Big East coaches pick USF men’s hoops 14th in preseason poll

Posted Oct 19, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Oct 19, 2011 at 12:02 PM

The Big East men’s basketball media day is being held today in New York City, and with it came the release of the preseason coaches poll.

USF, coming off a 10-23 season, was picked to finish 14th. The Bulls finished 15th in the league standings in 2010-11 with a 3-15 mark in Big East play.

Connecticut and Syracuse tied for first in the poll, with Louisville, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati rounding out the top five. Only Providence and DePaul, at 15th and 16th, respectively, were picked to finish behind the Bulls.

The rest of the poll, from sixth to 13th (in order): Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Rutgers, St. John’s and Seton Hall.

Pittsburgh senior guard Ashton Gibbs was selected as the league’s preseason player of the year, while Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond was selected as the league’s preseason rookie of the year.

Gibbs was joined on the preseason All-Big East first team by Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb, Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom, Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis, Syracuse’s Kris Joseph and West Virginia’s Kevin Jones. The preseason second team included Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, Connecticut’s Alex Oriakhi, Louisville’s Peyton Siva, Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine and Villanova’s Maalik Wayns.

USF senior forward Augustus Gilchrist was a preseason honorable mention selection, along with DePaul’s Cleveland Melvin, Marquette’s Jae Crowder, and Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier and Drummond.