The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the men's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. It was first awarded at the end of the league's inaugural season of 1979–80.

The head coaches of the league's 11 teams submit their votes following the end of the regular season and before the conference's tournament in early March. The coaches cannot vote for their own players. A select media panel's votes are also counted.

The award was introduced following the conference's first season in 1980, in which it was presented to John Duren of Georgetown. Patrick Ewing (Georgetown), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut), Troy Bell (Boston College), Troy Murphy (Notre Dame), Kris Dunn (Providence), and Collin Gillespie (Villanova) each won the award twice, while Chris Mullin (St. John's) won three consecutive times from 1983 through 1985. Four award winners have been inducted as players to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ewing, who shared the award in 1984 and 1985 with Mullin, was inducted in 2008 after playing 17 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1985 and 2002. Mullin followed in 2011 after a 16-year NBA career (1985–2001). Georgetown's 1992 Player of the Year Alonzo Mourning entered the Hall in 2014 following a 16-year NBA career (1992–2008). The most recent award winner to enter the Hall is Ray Allen from Connecticut, who won the Big East award in 1996 and went on to a 19-season NBA career (1996–2014), getting inducted in 2018. There have been eight ties, the most recent instance was among Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of Villanova along with Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall (2021).

Seven players have been awarded a major national player of the year award in the same year that they received a Big East Player of the Year award. In 1985, Ewing and Mullin shared the conference award, while Ewing was named Naismith College Player of the Year and Mullin was given the John R. Wooden Award. The following year, Walter Berry of St. John's received the Wooden Award. In 1996, Allen received the conference award and was also the final recipient of the UPI Player of the Year Award. In 2004, Connecticut's Emeka Okafor won the conference award while sharing NABC Player of the Year honors with Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's. Creighton's Doug McDermott received all major national awards along with the conference award in 2014. Lastly, Villanova's Jalen Brunson was the consensus national player of the year in 2018.

Georgetown and Villanova are tied for the most winners with 8 selections each. The only current Big East members without a winner are Butler and Xavier, both of which joined the conference at its relaunch following its 2013 split into two leagues, and DePaul, members since 2005.

Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)Oscar Robertson Trophy (1958–59 to present) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Big East Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Season Player School Position ClassReference 1979–80 Georgetown G 1980–81 Boston College PG 1981–82 Seton Hall SG 1982–83 St. John's SF 1983–84† Georgetown C (2) St. John's SF 1984–85† * (2) Georgetown C * (3) St. John's SF 1985–86 * St. John's PF 1986–87 Georgetown SF 1987–88 Pittsburgh PF 1988–89 Georgetown G 1989–90 Syracuse PF 1990–91 Syracuse SF / SG 1991–92 Georgetown C 1992–93 Seton Hall SG 1993–94 UConn F 1994–95 Villanova SG 1995–96 * UConn SG 1996–97 Notre Dame PF 1997–98 UConn SG / SF 1998–99† (2) UConn SG / SF Miami SF 1999–00 Notre Dame PF 2000–01† Boston College G (2) Notre Dame PF 2001–02† UConn SF Pittsburgh PG 2002–03 (2) Boston College G 2003–04 * UConn C 2004–05 Syracuse PF 2005–06 Villanova G 2006–07 Georgetown F 2007–08 Notre Dame PF 2008–09† Pittsburgh C UConn C 2009–10 Syracuse F 2010–11 Notre Dame SG 2011–12 Marquette PF 2012–13 Georgetown F 2013–14 * Creighton F 2014–15† Villanova PG Providence PG 2015–16 (2) Providence PG 2016–17 Villanova SG 2017–18 * Villanova PG 2018–19 Marquette PG 2019–20 Seton Hall SG 2020–21† Villanova PG Seton Hall PF Villanova PF 2021–22 (2) Villanova PG 2022–23 Marquette PG 2023–24 Providence SG 2024–25 St. John's SF 2025–26 St. John's PF

Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years Georgetown (1979) 8 1980, 1984†, 1985†, 1987, 1989, 1992, 2007, 2013 Villanova (1980) 8 1995, 2006, 2015†, 2017, 2018, 2021 (×2)†, 2022 UConn (1979/2020)Following the split of the original Big East in 2013, Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, and UConn remained in the football-sponsoring portion now known as the American Conference. 7 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999†, 2002†, 2004, 2009† St. John's (1979) 6 1983, 1984†, 1985†, 1986, 2025, 2026 Notre Dame (1995)Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013. 5 1997, 2000, 2001†, 2008, 2011 Seton Hall (1979) 4 1982, 1993, 2020, 2021† Syracuse (1979) 4 1990, 1991, 2005, 2010 Boston College (1979)Boston College was a founding member in 1979, and left the Big East for the ACC in 2005. 3 1981, 2001†, 2003 Marquette (2005) 3 2012, 2019, 2023 Pittsburgh (1982)Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013. 3 1988, 2002†, 2009† Providence (1979) 3 2015†, 2016, 2024 Creighton (2013) 1 2014 Miami (1991)Miami joined the conference in 1991 and left for the ACC in 2004. 1 1999† Butler (2013) 0 — Cincinnati (2005) 0 — DePaul (2005) 0 — Louisville (2005) 0 — Rutgers (1995) 0 — South Florida (2005) 0 — Virginia Tech (2000)Virginia Tech became an all-sports member of the Big East in 2000; it had joined for football in 1991. The Hokies left for the ACC in 2004. 0 — West Virginia (1995)West Virginia became an all-sports member of the Big East in 1995; it had also joined for football in 1991. The Mountaineers left for the Big 12 in 2012. 0 — Xavier (2013) 0 —

See also Big East Conference Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year Big East Conference Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year Big East Conference Men's Basketball Most Improved Player List of All-Big East Conference men's basketball teams

References