UConn blanketed the major Big East preseason honors as UConn men’s and women’s basketball were both picked to finish first in the Big East preseason poll, while Silas Demary Jr. and Sarah Strong earned Player of the Year honors.
On the women’s side, Villanova, Creighton, St. John’s, and Seton Hall rounded out the top five. For the men, St. John’s was the only other school with multiple first-place votes, finishing in second, while Villanova, Marquette, and Providence completed the top five.
The freshman of the year awards went to Colben Landrew and Olivia Vukosa. Landrew was a consensus five-star recruit, the Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year in Georgia, and a member of Team USA in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup this past summer.
Vukosa was ESPN’s no. 2-ranked recruit in the Class of 2026 and the Gatorade Player of the Year for New York out of Christ the King. She was a McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American. UConn has had seven straight preseason freshman of the year honorees.
Braylon Mullins made the Big East preseason first team, along with two St. John’s players, Ian Jackson and Tounde Yessoufou, plus Nigel James of Marquette and Tyler Perkins from Villanova.
KK Arnold and Blanca Quinonez made the women’s preseason all-Big East team, while Ashlynn Shade was an honorable mention.
Strong was a consensus All-American last season and also AP Player of the Year as a sophomore, averaging 18.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 3.8 APG as she also took home a case full of individual awards such as the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Wade Trophy, and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year.
The Huskies’ season ended with a rough loss to South Carolina in the Final Four. This offseason, they saw Azzi Fudd picked first overall in the WNBA Draft. In addition to Vukosa, a five-star recruit from New York, they welcomed French prospect Marine Dursus and Jovana Popovic to the squad.
After making the national championship game last year following a 27-4 regular season, Dan Hurley’s squad reloaded with 10 new players this offseason. He emphasized that he has a young roster, with underclassmen making up a majority of their rotation.
They return Mullins and Demary Jr. in the backcourt and have high expectations for both of their freshmen, Landrew and Junior County. Along with major transfers like Najai Hines and Nik Khamenia, it’s no wonder the Huskies are the league favorites after finishing second to St. John’s last season.
Last year, Demary Jr. powered through injury to help lead the Huskies as their “quarterback” and was an all-league and all-Defensive team honoree, averaging 10.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and a league-high 5.9 APG.
The Women’s squad will kick off its season with an exhibition against Syracuse on Oct. 12, while the Men’s team will also face the Orange in an exhibition the following night on Oct. 13 at Mohegan Sun.
