Starting out playing basketball, Isaiah Whaley did what came naturally to him.

Whaley's best attributes were blocking shots and passing the ball, so that was his focus.

He gets his shot-blocking ability from his mother, Charlean Gingles.

"I think that came natural for me especially because even when my mom played basketball, she was a huge defensive person, shot blocker," Whaley said last week. "Especially when I started playing basketball, when I was teaching myself how to play basketball. Playing in open gyms and stuff, I knew my offense wasn't there so I was, 'alright, I've got to help us win somehow.' So the main thing I would try to do is try to block everyone's shot."

Years later, Whaley is still blocking shots as well as playing shut down defense as a member of the UConn Huskies.

On Monday, Whaley was named the Co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year along with St. John's freshman Posh Alexander, the league's steals leader. He's the eighth Husky to earn that Big East honor.

Whaley is ranked 11th in the nation in blocked shots per game at 2.7. He's helped the Huskies become the league leader in scoring defense (65.5 points per game) and blocked shots at 5.1.

Fellow senior Tyler Polley also won an individual award. He was named Big East Sixth Man of the Year.

During his UConn career, Whaley, a 6-foot-9 senior forward from Gastonia, N.C., has worked hard to polish his shot blocking and defensive skills. He's learned to get the proper timing and positioning down so he can try to avoid fouling.

"Over time I just got better with that and I'm still trying to continue to get better with that," Whaley said.

This season, Whaley had five or more blocks four times, including a career-high seven in a win at Butler on Jan. 9.

A starter the previous two seasons, Polley was shifted into the sixth man role after the first two games. A three-point shooting specialist, he has provided a spark off the bench.

During an important road trip in early January, Polley delivered when the Huskies needed him. When star guard James Bouknight suffered an elbow injury in the first half against Marquette on Jan. 5 and ended up missing the next eight games, Polley stepped up.

He scored in double figures in a season-best three straight games in wins at Marquette, Butler and DePaul. For his efforts, Polley was named Big East Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Jan. 11.

Polley has completed a long comeback from a knee injury that ended his junior season in January 2020. He's averaging 7.6 points per game as well as converting a team-best 33 3-pointers while sinking 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.

"That was an incredible stretch of games for me, just for my confidence," Polley said. "Coming back, it was like, 'Can I play at the Big East level, am I good enough to play at the Big East level?' So having those games boosted my confidence and really helped me. That's something I always remember, for sure. I never thought I would be Big East player of the week ever. It was a great accomplishment."

Polley is the sixth UConn player to win the award.

The Big East also handed two other individual awards. St. John's Julian Champagnie and Xavier's Zach Freemantle shared the most improved player honor while Creighton's Mitch Ballock was named the sportsmanship award winner.

The Big East tournament begins on Wednesday with three first round games at Madison Square Garden. Third-seeded UConn (14-6, 11-6) will play in Thursday's last quarterfinal (9 p.m.) against the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 6 Providence and No. 11 DePaul.

The league will announce the freshman, coach, player and scholar-athlete award winners on Wednesday.

g.keefe@theday.com