New York — No one would blame Kris Dunn if his head ballooned to the size of a giant basketball.

All the preseason praise being heaped on the Providence College junior is a lot for a 21-year old to handle without inflating his ego.

Major media outlets are flocking to campus to do stories on Dunn, a national player of the year candidate.

He's featured on a billboard off Route 95 in Providence promoting the men's basketball program. The athletic department set up a website dedicated to Dunn, a former New London High School star.

He simply ignores all the hype and goes about his business.

"I'm just going to be myself," Dunn said during Big East Conference media day Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. "I had the same type of attention in high school and I never listened to it. I just played my game, played with heart and played with passion.

"... There's no pressure. I don't pay any attention to stuff like that. I love basketball. I'm so focused on my game and how the team is going to be this year."

Dunn has managed to remain the same humble, polite young man while playing in the spotlight.

"He's stayed grounded," said Arthur Parks, PC's associate athletic director/marketing and communications. "He doesn't want it to be all about him."

It seems like nearly every day Dunn receives another preseason honor. On Wednesday, it was announced that Big East coaches voted him the conference's preseason player of the year. He's only the second Friar to earn that honor, joining Ryan Gomes (2005).

No surprise there.

Last season, Dunn was the first guard in the Big East history to earn both the player of the year and top defender award in the same season. A 6-foot-4 point guard, he averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.8 steals.

His decision to bypass the NBA Draft — he was projected to be a possible lottery pick — and return for his junior year stunned nearly everybody including some people close to him.

It also was a statement about Dunn, who values education and being a role model to his two younger sisters. He also wants to make sure he's NBA ready.

"The humility with which he's approached his career is really impressive to me," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I know NBA guys are drooling over that. ... He's a really unique talent with a really mature approach to the game and life. I think that's why he's going to be a lottery pick."

The NBA can wait.

Dunn is too busy working to improve his all-around game. He's determined to lead a young Providence team back to the NCAA tournament. The Friars were picked to finish fifth in the Big East preseason poll.

"I love the team right now," Dunn said. "I've very excited, very excited. I've been through a lot of hard practices. I can't wait for the games to start."

Dunn has to be at the top of his game to survive the daily college basketball grind. He will be asked to carry a heavy load for the Friars. Opposing teams will focus on containing him.

But those challenges are nothing compared to the ones he's faced in recent years — two shoulder surgeries and long recovery periods, and the death of his mother.

"I've seen the ups and the downs," Dunn said. "When you're down, nobody is around. When you're up, everybody loves you. You can't let that affect you. You've just got to stay who you are. My family, my coaching staff and my teammates are doing an unbelievable job making sure I stay who I am."

Providence coach Ed Cooley isn't concerned about all the attention derailing Dunn. He plans on doing his part to help his rising star.

"Kris has been very humble and he's very focused," Cooley said. "The attention is going to come with success. It's my job to make sure that he stays in the moment. But that's not something that I'm worried about him.

"He's really grown. He's more concerned with the team and the team's success. The more team success we can have, the more individual praise he'll get."

DePaul coach Dave Leitao knows plenty about elite players dealing with heavy expectations. As an assistant on coach Jim Calhoun's staff at UConn, he helped develop several future pros.

Leitao believes Dunn has the proper makeup to handle the hype.

"It's not really difficult if all what I hear about Kris is true, that he's a great kid," Leitao said. "I think if you have a foundation and you've been raised right, and obviously Ed has done a great job coaching him, then he can handle a lot that will come at him. To whom much is given, much is required. But you have to be ready for that.

"... Knowing just a little bit about his background, I'm sure he's ready for that challenge. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have made the decision to come back to school and take that challenge on. I have every confidence that he'll be ready for it."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe