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