Ballock & Preseason POY Zegarowski Honored as Men's Hoops Picked Second in BIG EAST

OMAHA, Neb. -- Junior guard Marcus Zegarowski was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year and the Creighton men's basketball team has been picked to finish second in the BIG EAST in 2020-21. Senior guard Mitch Ballock was also voted as a Preseason Second Team All-BIG EAST performer in the annual survey of league coaches, which was unveiled as part of virtual BIG EAST Media Day on Wednesday.

Creighton received a pair of first place votes and 91 points in the voting, which trailed only Villanova's 99 points and nine first-place votes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own programs and individuals in the preseason prognostications.

This year's rank is the best in a preseason conference poll for the Bluejays since the 2012-13 campaign, when Creighton collected 38-of-40 first place votes in a preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. Creighton's previous best preseason slotting as a BIG EAST member had been in its inaugural season, a third-place prediction in 2013-14 (CU finished second).

Creighton is the only team in the league to match or exceed its preseason projection every season since joining the BIG EAST in 2013-14. Last year's team was predicted to finish seventh in the BIG EAST, then went 13-5 in league play to share its first league title with Villanova and Seton Hall. That Bluejay team ended the year ranked seventh in the entire nation, and returns five of its top six scorers from a season ago when it went 24-7 overall.

Zegarowski is Creighton's second player ever named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, joining Doug McDermott (2013-14). McDermott would go on to win BIG EAST Player of the Year honors, as well as 14 National Player of the Year accolades, at season's end. A Hamilton, Mass., native, Zegarowski averaged 16.1 points, 5.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game in 2019-20. He played his best in some of CU's biggest games, averaging 18.9 points per game while shooting 60.4 percent from the field and 51.4 percent from three-point range in eight games (six wins) against top-25 foes. Zegarowski ranked third in the BIG EAST in assists per game (5.1), third in three-point percentage (.424), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.95), sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.42), sixth in points per game (16.1), sixth in minutes per game (34.6) and 11th in field goal percentage (.488). He was named an All-American by NBC Sports, Stadium and the Associated Press last season, and already been named a Preseason All-American by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, Basketball Times and CBS Sports this fall.
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Zegarowski is Creighton's fifth player ever named to the Preseason BIG EAST First Team, joining McDermott, Maurice Watson Jr. (2016-17), Marcus Foster (2017-18) and Ty-Shon Alexander (2019-20). All but Watson, who was leading the nation in assists before a season-ending knee injury in mid-January, would also earn First Team accolades at the end of the campaign.

"It's a great honor," said Zegarowski. "This is a great conference and I'm usually one that's an underdog and under the radar and have to prove myself. My main focus is to focus on our team and making sure all the guys are ready for the season...All that individual stuff will take care of itself. My main goal is to win a BIG EAST Championship and then to go far in March."

Reigning BIG EAST Coach of the Year Greg McDermott said that Zegarowski was deserving of the recognition. "Marcus does so many things for our team. His fingerprints are all over each game. While he's developed in a lot of different ways, the thing he does the best for our basketball team is he impacts winning. I don't think he has to change that because there's more expectations placed on his shoulder. Marcus is a winner and he's done everything that we've asked him to do since the day he arrived on campus. It's been fun to watch his development on the floor, day-by-day, step-by-step as he's worked as hard as anybody I've ever coached."

Joining Zegarowski on the Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team are seniors Charlie Moore (DePaul), Sandro Mamukelashvili (Seton Hall) and Collin Gillespie (Villanova), as well as junior David Duke (Providence) and sophomore Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova).

A senior from Eudora, Kan., Ballock is one of the nation's best three-point shooters. Last year he ranked 11th nationally in three-point percentage (.435) and 19th in three-pointers made (93). He led the BIG EAST in assist/turnover ratio (3.39) and minutes per game (35.97) and was second in three-point percentage (.435). He enters his senior season fifth all-time with 232 career three-pointers, and is the only Bluejay in program history to make 90 or more three-pointers in consecutive seasons.

Villanova, which has won at least a share of the BIG EAST regular-season title and is widely considered a top-five team nationally, was picked atop the league. Creighton was second, 12 points ahead of Providence. Connecticut returns to the BIG EAST after spending seven years in the American Athletic Conference and is fourth with 69 points, two ahead of Seton Hall.

Marquette, with 50 points, is tabbed sixth, just ahead of Xavier (47). Rounding out the bottom four teams are Butler (37), St. John's (33), DePaul (20) and Georgetown (13).

Creighton opens the season on Nov. 25 against Utah in Sioux Falls, S.D., as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.

2020-21 BIG EAST Preseason Honors
BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, Mass.

BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year
Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, Fr., 6-11, 230, Prior Lake, Minn.

Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Charlie Moore, DePaul, G, Sr., 5-11, 180, Chicago, Ill.
David Duke, Providence, G, Jr., 6-5, 205, Providence, R.I.
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6-11, 240, Tbilisi, Georgia*
Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-3, 191, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.*
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, F, So., 6-9, 232, Overland Park, Kan.
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, Mass.
*Unanimous selection

Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team^
Bryce Nze, Butler, F, Sr., 6-7, 235, Hartland, Wis.
James Bouknight, Connecticut, G, So., 6-5, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mitch Ballock, Creighton, G, Sr., 6-5, 205, Eudora, Kan.
Nate Watson, Providence, C, Sr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, Va.
Justin Moore, Villanova, G, So., 6-4, 210, Fort Washington, Md.
Paul Scruggs, Xavier, G, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, Ind.
^Tie in the voting allowed for an additional honoree

Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
D.J. Carton, Marquette, G, So., 6-2, 195, Bettendorf, Iowa
Bryce Aiken, Seton Hall, G, Sr., 6-0, 180, Randolph, N.J.

**2020-21 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches Poll**
*First-place votes in parentheses*
Rank	Team	Points
1.	Villanova (9)	99
2.	Creighton (2)	91
3.	Providence	79
4.	Connecticut	69
5.	Seton Hall	67
6.	Marquette	50
7.	Xavier	47
8.	Butler	37
9.	St. John's	33
10.	DePaul	20
11.	Georgetown	13

Creighton's BIG EAST Preseason Poll History
Year	Preseason Pick	Actual Finish	Preseason All-BIG EAST Picks
2013-14	3^rd	2^nd	Doug McDermott (POY; 1^st)
2014-15	9^th	T-9^th	-
2015-16	9^th	6^th	-
2016-17	3^rd	T-3^rd	Maurice Watson Jr. (1^st); Marcus Foster (HM)
2017-18	5^th	T-3^rd	Marcus Foster (1^st); Khyri Thomas (HM)
2018-19	9^th	T-3^rd	Martin Krampelj (HM)
2019-20	7^th	T-1^st	Ty-Shon Alexander (1^st)
2020-21	2^nd		Marcus Zegarowski (POY; 1st); Mitch Ballock (2nd)

Ballock & Preseason POY Zegarowski Honored as Men's Hoops Picked Second in BIG EAST

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Martin Krampelj

Marcus Zegarowski

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