Big East Player of the year race is heating up...

[ChelseaFriar]

Haanif Cheatham should not be overlooked when talking about guys with NBA potential. How was this kid only ranked 85th in the country last year for high school players.

Just goes to show that any kid in the top 100 can turn out to be pretty good. Recruiting rankings are so flawed.

Then you have Jalen Lindsey, who was 84th on ESPN. Would have been huge for PC if he was a legit SF/SG.

[MackNova]

Race is wide open again. Providence guys may be out as I don't think a .500 team will get the POY, particularly when Bentil and Dunn could potentially split the vote from that team. Whitehead may be sneaking into the discussion. If Hart had kept playing at the level he was playing at earlier, I think he'd be a pretty heavy favorite, but his numbers have slipped a little bit.

[BEX]

Tough for Dunn and Bentil as they have to bring all the offense for their team and everybody knows it. Can't have an off night. Think Sumner might make a late run if he keeps scoring 20 a game. He lost a lot of time when they brought him back slowly as they should have. Tell me who can guard him one on one?

[anXUfan]

I don't think any freshman will win POY. That's what the FOY award is for.

[PhillyPirate]

Said in the other thread and it is the homer pick but Whitehead has been on an absolute tear. If he keeps it up he will have the best stats on one of the best teams. That should matter

[Hall2012]

Tough for Dunn and Bentil as they have to bring all the offense for their team and everybody knows it. Can't have an off night. Think Sumner might make a late run if he keeps scoring 20 a game. He lost a lot of time when they brought him back slowly as they should have. Tell me who can guard him one on one?

Derrick Gordon did well to hold him to just 13 in the first SHU-X meeting. He could do similarly on Sunday.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Here's where having a complete TEAM hurts both Nova and X. Dunn, Bentil, Ellenson & Whitehead better take over games or their teams are going to lose. The guys on X and Nova share the ball so well and each has 5-6 different guys who can all hurt you, without a singular focus on any one player. B/c of that I think Dunn will just get it out of respect for all he is expected to do for that team, and PC's utter reliance on him. Take Hart off Nova and we still are in the top 2 IMO. Same with Blueitt or Farr or whomever on X. Take Dunn off PC and they are absolutely finishing in the bottom 3 with DePaul and SJU.

[scoscox]

Here's where having a complete TEAM hurts both Nova and X. Dunn, Bentil, Ellenson & Whitehead better take over games or their teams are going to lose. The guys on X and Nova share the ball so well and each has 5-6 different guys who can all hurt you, without a singular focus on any one player. B/c of that I think Dunn will just get it out of respect for all he is expected to do for that team, and PC's utter reliance on him. Take Hart off Nova and we still are in the top 2 IMO. Same with Blueitt or Farr or whomever on X. Take Dunn off PC and they are absolutely finishing in the bottom 3 with DePaul and SJU.

Agreed. The Whitehead argument is interesting and certainly gaining some steam. I'd really feel bad for Bentil though. That guy does everything for that team. He dropped 32 or something in that loss last night. I don't think any other player has been as impressive as he has all year. I'm not sure if that is enough to win POY right now, but should it be?

I think Rookie of the Year is interesting though. If the Providence guys are out does that mean Ellenson would be out? That would really vault Sumner. I never see Ellenson anymore and he's not overly athletic, but any freshman putting up 16 and 10 a game deserves it in any year. Brunson and Sumner have both been extremely good though. Big East may have the claim to the best class of freshman of any conference.

[XUFan09]

I don't think team success should be a limiting factor for Freshman of the Year like it can be for Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year implies future potential and thus future team potential...even if in this case, Ellenson probably isn't coming back.