Big East Is League Of Troy
March 06, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2001
NEW YORK (AP) - Notre Dame forward Troy Murphy, the Big East player of the year last season, shared the award for 2000-01 on Tuesday with Boston College guard Troy Bell.
Murphy, a 6-foot-11 junior, joined Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, Chris Mullin of St. John's and Richard Hamilton of Connecticut as the only players to win the award more than once.
He led the conference in scoring at 22.6 points per game and was fourth in rebounding with a 9.3 average as the Fighting Irish won the West Division.
Bell, a 6-1 sophomore who was the league's rookie of the year last season, led the Eagles to the East Division title. He was third in the conference in scoring (20.1) and third in steals (2.6).
Al Skinner, who led Boston College from worst to first in the league, was chosen coach of the year. The Eagles were 3-13 in the Big East last season and that improved to 13-3 in Skinner's fourth season.
Seton Hall forward Eddie Griffin, who led the Big East with 19 double-doubles, was chosen rookie of the year. He was fourth in the league in scoring (18.1) and led in rebounding (11.2). The 6-9 native of Philadelphia led the nation in blocked shots at 4.5 per game.
Providence junior point guard John Linehan was a unanimous selection as the league's defensive player of the year, while Syracuse junior forward Preston Shumpert and West Virginia senior forward Calvin Bowman shared the award for most improved player.
Mullin was chosen player of the year three times, winning it alone in 1983 and sharing it with Ewing the next two seasons. Hamilton won it in 1998 and shared it the next season with Tim James of Miami.
The awards are chosen by the league's coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
