Overview
- St. John’s topped the Big East men’s preseason coaches’ poll for the first time since 1991-92, earning 7 of 11 first-place votes to UConn’s 4.
- The AP preseason men’s poll flipped the league order, ranking UConn No. 4 and St. John’s No. 5 heading into exhibitions and Nov. 3 openers.
- Zuby Ejiofor was named Big East preseason Player of the Year, while UConn’s Braylon Mullins was voted preseason Freshman of the Year.
- UConn landed three men on the preseason first team (Alex Karaban, Solo Ball, Tarris Reed Jr.) and St. John’s placed Bryce Hopkins there, with nine of 19 all-league slots across the teams going to the two programs.
- On the women’s side, UConn was a unanimous coaches’ pick to win the Big East and swept major preseason honors, and the Huskies also opened No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports preseason coaches poll.