NEW YORK — Pitt senior guard Ashton Gibbs has been selected Big East preseason player of the year.

He led Pittsburgh in scoring (16.8), and led the conference in 3-point shooting (49 percent), and was second in free throw shooting (88.9) He enters the season third on the Big East career 3-point shooting percentage list at 45.4.

The other Panthers to be preseason player of the year are Charles Smith (1986-87), Jerome Lane (1987-88), Brandin Knight (2002-03) and Aaron Gray (2006-07).

“It’s an honor but it’s a personal accolade and my teammates and I are playing for championships,” Gibbs said. “We want the Big East. We want a national championship. That’s what we work so hard for.”

The basketball coaches of all 16 Big East schools were in one building, ready to talk about their teams and the prospects for the season.

“Without the Big East, I would never had a chance to win three national championships,” said Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, whose team was picked as co-favorites with Syracuse in the coaches’ preseason poll. “If we were to stay in the Big East, it would be a great thing and that’s what I would like. But if we aren’t able to, I’m sure our leadership will find a suitable location for us.”

There has been plenty of talk that UConn would be interested in also going to the ACC, but it has said they are set with 14 members right now.

“I worry about UConn basketball in the future. In the past five years we’ve had the best basketball league in the country,” Calhoun said.