Early look: Sizing up the Big East

[Halldan1]

C.L. Brown, ESPN Staff Writer


Who’s the favorite in each major college basketball conference? And which teams are trending in the right (and wrong) directions? Over the next two weeks, we’ll take a look across the nation to see how college hoops’ most notable conferences are shaping up for next season. Today, it’s the Big East.

The Big East appeared to return to its beastly ways last season. The league earned six NCAA tournament bids in just the second year of its 10-team format and, man, were they shown respect by the selection committee.

St. John’s was a 9-seed, but the rest were seeded sixth or better, including Villanova, which claimed a No. 1 seed. Unfortunately for the league, none of that translated into postseason success.

The Red Storm and Providence didn’t make it past the first game. Villanova, Georgetown and Butler fizzled out in the round of 32. Nova proved to be the most disappointing in its upset loss to 8-seed NC State.

Xavier was the only team to advance out of the first weekend but was promptly sent packing by Arizona in the Sweet 16.

When the 2015-16 season rolls around, it’s fair to say that every Big East program will have an emphasis on producing results in March. Even the teams that didn’t make it last season.

DePaul hasn’t appeared in the NCAA tournament since joining the Big East for the 2005-06 season. The last time the Blue Demons did make it, coach Dave Leitao was the one guiding them in 2004 as a member of Conference USA. Perhaps that is why the school brought him back. Leitao posted winning records in each of his three seasons at DePaul. There’s been only one since he left.

St. John’s made the NCAA tournament but still jettisoned coach Steve Lavin in favor of reaching back to its 1980s glory days. Former star guard Chris Mullin takes the reins with no head-coaching experience, but he is a direct link to the time when St. John’s was among the elite programs. Since 2000, the Red Storm have played in the NCAA tournament only three times.

Favorite

There’s no overwhelming favorite, but Villanova, Georgetown, Xavier and Butler can all make a reasonable case as the top team in the league.

Nova might have the best backcourt as long as freshman point guard Jalen Brunson, ranked No. 16 in the ESPN 100, and senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono can find a medium to coexist.

The Hoyas may have the best player in the league in guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who led the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game last season. Smith-Rivera should have more help this season thanks to a top-25 recruiting class led by center Jessie Govan.

The Musketeers returned six of their top eight players from last season, including Trevon Bluiett, the leading returning scorer. They'll also get a boost from the healthy return of guard Edmond Sumner, who sat out after just six games last season with knee problems.

The Bulldogs’ senior trio of Roosevelt Jones, Kellen Dunham and Andrew Chrabascz should help them improve offensively, although Butler may not measure up to the team that ranked seventh nationally in adjusted defense, according to Ken Pomeroy.

Trending up

Marquette tied DePaul for ninth place in the league last season, so of course the only way to go is up. The Golden Eagles probably won’t contend for the Big East crown this season, but coach Steve Wojciechowski has laid the foundation for what should be a much-improved team.

They can expect a big boost from Henry Ellenson, a 6-foot-10 power forward from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, who is the No. 5-ranked player in the ESPN 100. Ellenson chose Marquette despite getting offers from Kentucky and Michigan State.

Trending down

St. John’s was likely facing a rebuilding year even if Lavin wasn’t replaced by Mullin as head coach. The change at the top ensured a total reset for the Red Storm. Six players who made up the core of their rotation from last season exhausted their eligibility.

A couple of late decisions last month drastically altered the roster. Junior Rysheed Jordan, the team’s second-leading scorer, opted to turn pro. Would-be senior center Chris Obekpa, the team’s leading shot-blocker and second-leading rebounder, announced he would transfer.

Mullins is left with just three players remaining from Lavin’s tenure: reserves Amar Alibegovic, Felix Balamou and Christian Jones, who scored a combined 90 points last season.

Notable Newcomers

NC State transfer Tyler Lewis will have a chance to make an immediate impact for Butler at point guard. Lewis has played in so many marquee games that nothing seems to rattle him.

Haanif Cheatham and Ellenson are the highest-ranked players in Marquette’s recruiting class. A 6-foot-5 shooting guard, Cheatham is No. 85 in the ESPN 100 and is versatile enough to play anywhere from point guard to small forward.

