Villanova Wildcats junior point guard Maalik Wayns was named to the 2011-2012 preseason John Wooden Award list. Wayns was the only member of the 'Nova team to be named to the 50-player list for the award which is given out annually to the country's top performer.
Here's what a fellow Big East coach had to say about Wayns.
"It's a problem for the rest of the schools in our league that he's going to have the ball in his hands now that Corey Fisher is gone. He's probably the best point guard in our league.''
There are several other Big East players on the list, including Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh), Kris Joseph & Scoop Jardine (Syracuse), Darius Johnson-Odom (Marquette), Kevin Jones (West Virginia), Jeremy Lamb & Alex Oriakhi (UConn), Peyton Siva (Louisville) and Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame). Freshmen and transfers are not eligible for this preseason list, but more players can be added throughout the season based on their performances.