regular-season league games. The native of Eudora, Kan., is the only player in Creighton history to amass more than 300 3-pointers and more than 300 assists. He shares the BIG EAST record with 11 3-pointers made in a game.
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Isaiah Whaley, Connecticut
Posh Alexander, St. John’s
BIG EAST Most Improved Player
Julian Champagnie, St. John’s
Zach Freemantle, Xavier
BIG EAST Sixth Man Award
Tyler Polley, Connecticut
BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award
Mitch Ballock, Creighton