DePaul picked as preseason favorite in Big East

In the preseason predicted order of finish, Villanova was picked to finish third, while senior guard Caroline Coyer (Oak Hill, Va.) was a unanimous preseason All-Big East selection.

DePaul was picked to win the league championship with 80 points and eight first place votes, while St. John’s was second with 66 points and one first place vote.

As far as conference rankings are concerned, those behind Butler finished as follows: Xavier, Providence, Marquette, Seton Hall, DePaul, Creighton, and St. John’s.

Xavier, Georgetown, Butler, Marquette and Providence round out the preseason picks.

Villanova lost three key starters from previous year in guards Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis and forward JayVaughn Pinkston. DePaul is one of just seven programs to appear in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments and is joined in this elite category by Connecticut, Duke, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford and Tennessee.

The Friars, who finished last season with a 22-12 mark and made their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, will open the 2015-16 season on Saturday, November 14 versus Harvard at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. But he knows his squad will have to earn it if its still No. 1 in the Big East when the teams reconvene at the World’s Most Famous Arena again in March for the conference tournament. He could finish his career in the school’s top 10 in points by the end of this year.

Last season Dunn led the Big East in assists (7.5 per game) and steals (2.7) while averaging 15.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. She had the team’s best single-game output of the year against Yale, becoming the only Red Storm player to eclipse 30 points in a contest last season. The Wildcats have lost three of their top five scorers from a season ago, but do return five rotational players from last year, and have the incoming Big East Freshman of the Year in Jalen Brunson.

Joining Mullin as the other first-year coach in the Big East is DePaul’s Dave Leitao, who is back for his second turn with the Blue Demons.

Creighton (17-14, 10-8) qualified for the national postseason for the eighth consecutive year in 2014-15, earning an at-large bid to the WNIT.

Georgetown was picked to finish second, collecting 70 points and the remaining first place vote. After a breakout year in 2013-14, Janning ranked among the league leaders in points, assists and shooting percentage and was unanimously named All-BIG EAST First Team.

Xavier was tabbed sixth in the preseason poll after improving its overall record by 10 wins last season. Bluiett is XU’s leading returning scorer after averaging 11 points per game past year.

Georgetown returns all five of its starters including reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Dorothy Adomako.

BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the YearBrittany Ward, Butler, Fr., F, 6-1, Indianapolis, Ind.