UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. speaks to members of the media after a summer practice at the Werth Family Basketball Champions Center in Storrs, Conn., Friday, August 7, 2026. (Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media)
NEW YORK – Both youth and experience are served on the Big East men’s basketball’s preseason coaches’ poll and all-league teams.
And so is the UConn men’s basketball team.
The Huskies were picked to win the conference this season, earning eight out of 11 first-place votes from the league’s coaches. The Huskies garnered 98 points; St. John’s was second with 90.
Meanwhile, Silas Demary Jr. has been named Preseason Player of the Year, Braylon Mullins earned First Team All-Big East honors and Na’jai Hines was named to the Second Team.
Also, Colben Landrew was picked to be the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Demary, a senior point guard, is expected to be one of the top players in the country this season. He averaged 10.1 points and a Big East-best 5.8 assists per game while shooting 38.5 percent from 3 (47.3 percent in Big East play) and earning First Team All-Big East honors. Demary suffered a high ankle sprain in last season’s Big East championship game against St. John’s and wasn’t healthy for the NCAA Tournament, but still played a key role in wins over Duke and Illinois.
Mullins averaged 12 points per game as a freshman last season and hit perhaps the biggest shot in program history, a 35-footer at the buzzer that gave the Huskies an improbable, 73-72 comeback win over Duke to advance to the Final Four in his hometown of Indianapolis. He is expected to improve upon his numbers from a year ago as he moves over from small forward to his more natural position of shooting guard.
Hines was the Big East’s top shot-blocker as a freshman last season at Seton Hall while averaging 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in just 18 minutes per game before transferring to UConn in April.
Landrew, a five-star recruit out of Wheeler High in Georgia, is a 6-foot-6, 236-pound forward expected to battle senior Jayden Ross for the starting small forward spot.
Three of the five first-team selections are sophomores: Mullins, reigning league Freshman of the Year Nigel James Jr. of Marquette and St. John’s Tounde Yessoufou, a Baylor transfer. And in a nod to the league’s experience and roster retention, 10 of the 16 all-league picks are returnees to their respective teams.
It’s also interesting to note that none of the players waiting to be ruled eligible by the NCAA (i.e., St. John’s Quinn Ellis or Babacar Sane or Providence’s Dink Pate) earned any preseason honors.
Following UConn and St. John’s in the preseason coaches’ poll is Villanova (81 points), Marquette (73, including one first-place vote), Providence, Xavier, Creighton, DePaul, Seton Hall, Georgetown and Butler.
2026-27 Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll
UConn (8) 98
St. John’s (2) 90
Villanova 81
Marquette (1) 73
Providence 59
Xavier 54
Creighton 47
DePaul 32
Seton Hall 31
Georgetown 27
Butler 13
(First place votes in parentheses)
2026-27 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Preseason Honors
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Silas Demary Jr., UConn, Sr., G, 6-4, 191, Raleigh, N.C.
PRESEASON FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Colben Landrew, UConn, Fr., F, 6-6, 236, McComb, Miss.
PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM
Braylon Mullins, UConn, So., G, 6-6, 198, Greenfield, Ind. *
Nigel James Jr., Marquette, So., G, 6-0, 195, Huntington, N.Y. *
Ian Jackson, St. John’s, Jr., G, 6-5, 200, Bronx, N.Y.
Tounde Yessoufou, St. John’s, So. G, 6-5, 220, Cotondou, Benin *
Tyler Perkins, Villanova, Sr., G, 6-4, 212, Lorton, Va.
* unanimous selection
PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
Na’jai Hines, UConn, F, So., 6-11, 278, Plainfield, N.J.
Royce Parham, Marquette, Jr., F, 6-9, 235, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Miles Byrd, Providence, Gr., G, 6-6, 200, Stockton, Calif.
Kwame Evans Jr., Villanova, Sr., F, 6-10, 220, Baltimore, Md.
Devin Royal, Villanova, Sr., F, 6-6, 230, Columbus, Ohio
PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM
Oswin Erhunmwunse, Creighton, Jr., C, 6-10, 235, Benin City, Nigeria
Jackson McAndrew, Creighton, Jr., F, 6-10, 225, Wayzata, Minn.
Layden Blocker, DePaul, Sr., G, 6-2, 193, Little Rock, Ark.
Sananda Fru, Marquette, Sr., F, 6-11, 250, Berlin, Germany
Jovan Milicevic, Xavier, Jr., F, 6-10, 241, Toronto, Ontario
Mike Nwoko, Xavier, Sr., F, 6-10, 260, Toronto, Ontario
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This article originally published at UConn men’s basketball picked to win Big East, Silas Demary Jr. tabbed as Player of the Year.
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