Big East blogger roundtable: newcomer of the year

Player of the year | Newcomer of the year | Coach of the year

The second in our blogger roundtable series deals with newcomers/ freshmen of the year. I asked our crack panel:

Who is your pick for newcomer of the year AND rookie of the year (they can be the same person).

And they replied... with the following. Cleveland Melvin got the most votes, and Jae Crowder impressed a number of folks.

Blogger by blogger voting, below the fold!

Comments?

Casual Hoya: Too obvious - Fab Melo. NOT. Rookie of the Year - Jeremy Lamb, Newcomer of the Year - Jae Crowder

Chicago College Basketball: Cleveland Melvin, F, DePaul for both (more on Cleveland Melvin from Chicago College Basketball)

Orange 44: G Jeremy Lamb - Connecticut. Honorable Mention to F CJ Fair – Syracuse.

Rumble in the Garden: : Cleveland Melvin, DePaul

Melvin's really come along and is a developing force in the league, a great fit for Purnell's offense. I think DePaul's Brandon Young has more room to grow, and Louisville's Gorgui Dieng should get some recognition for coming in and holding down the post for the Cardinals despite all the team's injuries.

South Orange Juice: Newcomer: Chris Smith, Louisville
Going outside the box on this one. Smith was a walk-on transfer from Manhattan who really helped the depth-challenged Cardinals reach unexpected heights in the standings. He averaged 9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 2.45 apg while making over 40% from three in his first year in the conference. In a season with so many injury issues for Louisville, Smith was rock-solid and consistently in the lineup.

Rookie: Cleveland Melvin- DePaul

No contest. Best player on the team in just his freshman year, and was top-5 in the conference in field goal percentage. A nice piece for Oliver Purnell to build around.

Johnny Jungle: newcomer Steve Lavin/Mike Rice, freshman Gorgui Dieng.

VU Hoops: Newcomer: Cleveland Melvin
Rookie: Cleveland Melvin

Anonymous Eagle: Do JUCOs count on this? Whatever, even if they don't, we need to work a Marquette guy in here somewhere: Jae Crowder.

Down the Drive: Cleveland Melvin is the obvious pick, no one has had a better year than him among freshmen. It certainly doesn't hurt his cause that he looks exactly like Ivan Drago.

Cardiac Hill: Newcomer of the year is Jae Crowder by a slim margin of Cleveland Melvin. Crowder is averaging 13 points/7 rebounds per game for Marquette and is hitting 50% of his shots. He also takes care of the ball with a near 3/1 assist to turnover ratio and is able to hit a three-point shot with some modicum of regularity. Melvin gets my ROY vote - if you discount the games he didn't start, his average goes from about 14 points per game to almost 18. He could be a first-team candidate next year.

Villanova by the Numbers: Newcomer -- Jae Crowder, Marquette

Rookie -- Melvin Cleveland, DePaul

The Smoking Musket: Wow. I really don't have one. There hasn't been one young player in the league who has stood out to me so far this year. As tough as this league is, there is a dearth of individual talent, and especially young individual talent.