The good news for St. John’s is that junior guard Marcus Hatten has been voted to the Big East first team by the league coaches. The bad news is that Hatten is more likely now to explore his position in the NBA Draft.
“Well deserved,” St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis said of Hatten’s selection. “I just know that Marcus has had an unbelievable year and hopefully he’ll be back.”
St. John’s has had its last two point guards – Erick Barkley and Omar Cook – leave early for the NBA Draft. Sources told The Post that people close to Hatten are gathering information about the draft.
Joining Hatten on the first team is Connecticut’s Caron Butler, the only unanimous selection and Boston College’s Troy Bell and Syracuse’s Preston Shumpert, the only repeaters from last year’s first team.
Because of a quirk in the balloting, seven players made the first team. Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney, Notre Dame’s Ryan Humphrey and Pittsburgh’s Brandin Knight also made the team.
The second team is comprised of Miami’s Darius Rice and John Salmons, Providence’s John ‘El Duque’ Linehan, Villanova’s Ricky Wright and Rashod Kent of Rutgers.