By Tiffany Williams –
St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor has been named the 2025-26 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year in a unanimous vote by the league’s head coaches, while Connecticut guard Braylon Mullins has been selected Preseason Freshman of the Year. The coaches, who were barred from voting for their own players, also selected All-BIG EAST First, Second, and Third Teams.
Ejiofor, a 6-9, 245-pound senior, was an All-BIG EAST First Team pick and the league’s Most Improved Player last season. He averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 58 percent from the floor. His 8.1 boards per game ranked second in the BIG EAST, and his 4.4 offensive rebounds per game led the nation. Ejiofor, pursuing a degree in business administration, was named a 2024-25 College Sports Communicators Second Team Academic All-American.
Mullins, a 6-6 guard from Greenfield, Indiana, was a 2025 McDonald’s All-American and earned Indiana’s “Mr. Basketball” award. A consensus five-star prospect and top-20 recruit, Mullins averaged nearly 33 points per game as a senior and finished his prep career as Greenfield-Central’s all-time leading scorer with 2,158 points.
The Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team includes three UConn players: Solo Ball, Alex Karaban, and Tarris Reed Jr. Ball earned 2024-25 All-BIG EAST Second Team honors with averages of 14.4 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range. Karaban averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists along with 1.6 blocks and a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Reed, last year’s BIG EAST Sixth Man Award winner, averaged 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks while shooting 67 percent.
Creighton forward Owen Freeman enters his first season with the Bluejays after transferring from Iowa, where he averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting nearly 64 percent in 19 games. Marquette senior guard Chase Ross contributed 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists last season, and his 61 steals ranked fifth in the league. He is also a two-time BIG EAST All-Academic team selection. St. John’s forward-guard Bryce Hopkins begins his first season with the Red Storm. A unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection in 2022-23 at Providence, Hopkins has been limited to 17 games over the past two seasons due to injury.
The Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team features five debuting guards: Silas Demary Jr. from UConn, Josh Dix from Creighton, KJ Lewis from Georgetown, Jason Edwards from Providence, and Ian Jackson from St. John’s. The Preseason Third Team combines returners and newcomers, including Creighton’s Jackson McAndrew, DePaul’s CJ Gunn, Georgetown’s Malik Mack, and Providence’s Oswin Erhunmwunse, alongside transfers Nik Graves from Creighton and Dillon Mitchell and Joson Sanon from St. John’s.
Ties in the voting resulted in six players on the First Team and seven on the Third Team.