Oct. 27, 1999
NEW YORK - Khalid El-Amin, who has directed
Connecticut to the 1999 NCAA title and a 66-7 record over the past two years
as the starting point guard, has been named 1999-00
BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league's
head coaches.
El-Amin averaged 13.8 points, 3.9 assists and 1.6
steals last year when he became only the third player in school history to
reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore. He has
1,090 points. El-Amin was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament
Team and the BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament
Team. He was also an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection last
season. As a freshman, he was named the BIG EAST
Rookie of the Year and won the Dave Gavitt Trophy as the Most
Outstanding Player in the 1998 BIG EAST Championship.
El-Amin is joined on the 1999-00 Preseason All-BIG
EAST First Team by two seniors and two sophomores. The seniors are
Miami swingman Johnny Hemsley and Syracuse center
Etan Thomas. The sophomores are Notre Dame forward Troy Murphy
and St. John's guard Erick Barkley.
Hemsley was the 1998-99 BIG EAST Most Improved
Player. Thomas was the '98-99 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.
Two sophomores are on the first team for the first
time since 1982-83 when three made the preseason squad -- Patrick Ewing
of Georgetown, Chris Mullin of St. John's and Ed
Pinckney of Villanova. Murphy was the '98-99 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year
and Barkley made the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team.
Connecticut's Ajou Deng, a 6-11 sophomore who is a
native of Sudan, has been picked BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the
Year. Deng played two seasons at St. Thomas More
School in Connecticut before attending UConn. The forward sat out last
season to concentrate on academics.
The selections of El-Amin and Deng mark the first
time since 1990-91 that teammates have garnered the individual
preseason honors. That season, Syracuse's Billy
Owens was named Preseason Player of the Year and Adrian Autry was
picked Preseason Rookie of the Year.
1999-00 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST SELECTIONS
1999-00 Preseason Player of the Year
Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut
1999-00 Preseason Rookie of the Year
Ajou Deng, Connecticut
1999-00 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut, Jr., G, 5-10, 203, Minneapolis, Minn.
Johnny Hemsley, Miami, Sr., G-F, 6-5, 195, Baltimore, Md.
Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, So., F, 6-9, 225, Morristown, N.J.
Erick Barkley, St. John's, So., G, 6-1, 185, Queens, N.Y.
Etan Thomas, Syracuse, Sr., C, 6-9, 247, Tulsa, Okla.
1999-00 Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team
Kevin Freeman, Connecticut, Sr., F, 6-7, 235, Springfield, Mass.
Isaac Hawkins, Pittsburgh, Sr., F, 6-8, 210, Baton Rouge, La.
Bootsy Thornton, St. John's, Sr., G, 6-4, 195, Baltimore, Md.
Jason Hart, Syracuse, Sr., G, 6-3, 177, Los Angeles, Calif.
Marcus Goree, West Virginia, Sr., F, 6-8, 230, Dallas, Texas
