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| D'Vauntes Smith-Rivers - BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year |
From our friends at Georgetown Athletics...
The Georgetown University men’s basketball team was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference and junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./Oak Hill Academy) was selected as the league’s Preseason Player of the Year.
Villanova was the preseason pick to win the league, followed by the Hoyas, with Providence rounding out the top-three. St. John’s was picked fourth, with Xavier fifth and Creighton sixth. Seton Hall (seventh), Marquette (eighth), Butler (ninth) and DePaul rounded out the team selections.
Smith-Rivera was selected to the preseason all-conference team and was tabbed the league’s preseason player of the year.
The junior guard is a two-time All-BIG EAST selection, earning second team league honors in 2013-14 as a sophomore and All-Rookie honors as a freshman during the 2012-13 season.
Last year, Smith-Rivera led the team in scoring with 17.6 points per game, which ranked third in the BIG EAST Conference. He also finished second on the team in rebounding (and 18th in the league), averaging 5.0 boards per game. In addition, he contributed 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, which ranked ninth in the league. He led the BIG EAST in free throw percentage (87.3%) and connected on 39.3 percent of his three-point field goals (66-of-168), which ranked seventh in the league. Smith-Rivera, who was selected to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll five times last year, had seven games with at least 20 points.
Georgetown closed out the 2013-14 season with an 18-15 record and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, the team’s 10th postseason appearance in 10 years under Head Coach John Thompson III.
The Hoyas will open the 2014-15 season on Saturday, Nov. 15, hosting St. Francis (N.Y.) at Verizon Center with a noon tipoff. The 2014-15 schedule is highlighted by a trip to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis, a game at Madison Square Garden in New York City against Indiana and 16 games at Verizon Center, including one against perennial national power Kansas.
