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Monroe wrangles in early Big East honors
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Expect big things from Greg Monroe this year
The season hasn't even started and Greg Monroe is raking in the awards. The sophomore center was among the 17 underclassmen selected to the Naismith 2009-10 Preseason Watch List on Thursday. Monroe's inclusion brought the number of Big East players on the Naismith list to nine, a total that only the ACC was able to match.
In addition to his inclusion on the top-50 list, analysts backed up Monroe's 2008-09 Big East Rookie of the Year selection by making him the only underclassman selected to the Preseason All-Big East First team. For Monroe, these are minor surprises. The 6'10" big man could have been a top-five NBA pick last year, and barring a significant drop off in production, has a good chance at maintaining those projections.
The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on players' performance from the previous year, combined with their expectations for the upcoming season. "The level of talent is exceptional across all teams, conferences and classes, which further underscores just how many candidates have a legitimate chance to win this award," said Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president.
For a player as talented as Monroe, the awards are likely to keep coming. He averaged 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals last season while playing out of his natural power forward position, and even though he's expected to spend time at th 4 and the 5, the improvement of fellow sophomore big man Henry Sims will likely keep some of the Big East bangers off Monroe, so he's fresher for the end of games. Additionally, expect a rise in Monroe's assist numbers, as freshman Vee Sanford has a killer outside shot, combined with the improvement of Austin Freeman and Chris Wright.
Wright and Freeman were both better players than they were at the start of the season, which should do a lot to offset the loss of DaJuan Summers, who is currently sitting in street clothes at the end of the Detroit Pistons' bench. And while Summers' outside shooting will be missed, his shot selection won't. Expect many of those attempts to fall into the hands of Monroe, who, as many people at this point realize, is ready to take them.
