10/1/2026 8:01:00โฏAM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK โย The BIG EAST Conference announced preseason honors prior to Media Day on Monday (Oct. 1), includingย Silas Demary Jr.ย as the league's Preseason Player of the Year,ย Colben Landrewย as Preseason Freshman of the Year and UConn as the league's favorites, collecting eight first place votes.ย Braylon Mullinsย was a unanimous Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST selection andย Na'jai Hinesย garnered a spot on the Second Team.ย
The sweep of the BIG EAST's major preseason awards is a first in the conference since 2017-18, when Villanova's Jalen Brunson and Omari Spellman were named Preseason Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively. UConn last swept the league's preseason honors in 2003, when Emeka Okafor (Player) and Charlie Villanueva (Freshman) took home the honors. The Huskies also accomplished the feat ahead of the 1999-00 season with Khalid El-Amin (Player) and Ajou Deng (Freshman).ย
Demary Jr.ย becomes UConn's second Preseason Player of the Year selection since the Huskies returned to the conference ahead of the 2020-21 season.ย Adama Sanogoย was the league's Preseason Player of the Year in 2022 and went on to be named Most Outstanding Player at the 2023 Final Four, leading UConn's run to its fifth national title. UConn's last BIG EAST Player of the Year wasย Hasheem Thabeetย in 2009, and its last overall conference Player of the Year wasย Shabazz Napierย taking home the AAC honor in 2014.ย
In his first season with the Huskies a season ago,ย Demary Jr.ย established himself as one of the nation's premiere point guards. A two-way star,ย Demary Jr.ย was one of six players in the country to earn a spot on both the Naismith Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Late-Season Teams.ย
In '25-26 the Georgia transfer averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. He was the BIG EAST's leading assist man and recorded a 44.6 / 38.5 / 80.1 shooting line on the season, topping the Huskies with 1.6 steals per game. Following the regular season, he was named First Team All-BIG EAST and BIG EAST All-Defense.ย
Landrewย is UConn's fourth-straight BIG EAST Freshman of the Year selection, joiningย Stephon Castleย (2023),ย Liam McNeeleyย (2024) andย Braylon Mullinsย (2025).ย Castleย andย McNeeleyย both went on to win Freshman of the Year, whileย Mullinsย was a unanimous selection to the league's All-Freshman Team.ย
A McComb, Miss. native who spent prep years in both Alabama and Georgia,ย Landrewย comes to Storrs as a top-30 and a consensus five-star prospect.ย Following his senior season at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga.ย ย he was the 2025-26 Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year and the Atlanta Tipoff Club Mr. Georgia Basketball.ย Landrewย was named a Naismith High School All-American and led Wheeler to the Georgia Class AAAAAA state championship as a senior, averaging 23.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game. This summer he competed with Team USA at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Mexico, averaging 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in five games
Mullins'ย unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team follows a strong freshman season that included one of the sport's most memorable March moments, a 35-foot go-ahead 3-pointer to take down top-overall seed Duke and send UConn to the Final Four in his native Indiana. On the seasonย Mullinsย averaged 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 33 games, 29 starts. His 72 made 3-pointers were the second-most for a freshman in program history, trailing onlyย Khalid El-Amin'sย 81 in 1996-97.ย
Hinesย was a Second Team All-Conference preseason pick and is entering his first year in Storrs after his freshman season in the league at Seton Hall. In '25-26 in South Orange the big man averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game, appearing in 33 contests and leading the BIG EAST with 2.2 blocked shots per game. He scored in double-figures on 11 occasions and notched four double-doubles, while grading out as a top-25 defensive center nationally per Evan Miya's BPR.ย ย
UConn was selected as the league's preseason favorites for the second-straight season and received 98 total points, including eight first place votes. In 2025-26 the Huskies recorded the fourth-most conference wins in a BIG EAST season in league history, going 17-3 in BIG EAST play and reaching the title game of the conference tournament. Despite a seven-year hiatus the Huskies hold or tie the conference records with 11 regular season titles and eight tournament crowns โ both last achieved in 2024.ย
All preseason honors are selected by the BIG EAST coaches, who may not vote for their own teams or players.ย
