NEW YORK — Despite having played only three Big East Conference games last season, Providence College men’s basketball senior forward Bryce Hopkins received All-Big East preseason first team acclaim Wednesday at the annual Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden.
Hopkins was named a first team selection for the second consecutive season and joins Big East Player of the Year favorite, senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton, along with UConn junior forward Alex Karaban, Villanova graduate forward Eric Dixon, St. John’s graduate guard Kadary Richmond and Marquette senior guard Kam Jones.
Having undergone ACL surgery and now in the 10th month of his recovery, no timetable for Hopkins’ return to game action has been presented by PC head coach Kim English.
“I’ve told him all offseason that his ACL is going to be stronger and his game is going to be better when he does return,” said English.
Hopkins had his 2023-24 season cut short when he went down on Jan. 3, 2024 in a Big East game against Seton Hall. In the 14 previous games before his injury, Hopkins had averaged 15.5 ppg and 8.6 rebounds, having five double-doubles.
“Everything is going good, my body feels good,” Hopkins said Wednesday in New York. “I’m very resilient and confident about coming back. Right now, I’m taking it on a day-by-day basis.”
Hopkins had 11 points and nine rebounds in last year’s Big East season opener against Marquette, then 12 points and 13 rebounds against Butler. In the three games Hopkins shot just 9-for-31 from the floor, going 0-for-11 from 3-point range.
A transfer from the University of Kentucky, Hopkins received All-Big East acclaim in his first season as a Friar. He started all 33 games, leading the Friars in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounding (8.5) and double-doubles (10).
“Once that you start making progress, you start feeling that you can do stuff,” Hopkins said of his recovery. “You have to stay down and not do too much. I have a specific plan on what I need to do.”
Among All-Big East players, Hopkins was tied for sixth in scoring and was second in rebounding. Hopkins had a then career-best 29-point, 23-rebound game in a double-overtime victory over Marquette.
The Friars will host UMass Amherst in a charity exhibition game Saturday at 4 p.m. at the AMP, then open the school’s 98th season of competition Nov. 4 at home against Central Connecticut and begin Big East play Dec. 10 at DePaul.
Butler (senior forward Pierre Brooks and graduate guard Jahmy Telfort) and Xavier (graduate guard Dayvion McKnight and graduate forward Zach Freemantle) highlight the second team selections along with graduate guard Deivon Smith of St. John’s.
The third team consists of Creighton senior guard Steven Ashworth, Villanova senior guard Wooga Poplar, Xavier junior guard Ryan Conwell, Georgetown junior guard Jayden Epps and UConn junior guard Aidan Mahaney.
Defending national champion UConn was the consensus preseason pick for league honors. Karaban is the lone returning starter for coach Dan Hurley, who added Mahaney, a transfer from St. Mary’s and highly acclaimed freshman Liam McNeeley, a 6-foot-7 forward from Texas and the preseason Big East Rookie of the Year.
Creighton, Xavier and Marquette were the 2-3-4 selections, while the Friars were tabbed at No. 6.
“That’s for the fans,” English said of the preseason polls.
English and the Friars compiled a 21-14 record in his first season at PC, going 10-10 in the Big East.
