Tyler Kolek of the Marquette Golden Eagles was named Big East Player of the Year at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo Courtesy: Reed Becker)
Tyler Kolek of the Marquette Golden Eagles was named the 2022-2023 Big East Player of the Year. Kolek has been the Golden Eagles’ best player this season as he is averaging 12.7 points per game and a league-leading 7.9 assists, which also ranks second nationally. The Cumberland, Rhode Island native also ranks first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 3.3, which is sixth best in the nation.
Kolek is fifth in the Big East in steals at 1.8 per game and ninth in free throw shooting at 81.4%. He is also one of the five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard.
When asked what this award means to him, Kolek said, “Leading up to this point, we worked really hard as a team. It’s an individual award, but it’s a team award too. We don’t get Coach of the Year or Player of the year if we don’t win games.”
Kolek attended Cumberland High School before transferring to St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island in 2019. Kolek wound up winning the Rhode Island Gatorade High School Player of The Year award during his time at St. George’s.
“Life is all about experiences and the experiences you gain help you grow and move forward as a person. I have grown since then immensely and even since yesterday I have grown,” Kolek explained.
“During my time playing in Rhode Island I learned to just play together as a team and do it for the other guys and not yourself.,” Kolek continued.