When Stu Jackson first encountered Kevin Willard, Jackson was an assistant coach for the New York Knicks under Rick Pitino.
And Willard? “He was this guy running around his father’s backyard,” Jackson said, laughing during an exclusive one-on-one phone interview with Rivals.com.
Their relationship is a bit different now, to say the least.
Of course, at the time, Willard, born in April 1975, was an adolescent watching his father, Ralph Willard, coach on Pitino’s staff. Fast forward to today, and Seton Hall’s Willard is a coach himself, constantly questioning Jackson and good-naturedly needling him on the construction of the Big East schedule, one of Jackson’s responsibilities as Senior Associate Commissioner for men’s basketball in the conference.
“I get a kick out of Kevin Willard,” Jackson said, his smile obvious even if not visible from the other end of the phone call. “Who knew it would come to this,” he added, referring to those bygone days of the late 1980s.
Turning more serious, the former Knicks and University of Wisconsin head coach said, “I’ve had many discussions with (Willard about the schedule). I know he understands how difficult it is. If I were in his shoes, I would complain too.
“I measure our success,” in making the schedule, he added, “in part by whether everyone’s unhappy. If every (coach) is unhappy, then I know I did a good job.”
Jackson added that constructing the schedule also is challenging in that the conference is “trying to meet our broadcast partners’ request with FOX. And there’s the complexity of trying to keep a competitive balance.”
Jackson certainly is the right person for the job. Now 63 years of age Jackson has worn many hats in his long basketball career, having been a head coach at both the NBA and major-college levels, the general manager of the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies and the Executive Vice President for Basketball Operations with the NBA.
The Big East schedule is especially difficult to construct given the fact that Seton Hall, Georgetown and Marquette’s men’s basketball programs each play all of their home games in an arena that also houses an NBA and/or NHL franchise, not to mention various other events such as concerts.
Adding to the degree of difficulty, Providence shares its building with a minor-league hockey team, and both St. John’s and Villanova move many of their marquee conference tilts to a pro arena. In fact, St. John’s athletic director Mike Cragg recently floated the idea of moving all of the Red Storm’s Big East games to Madison Square Garden.
Jackson noted the goal is to come up “with a really balanced schedule that no one likes” and credited “Mike Coyne, on my staff. He’s doing a terrific job.”
Coyne’s title is Senior Director of Operations for Men’s Basketball.
“Every year is different,” Jackson said, “every year is a challenge.”
One thing Willard and other Big East coaches can’t complain about is having to play a particularly tough opponent twice while others might only face that team once. Aside from the Big 12, which also has 10 schools, the other power conferences have too many teams for a full round-robin format.
But Big East schools all will have at least 20 games against power-conference opposition next season. In addition to the Gavitt Games with the Big Ten, named after Big East Conference founder Dave Gavitt, the league is embarking on another challenge series with the aforementioned Big 12 next season.
“We’re excited about that,” Jackson said. “It provides yet another guaranteed high-major opponent for all 10 of our schools. It’s great. The name of the game for Power Six conferences in basketball is scheduling. It’s also somewhat of a hedge against some of the other conferences going to 20-game schedules, which takes high-major inventory out of the non-conference scheduling market.”
It remains to be seen if the Big East, at some point, will go to a 20-game conference slate by adding another university to the league.
“Expansion is an area we’re keeping an open mind on,” Jackson said. “There’s currently nothing imminent in terms of that.”
After Villanova won two out of three NCAA titles, the conference had a sub-par showing in this year’s Big Dance. Only the Wildcats made it to the second round out of the four teams that qualified, and they were routed by Purdue. But the Big East isn’t unduly worried about the future, Jackson indicated.
“We’re very bullish on the conference going forward,” he said, “primarily based upon our most recent success over the last five to six years. From a recruiting standpoint, the conference seems healthy and poised to be stronger in years to come. Our schools have scheduled very well for the future, giving us more opportunities for the NCAA tournament.”
In that vein, Jackson said “We are keenly focused in on the NET (rankings) and how that evolves going forward. Regardless of our opinion about the NET, our message to schools is it’s still important who you play, where you play them and how you do.”
One of the conference’s original members, St. John’s, reached the NCAAs for the first time since 2015, but lost to Arizona State in the First Four. After Chris Mullin resigned, the school had a circuitous coaching search that ended with the hiring of Mike Anderson, fired by Arkansas last month. Anderson has made nine NCAA tourney appearances with UAB, Missouri and the Razorbacks.
“I think it’s an excellent result,” Jackson said. “Credit goes to Mike Cragg and his ability to secure a coach of Mike Anderson’s quality. He’s a proven winner. His style of play will give St. John’s instantaneous identity in terms of the way that they will play. Mike sends a clear message to potential student-athletes of who St. John’s is going to be going forward. He is a terrific man and a great representative of the school. To me, he just adds to the long list of quality coaches in our conference.”
The Big East now has five black coaches, a stark contrast to the other five power conferences. Of 65 coaches in those leagues, only seven are African-Americans. There are no African-American head coaches in the Big Ten and Pac-12.
Jackson, an African-American himself, said, “It’s a credit to the conference in terms of our openness to diversity in hiring coaches in men’s basketball. It’s nothing but a positive sign about the values and the mission of our Big East schools.”
Obviously, the conference wants all its teams to do as well as possible. It’s good business, especially considering its lucrative television deal with FOX, its partner since the break between the football-playing schools and the basketball-centric universities after the 2012-13 season. In 2016, for instance, the Big East made $32.8 million in rights fees from its contract with the network, according to tax records.
