The home of the Big 5, the Palestra. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
March 27, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
The Philadelphia Big 5 went 44 consecutive seasons with a representative in the NCAA tournament from 1978 through 2022. (There was no tournament in 2020.) Over that stretch, the five schools combined for 92 trips to the Big Dance that included national championships in 1985, 2016 and 2018 for Villanova.
Add in Drexel’s five appearances during that stretch and the combined number of NCAA berths is 97. (Drexel was not part of the Big 5 until this season.)
But this season marks the second straight year without a Big 5 team in the Big Dance. The reasons for Philly schools’ absence have some to do with each of the schools and some to do with the changing landscape of college basketball.
Over the last six days, we have looked at why they are not in the tournament and how they might get back there (links below). Today, we unveil our All-Big 5 selections.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday: Villanova
Saturday: Temple
Sunday: Saint Joseph’s
Monday: Penn
Tuesday: La Salle
Wednesday: Drexel
Today: All-Big 5 Selections
All-Big 5 Selections
First Team
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph’s
Amari Williams, Drexel
Jhamir Brickus, La Salle
Xzayvier Brown, Saint Joseph’s
Second Team
Khalil Brantley, La Salle
TJ Bamba, Villanova
Justin Moore, Villanova
Hysier Miller, Temple
Rasheer Fleming, Saint Joseph’s
Third Team
Justin Moore, Drexel
Jordan Riley, Temple
Clark Slajchert, Penn
Tyler Perkins, Penn
Cameron Brown, Saint Joseph’s
—
Player of the Year: Eric Dixon, Villanova
Rookie of the Year: Xzayvier Brown, Saint Joseph’s
Coach of the Year: Zach Spiker, Drexel
Good Guy Award: Kale Beers, La Salle
—
My thoughts: Let’s start with Player of the Year. This was a very tough choice between Dixon and Reynolds. I thought about Co-Players of the Year, but a former editor once told me that if you have “Co” Players of the Year, then you have “No” Players of the Year. Ultimately, Dixon’s consistency throughout the season nudged him slightly past Reynolds in my mind.
Second, my teams are listed in ranked order of pick, 1 through 15 for the three teams. The toughest part for me was those final two selections on the third team. In the end, I feel very comfortable with my picks based on seeing these teams 42 times live from press row this season and many more on television and streaming. Of course, these types of endeavors lend themselves to debate, and arguments can be made against what I have selected here.
As far as Coach of the Year, Spiker, Billy Lange of Saint Joseph’s and La Salle’s Fran Dunphy were my top three candidates, though Adam Fisher was a late, dark-horse candidate with Temple’s run in the American Athletic Conference tournament. Ultimately, I felt Spiker had the most sustained level of success, leading the Dragons to just their 10th 20-plus win season and second-place finish in the CAA. He also has done a fantastic job of recruiting.
Xzayvier Brown as Rookie of the Year was the easiest pick here and one that will not get debate from anyone – not even La Salle or Villanova faithful. The Good Guy Award is not for a player; rather, I selected longtime Explorers play-by-play voice Kale Beers. Beers, who passed 800 games broadcast this season, and always is a friendly face on press row. The reason for this award, though, is because he agreed to an interview for the second story on this site when I was trying to decide whether to launch or not.
Well, that’s it for the awards. My final #Big5Hoops rankings, scoring leaders and rebounding leaders are below. Thanks so much to everyone for following along this season. It has been a blast. See you next season!
#Big5Hoops 2023-24 Final Rankings
1. Saint Joseph’s 21-14, 9-9 Atlantic 10
2. Villanova 18-16, 10-10 Big East
3. Drexel 20-12, 13-5 Coastal Athletic Conference
4. Temple 16-20, 5-13 American Athletic Conference
5. La Salle 16-17, 6-12 Atlantic 10
6. Penn 11-18, 3-11 Ivy League
Big 5 2023-24 Scoring Leaders
1. Clark Slajchert, Penn 18.0
2. Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph’s 17.3
3. Eric Dixon, Villanova 16.6
4. Hysier Miller, Temple 15.9
5. Khalil Brantley, La Salle 15.0
6. Jhamir Brickus, La Salle 13.9
7. Tyler Perkins, Penn 13.7
8. Xzayvier Brown, Saint Joseph’s 12.7
9. Justin Moore, Drexel 12.4
10. Amari Williams, Drexel 12.2
Big 5 2023-24 Rebounding Leaders
1. Nick Spinoso, Penn 7.9
2. Amari Williams, Drexel 7.8
3. Rasheer Fleming, Saint Joseph’s 7.4
4. Eric Dixon, Villanova 6.5
5. Tyler Burton, Villanova 6.1
6. Jordan Riley, Temple 6.0
T7. Sam Hofman, Temple 5.7
T7. Christ Essandoko, Saint Joseph’s 5.7
9. Daeshon Shepherd, La Salle 5.6
10. Jahlil White, Temple 5.5
—
Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.