Big East Conference Men 's Basketball Freshman of the Year , known as Big East Conference Men 's Basketball Rookie of the Year from 1989 to 2015 , is a Rookie of the Year award given annually by the Big East Conference to one or more men 's basketball players in their first year of competitive play . It was first awarded by the original Big East Conference at the end of its inaugural 1979 – 80 season . When the conference split along football lines in 2013 , the seven schools of the original Big East that did not play FBS football joined with three other schools and formed a new Big East Conference , with the FBS schools remaining in the former Big East structure under the new name of American Athletic Conference ( The American ) . While both offshoot conferences claim the same 1979 starting date and administrative history , the athletic history of the original league is claimed only by the current Big East
original Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Big East Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year