Georgetown nabbed a stretch-4 in 6-foot-7 Marcus Derrickson. He’s wide-bodied enough to cause trouble on the blocks posting up, but he’s skilled enough to step outside on the perimeter and make shots. He will often have a matchup that favors the Hoyas.

Looking ahead at Big East contenders

Villanova

Butler

Georgetown

Providence

St. John's

Xavier

 

[Halldan1]

Not even an afterthought. Not one word on the Hall. That's pitiful.

 

[mjs428]

I stopped reading when he said DSR was the best player in the league. What happened to Kris Dunn

 

[Piratz]

Not even an afterthought. Not one word on the Hall. That's pitiful.

I'm not surprised. This is who we are, unfortunately. We're totally irrelevant. We had a brief flirtation with relevancy with what we did to reel in the the 2014 class and the good start last season, but we were a pitiful team for most of the BE season.

Who cares about a 6-12 team that lost 9 of 10 and packed it in, even with that young talent?

 

[sportsfantatic44]

What is there to be said about Seton Hall? This looks like a 50/50 team to make the NIT. Is that suppose to make everyone excited?

 

[SPK145]

I stopped reading when he said DSR was the best player in the league. What happened to Kris Dunn

He said "may have the best player".

And now I'm not so high on Providence, just lost too much now.

 

[mjs428]

I'm not high on Providence either but Dunn is clearly the best player in the league. Gibbs would've been the 2nd best player in the league, agree?

 

[sportsfantatic44]

Our front court (besides Delgado) and bench looks to be extremely weak. You can get away with that vs. bad teams but not in the league. I don't see where or who the production is coming from. Would love to be surprised and proven wrong but just don't think this team is good enough to do any type of damage in the Big East this season. Just way too many question marks.

 

[Halldan1]

I'm not surprised. This is who we are, unfortunately. We're totally irrelevant. We had a brief flirtation with relevancy with what we did to reel in the the 2014 class and the good start last season, but we were a pitiful team for most of the BE season.

Who cares about a 6-12 team that lost 9 of 10 and packed it in, even with that young talent?

The pitiful comment was not about the writer excluding us. It was about the irrelevance of our program.

That said, still a very bad job by Brown. You write a story profiling a league you include comments about all the members. Excluding Creighton and the Hall is poor journalism.

 

[Seton75]

I think we have enough talent to be good. I think this soph class is gonna kill it.

 

[hallgrad80]

The pitiful comment was not about the writer excluding us. It was about the irrelevance of our program.

That said, still a very bad job by Brown. You write a story profiling a league you include comments about all the members. Excluding Creighton and the Hall is poor journalism.

Dan, you're right it is poor journalism but we really are the Rodney Dangerfield of the BE .LOL

 

[HallLine69]

The pitiful comment was not about the writer excluding us. It was about the irrelevance of our program.

That said, still a very bad job by Brown. You write a story profiling a league you include comments about all the members. Excluding Creighton and the Hall is poor journalism.

With all due respect, I disagree. That isn't poor journalism. The piece is focusing on the best teams. If you're writing such a piece, why waste empty words on the teams you believe are the least competitive? That's comparable to the "every kid gets a trophy" approach to youth sports.

The Big East is a serious basketball league. Right now, Seton Hall doesn't appear to be the least bit serious about basketball since it holds onto the marginally competent Kevin Willard because it would cost too much to fire him. Sad to say, Seton Hall is worthy of being ignored.

Now, the bright side of this is that maybe, just maybe, the Whiteheads, Delgados, Rodriguez's and Carringtons will take great offense at being ignored and then step up and lead us to a great season. I certainly hope so.

 

[Shuathelete]

Well either he takes a fat dump on us or he doesnt talk about us at all. Which is better?

 

[Flnj86]

We will have a great season, we have a talented roster.

 

[Piratz]

I think we have enough talent to be good. I think this soph class is gonna kill it.

