Men’s basketball gets respect at Media Day

Before even setting foot onto the court, the 2006-07 edition of the Pitt men’s basketball… Before even setting foot onto the court, the 2006-07 edition of the Pitt men’s basketball team has drawn the attention from its opposing coaches.

At the Big East Conference’s annual media day Wednesday in New York City, the Big East coaches selected the Panthers as the preseason No. 1 team in the Big East, as well as selecting center Aaron Gray as the conference’s preseason Player of the Year.

The two other seasons, 1987-88 and 2002-03, that Pitt was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big East, it came through, securing the regular season title.

The event, which took place inside Madison Square Garden, had the respective coaches vote on preseason finishes along with preseason awards and all-conference teams.

Pitt finished first in the team voting with a total of 219 points, including 10 of the conference’s 16 first-place votes. Georgetown (212 points, four first-place votes), Syracuse (182 points, one first-place vote) and Marquette (181 points, one first-place vote) rounded out the top four.

Last season, Pitt finished 25-8 and was bounced out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round by Bradley. The Panthers return eight of their top 10 players from last year’s squad.

Gray’s honor makes him the fourth preseason Big East Player of the Year for the Panthers since they joined the conference in 1982-83. The three previous selections were Charles Smith (1986-87), Jerome Lane (1987-88) and Brandin Knight (2002-03).

In addition to the preseason Player of the Year honors, Gray was also named to the preseason All-Big East team. Pitt has had at least one player on the All-Big East preseason team in five of the last six seasons.

Gray’s accolades come off the heels of last season in which the seven-footer averaged 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, earning him the Big East Award as its most improved player.

Gray led the conference in both rebounding and double-doubles, including being the only player to average a double-double on the year.

Gray, Jeff Green (Georgetown), Roy Hibbert (Georgetown) and Dominic James (Marquette) were the only four unanimous selections for the preseason All-Big East team.

Representing the Panthers at media day were seniors Levon Kendall, Doyle Hudson, Antonio Graves and Gray, who were all accompanied by head coach Jamie Dixon.

The Panthers kick off their season for the fans tomorrow as they host their annual Fan Fest and Blue-Gold Scrimmage game, featuring both the men’s and women’s teams. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.