Creighton Bluejay Basketball Players Land On All-BIG EAST Teams

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Creighton seniors Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth earned All-BIG EAST honors and Jackson McAndrew landed a spot on the All-Freshman Team, the BIG EAST announced on Sunday.

Kalkbrenner was a unanimous selection to the First Team, while Ashworth was a Second Team honoree. It's the sixth time in the last nine seasons that Creighton has had at least one member on both the First and Second Teams.

A 7-foot-1 center from Florissant, Mo., Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (.663), rebounds (9.0) and blocked shots per game (2.7) while ranking second with 19.4 points per contest. The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year entered the weekend fourth nationally in field goal percentage, fourth in blocked shots, 17th in field goals made and 38th in double-doubles. He owns BIG EAST career records for blocked shots (248), field goal percentage (.639), games played (97), minutes played (2,895) and field goals (544) in league play. Tomorrow, he hopes to join Ewing as the only man in league history to be named a four-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. Kalkbrenner is second in Creighton history in blocked shots (386), points (2,352) and field goal percentage (.661) and is third in rebounding (1,113). An All-BIG EAST First Team pick in 2022-23 and Second Team choice last year, Kalkbrenner is just the second player in program history to be a two-time First Team selection, joining Marcus Foster (2016-17 and 2017-18).

Ashworth leads the BIG EAST with 7.0 assists per game, 3.23 three-pointers per game and a .920 free-throw percentage, in addition to averaging 16.8 points per game. Yesterday he became the first player in program history to surpass 500 points and 200 assists in the same season. The Alpine, Utah, product owns five double-doubles this season. This is Ashworth's second First Team All-Conference selection, as he earned a similar honor from the Mountain West Conference while playing for Utah State in 2022-23.

McAndrew is Creighton's first All-Freshman Team honoree since 2021-22, when Trey Alexander, Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Nembhard were all recognized. The Wayzata, Minn., native is averaging 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this season and picked up his first BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolade earlier today. McAndrew made a three-pointer in 19-of-20 BIG EAST games, and his 58 three-pointers rank fifth most in CU history by a freshman. McAndrew has scored in double-figures 11 times this winter.

Four of the 2024-25 All-BIG EAST First Team selections are unanimous picks as the conference has announced the All-BIG EAST First, Second and Third Teams and All-Freshman Team.  The league’s head coaches select the all-conference squads and were not permitted to select their own players.  
 
There are no repeat selections on the All-BIG EAST First Team. The unanimous picks are Kalkbrenner of Creighton, Kam Jones of Marquette, RJ Luis Jr. of St. John’s and Eric Dixon of Villanova. The other selections are Micah Peavy of Georgetown and Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s.     

The All-BIG EAST Second Team includes two UConn players, forward Alex Karaban and guard Solo Ball, along with Ashworth, St. John’s Kadary Richmond and Xavier’s Zach Freemantle. 
 
The All-BIG EAST Third Team has six players because of a tie in the balloting, including a pair of freshmen, UConn’s Liam McNeeley and Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber.  Also, Butler forward Jahmyl Telfort, Marquette forward David Joplin, Villanova guard Wooga Poplar and Xavier guard Ryan Conwell are on the squad.
 
The BIG EAST Freshman of the Year will come from the All-Freshman Team. UConn forward Liam McNeeley and Georgetown Thomas Sorber dominated Freshman of the Week honors this season. McNeeley and Sorber each won seven times. Both were unanimous selections. The other All-Freshman Team picks are McAndrew, forward Royce Parham of Marquette and the Providence duo of center Oswin Erhunmunse and forward Ryan Mela,

The BIG EAST Player of the Year will come from the All-BIG EAST First Team.  The conference will announce Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, March 12, at Madison Square Garden at 12:30 p.m. Central.  Other league individual awards, including BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man Award and Sportsmanship Award will be announced Monday, March 10, at 10 a.m. Central.

Saturday's win over Butler helped Creighton (22-9, 15-5 BIG EAST) clinch the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP. The Bluejays will play on Thursday night at 6 p.m. Central against the winner of Wednesday's Georgetown/DePaul First Round match-up.

 
ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM
*Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, C, Sr., 7-1, 270, Florissant, Mo. 
Micah Peavy, Georgetown, G-F, Gr., 6-8, 220, Cibolo, Texas
*Kam Jones, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-5, 205, Memphis, Tenn.
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s, F, Jr., 6-9, 240, Garland, Texas 
*RJ Luis, Jr., St. John’s, G-F, Jr., 6-7, 215, Miami, Fla.
*Eric Dixon, Villanova, F, Gr., 6-8, 265, Willow Grove, Pa.
 
ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
Solo Ball, Connecticut, G, So., 6-3, 190, Leesburg, Va.
Alex Karaban, Connecticut, F, R-Jr., 6-8, 225, Southborough, Mass.
Steven Ashworth, Creighton, G, Sr., 6-0, 175, Alpine, Utah
Kadary Richmond, St. John’s, G, Gr., 6-6, 205, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Zach Freemantle, Xavier, F, Gr., 6-9, 227, Teaneck, N.J. 
 
ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM*
Jahmyl Telfort, Butler, F, Gr., 6-7, 225, Montreal, Que.
Liam McNeeley, Connecticut, F, Fr., 6-7, 210, Richardson, Texas
Thomas Sorber, Georgetown, F-C, Fr., 6-10, 255, Trenton, N.J.
David Joplin, Marquette, F, Sr., 6-8, 225, Milwaukee, Wis.
Wooga Poplar, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-5, 197, Philadelphia, Pa.
Ryan Conwell, Xavier, G, Jr., 6-4, 215, Indianapolis, Ind.
*A tie in the voting created an extra position.
 
BIG EAST ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
*Liam McNeeley, Connecticut, F, Fr., 6-7, 210, Richardson, Texas
Jackson McAndrew, Creighton, F, Fr., 6-10, 220, Wayzata, Minn.
*Thomas Sorber, Georgetown, F-C, Fr., 6-10, 255, Trenton, N.J.
Royce Parham, Marquette, F, Fr., 6-8, 230, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Oswin Erhunmunse, Providence, F, Fr., 6-10, 220, Benin City, Nigeria
Ryan Mela, Providence, F, Fr., 6-6, 220, Natick, Mass.
 
*Denotes unanimous selection