I don't know who was at fault last year. I don't know if the upper classmen were envious, I don't know if the freshmen had a sense of entitlement given what was done to get them here, I don't know if the coach's inept style created tension that didn't exist early in the season. I don't know, but clearly something was very wrong and got worse as the season progressed.

I hope they come of age and have learned the importance of being team players. At the very least it's their team without any upper classmen to command respect, so that makes it easier for them to takeover I suppose.

 

[Halldan1]

With all due respect, I disagree. That isn't poor journalism. The piece is focusing on the best teams. If you're writing such a piece, why waste empty words on the teams you believe are the least competitive? That's comparable to the "every kid gets a trophy" approach to youth sports.

The Big East is a serious basketball league. Right now, Seton Hall doesn't appear to be the least bit serious about basketball since it holds onto the marginally competent Kevin Willard because it would cost too much to fire him. Sad to say, Seton Hall is worthy of being ignored.

Now, the bright side of this is that maybe, just maybe, the Whiteheads, Delgados, Rodriguez's and Carringtons will take great offense at being ignored and then step up and lead us to a great season. I certainly hope so.

Strongly disagree. If you want to just write a story about contenders then do so. But when you include info on 8 of the 10 teams, info about SJU (listed as a contender. Really?), info about Marquette and DePaul then touch on all the teams. Because clearly you are not focusing on just the top of the league.

 

[HALL85]

Disagree with you Dan. The writer clearly states in the opening paragraph that they are previewing teams that are trending up and trending down....not all the teams. We nor Creighton are either. We are both non-contenders that made no material changes.

We can hype the sophomore class, but until we prove otherwise we are what we are. The writer is essentially saying we are in eighth place team.

 

[Pirate64]

We deserve the omission. There is nothing exciting about Seton Hall men's basketball. We are the least spirited and most poorly coached team in the league.

 

[Stone]

I think we have enough talent to be good. I think this soph class is gonna kill it.

Dick I agree on the talent just a shame they don't have a good coach.

 

[Halldan1]

Disagree with you Dan. The writer clearly states in the opening paragraph that they are previewing teams that are trending up and trending down....not all the teams. We nor Creighton are either. We are both non-contenders that made no material changes.

We can hype the sophomore class, but until we prove otherwise we are what we are. The writer is essentially saying we are in eighth place team.

DePaul gets a mention and not as a trending team. SJU is shown trending down as they should be but inexplicably they are on the contender list at the bottom of the article.

This IMO is a very poorly written article. More like a hodge-podge of opinions written without much thought. Certainly not a story that you would expect to be posted on ESPN's site.

If you are going to examine the league then do so in its entirety. If you are just going to focus on contending teams only that's another story.

And if as most here believe (I don't) there is nothing positive to post about the Hall then note that.

Note something to complete the story. Maybe focus on Gordon transferring to the Hall as the only openly gay player in the country playing college BB. Or make mention of Delgado at the Pan Am games. Or note that our head coach is on the hot seat.

With a little research it would have been very easy to include Creighton and Seton Hall in his article about the Big East.

 

[HALL85]

Dan, Depaul and St. John's got a mention because they both had coaching changes. His objective was not to discuss the league and it's entirety, I doubt if he writes about the ACC in the same vein that he writes about every one of the 15 teams. This was about trending and the changes in the league. Gordon was openly gay before he transferred. And he's not even a starter. Let's face it, we are a non-entity right now until we prove otherwise.

 

[Shuathelete]

Isnt the whole point of the LGBT cause for it not to be a big deal? Perfectly normal stuff. I think its great Gordon gets absolutely no attention. He just another regular player aboard a bottom feeder team. Seton Hall is the perfect team to fade into the background!

 

[Halldan1]

Isnt the whole point of the LGBT cause for it not to be a big deal? Perfectly normal stuff. I think its great Gordon gets absolutely no attention. He just another regular player aboard a bottom feeder team.

Not from lack of trying. The local media in NY/NJ is chomping at the bit to interview Gordon and eventually they will. But right now he is finishing his studies at UMass and then after a short respite will address his transfer.

 

[Shuathelete]

Youre right. NY/NJ media might make it our biggest storyline all season.