Champagnie, Alexander get Big East honors
St. John’s best Big East finish in six years led to recognition from the conference’s coaches.
Sophomore forward Julian Champagnie was an all-Big East first team selection while point guard Posh Alexander was a unanimous selection to the league’s allfreshman team.
Champagnie and Alexander, Brooklyn natives who played AAU together as kids, led the Johnnies to a fourth-place finish in the league after being picked ninth in the preseason. Champagnie was the Big East’s leader in scoring and free-throw percentage, averaging 19.9 points per game and shooting 88.7 percent from the charity stripe along with a team-high 7.3 rebounds. The Bishop Loughlin alum is just the fifth St. John’s player to make the league’s first team as a sophomore, joining Shamorie Ponds (2018), Erick Barkley (2000), Ron Artest (1999) and Chris Mullin (1983).
Alexander, who has missed the last two games with a sprained thumb, keyed St. John’s first winning conference season since 2015, posting 11.1 points and 4.4 assists, and a league-best 2.6 steals.
The league’s player of the year, coach of the year and freshman of the year honors will be announced on Wednesday before the tournament begins at the Garden. St. John’s coach Mike Anderson and Alexander are considered strong contenders in the latter two categories. St. John’s opens the Big East Tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. against Seton Hall. With a victory, the Johnnies would reach the semifinals for the first time since winning it all in 2000.
Seton Hall senior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili was a unanimous first-team selection, and was joined by Champagnie, Villanova duo Jeremiah RobinsonEarl and Collin Gillespie, Creighton guard Marcus Zegarowski and UConn guard James Bouknight.
Providence’s David Duke and Nate Watson, Creighton forward Damien Jefferson and Xavier’s Zach Freemantle and Paul Scruggs were second-team selections.
Alexander was joined as a unanimous selection on the allfreshman team by Butler guard Chuck Harris and Marquette forward Dawson Garcia. UConn forward Adama Sanogo and Xavier guard Colby Jones were also selected.