Doug McDermott kisses his Player of the Year trophy. (Photo by Mike Spomer, White and Blue Review)
Wednesday afternoon in New York, Doug McDermott was named the 2013-14 Big East Player of the Year by a unanimous vote of the league’s coaches. The nation’s leading scorer was widely anticipated to win the honor, but to win it unanimously shows just how much of a no-brainer it truly was.
“It’s awesome to be given this award, because there’s so many great players in this league,” McDermott told the media on Wednesday. “To be named player of the year is a huge honor. Coming from the Valley, I never imagined I’d see this day. It’s really special, and it’s something I’ll never forget.”
He’s now a three-time Player of the Year, having won the award each of the previous two seasons in the Missouri Valley. That makes him the first player in college basketball history to win such an award in two different leagues. “I didn’t know I was the first,” McDermott noted, “but that’s pretty cool. The Valley is a great conference, and I have a lot of great memories from there. But I’m glad I get to start making some new memories in this conference, and I’m looking forward to the tournament this week.”
His stats are overwhelming — in addition to his 26.5 scoring average this season, McDermott is shooting 52.2 percent from the field, 44.7 percent from 3-point range and 86.7 percent from the foul line — but the leadership he learned over the summer with Team USA helped him guide the Jays to a 24-6 record and second place in the league, and those were also big factors in winning the award.
“I had a great summer with Team USA,” McDermott told the assembled NY media. “I learned so much from the players and coaches, especially how to be a better leader on the court. I’m a senior, and this is my last go-round. Those great coaches, Coach Beilein, Bob McKillop, Frank Martin, I learned a lot of stuff from them.”
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman hands the Player of the Year trophy to Creighton’s Doug McDermott. (Photo by Mike Spomer for White & Blue Review)
In addition to McDermott being awarded the Player of the Year, the Big East also named DePaul freshman guard Billy Garrett, Jr. as Big East Rookie of the Year, and Villanova head coach Jay Wright as Big East Coach of the Year. Garrett made quite the impression, finishing the regular season as the top freshman scorer in the Big East, averaging 12.4 points per game. He also led all Big East freshmen with 90 assists and an 81.9 shooting percentage from the foul line, and he earned Big East Rookie of the Week honors five times.
Meanwhile, Wright was very deserving of Coach of the Year honors after piloting Villanova to the Big East regular-season title with a 16-2 record and a 28-3 overall mark. Both win totals were school records, which is especially impressive when you consider they were picked fourth in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, yet are currently ranked No. 3 nationally in both the Associated Press and the USA Today polls.
Left to Right: Creighton’s Doug McDermott, Villanova’s Jay Wright, DePaul’s Billy Garrett, Jr. and Butler’s Alex Barlow proudly display their hardware. (Photo by Mike Spomer for White & Blue Review)
Earlier in the day, McDermott was named First Team All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, becoming just the 18th man in history to be a USBWA First Team All-American three times. He’s already been named National Player of the Year by Sporting News, BleacherReport.com and NBCSports.com, and a First Team All-American by all three outlets as well as Sports Illustrated, the latter of which put him on their cover this week.
Creighton opens up Big East Tournament play with a 6pm tip against the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Georgetown and DePaul. The game will be televised on FS1 nationwide.