University of Connecticut Athletics
Sanogo, Hawkins Named First Team All-BIG EAST
3/5/2023 12:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Karaban, Clingan On All-Freshman Team
UConn Athletic Communications / March 5, 2023
NEW YORK – For the second consecutive season, the UConn men's basketball team has two First Team All-BIG EAST selections.
Junior Adama Sanogo and sophomore Jordan Hawkins earned the honors, as the conference announced its all-league teams on Sunday. The teams are selected by a vote of the 11 head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
In addition, UConn freshmen Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan were named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. Karaban was a unanimous choice.
Joining Sanogo and Hawkins on the BIG EAST First Team are: Tyler Kolek of Marquette, Bryce Hopkins of Providence, Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton and Souley Boum of Xavier. Kolek and Hopkins were unanimous picks. The BIG EAST Player of the Year will come from that group and will be announced on Wednesday. Â Â
Last season, Sanogo and guard R.J. Cole were First Team All-BIG EAST picks. The Sanogo-Hawkins selection is only the fourth time in UConn history that the Huskies placed two players on the First Team – joining Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004 and Jeff Adrien and A.J. Price in 2008.
Sanogo joins an elite group of UConn players who have been named First Team All-BIG EAST twice in their careers. He joins six others – Corny Thompson ('81,'82), Donyell Marshall ('93, '94), Ray Allen ('95. '96), Richard Hamilton ('98, '99), Emeka Okafor ('03, '04), and Shabazz Napier ('13 BIG EAST, '14 American Athletic).
Sanogo has again been a stalwart as the Huskies produced a 24-7 record, 13-7 in the Big East, averaging 16.9 points per game, which led all BIG EAST scorers in overall games. In only league games, Sanogo was fourth in scoring (16.2), fifth in rebounding (7.6), seventh in field goal percentage (.568) and 14th in free throw percentage (.763).
Sanogo had nine 20-plus points games this season and five double-doubles.
Hawkins captured the BIG EAST scoring title this season, averaging 17.3 ppg, as he and Sanogo were the highest-scoring duo in the league (34.0 ppg). Hawkins is just the fourth UConn player to win the BIG EAST scoring crown, joining Chris Smith ('91-'92), Donyell Marshall ('93-'94) and Richard Hamilton ('98-'99).
In Big East play, Hawkins was also second in free throw percentage (.900) and third in three-pointers made per game (2.8). Overall, the smooth-shooting sophomore was second on the team to Sanogo in scoring (16.4), led the league in three-pointers made (2.9), led the team in free throw percentage (.877) and shot .407 overall and .378 from three-point range. He scored 20 points or more in 13 games this season.
Sanogo and Hawkins are the 25th and 26th Huskies all-time to be named First Team All-BIG EAST, plus UConn had four First Team picks while a member of the American Athletic Conference.
Karaban and Clingan are the 29th and 30th players to be named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, plus four others who were named while UConn was in the American Athletic Conference. It is the seventh time UConn has placed two players on the All-Freshman Team.
Joining the UConn freshmen on the All-Freshman team are: Cam Whitmore of Villanova (unanimous), AJ Storr of St. John's, Mark Armstrong of Villanova, and Desmond Claude of Xavier. The Freshman of the Year will come from that group and will be announced Wednesday.
Karaban, who won Freshman of the Week honors six times this season, was the model of consistency for the Huskies. He started 30 games and scored in double figures 18 times. He averaged 9.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, shot .471 overall, .397 from three-point range and .833 from the foul line.
Clingan, who was Freshman of the Week twice, led the Huskies in field goal percentage (.657) and blocked shots (1.8), while averaging 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. He scored in double-figures nine times and had four double-doubles.
UConn, seeded fourth, will begin play in the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 9, meeting fifth-seeded Providence at 2:30 p.m. (FS1).
All-BIG EAST First Team
Adama Sanogo, UConn
Jordan Hawkins, UConn
Tyler Kolek, Marquette*
Bryce Hopkins, Providence*
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Souley Boum, Xavier
All-BIG EAST Second Team Â
Oso Ighodaro, Marquette
Kam Jones, Marquette
Joel Soriano, St. John's
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Colby Jones, Xavier
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Trey Alexander, Creighton
Baylor Scheierman, Creighton
Devin Carer, Providence
Jack Nunge, Xavier
BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Alex Karaban, UConn*
Donovan Clingan, UConn
AJ Storr, St. John's
Mark Armstrong, Villanova
Cam Whitmore, Villanova *
Desmond Claude, Xavier
* -- denotes unanimous selection