And Willard? “He was this guy running around his father’s backyard,” Jackson said, laughing during an exclusive one-on-one phone interview with Rivals.com.
Their relationship is a bit different now, to say the least.
Of course, at the time, Willard, born in April 1975, was an adolescent watching his father, Ralph Willard, coach on Pitino’s staff. Fast forward to today, and Seton Hall’s Willard is a coach himself, constantly questioning Jackson and good-naturedly needling him on the construction of the Big East schedule, one of Jackson’s responsibilities as Senior Associate Commissioner for men’s basketball in the conference.
“I get a kick out of Kevin Willard,” Jackson said, his smile obvious even if not visible from the other end of the phone call. “Who knew it would come to this,” he added, referring to those bygone days of the late 1980s.
Turning more serious, the former Knicks and University of Wisconsin head coach said, “I’ve had many discussions with (Willard about the schedule). I know he understands how difficult it is. If I were in his shoes, I would complain too.
“I measure our success,” in making the schedule, he added, “in part by whether everyone’s unhappy. If every (coach) is unhappy, then I know I did a good job.”
Jackson added that constructing the schedule also is challenging in that the conference is “trying to meet our broadcast partners’ request with FOX. And there’s the complexity of trying to keep a competitive balance.”
Jackson certainly is the right person for the job. Now 63 years of age Jackson has worn many hats in his long basketball career, having been a head coach at both the NBA and major-college levels, the general manager of the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies and the Executive Vice President for Basketball Operations with the NBA.
The Big East schedule is especially difficult to construct given the fact that Seton Hall, Georgetown and Marquette’s men’s basketball programs each play all of their home games in an arena that also houses an NBA and/or NHL franchise, not to mention various other events such as concerts.
Adding to the degree of difficulty, Providence shares its building with a minor-league hockey team, and both St. John’s and Villanova move many of their marquee conference tilts to a pro arena. In fact, St. John’s athletic director Mike Cragg recently floated the idea of moving all of the Red Storm’s Big East games to Madison Square Garden.
Jackson noted the goal is to come up “with a really balanced schedule that no one likes” and credited “Mike Coyne, on my staff. He’s doing a terrific job.”
Coyne’s title is Senior Director of Operations for Men’s Basketball.
“Every year is different,” Jackson said, “every year is a challenge.”
One thing Willard and other Big East coaches can’t complain about is having to play a particularly tough opponent twice while others might only face that team once. Aside from the Big 12, which also has 10 schools, the other power conferences have too many teams for a full round-robin format.
But Big East schools all will have at least 20 games against power-conference opposition next season. In addition to the Gavitt Games with the Big Ten, named after Big East Conference founder Dave Gavitt, the league is embarking on another challenge series with the aforementioned Big 12 next season.
“We’re excited about that,” Jackson said. “It provides yet another guaranteed high-major opponent for all 10 of our schools. It’s great. The name of the game for Power Six conferences in basketball is scheduling. It’s also somewhat of a hedge against some of the other conferences going to 20-game schedules, which takes high-major inventory out of the non-conference scheduling market.”
It remains to be seen if the Big East, at some point, will go to a 20-game conference slate by adding another university to the league.
“Expansion is an area we’re keeping an open mind on,” Jackson said. “There’s currently nothing imminent in terms of that.”
After Villanova won two out of three NCAA titles, the conference had a sub-par showing in this year’s Big Dance. Only the Wildcats made it to the second round out of the four teams that qualified, and they were routed by Purdue. But the Big East isn’t unduly worried about the future, Jackson indicated.
“We’re very bullish on the conference going forward,” he said, “primarily based upon our most recent success over the last five to six years. From a recruiting standpoint, the conference seems healthy and poised to be stronger in years to come. Our schools have scheduled very well for the future, giving us more opportunities for the NCAA tournament.”
In that vein, Jackson said “We are keenly focused in on the NET (rankings) and how that evolves going forward. Regardless of our opinion about the NET, our message to schools is it’s still important who you play, where you play them and how you do.”
One of the conference’s original members, St. John’s, reached the NCAAs for the first time since 2015, but lost to Arizona State in the First Four. After Chris Mullin resigned, the school had a circuitous coaching search that ended with the hiring of Mike Anderson, fired by Arkansas last month. Anderson has made nine NCAA tourney appearances with UAB, Missouri and the Razorbacks.
“I think it’s an excellent result,” Jackson said. “Credit goes to Mike Cragg and his ability to secure a coach of Mike Anderson’s quality. He’s a proven winner. His style of play will give St. John’s instantaneous identity in terms of the way that they will play. Mike sends a clear message to potential student-athletes of who St. John’s is going to be going forward. He is a terrific man and a great representative of the school. To me, he just adds to the long list of quality coaches in our conference.”
The Big East now has five black coaches, a stark contrast to the other five power conferences. Of 65 coaches in those leagues, only seven are African-Americans. There are no African-American head coaches in the Big Ten and Pac-12.
Jackson, an African-American himself, said, “It’s a credit to the conference in terms of our openness to diversity in hiring coaches in men’s basketball. It’s nothing but a positive sign about the values and the mission of our Big East schools.”
Obviously, the conference wants all its teams to do as well as possible. It’s good business, especially considering its lucrative television deal with FOX, its partner since the break between the football-playing schools and the basketball-centric universities after the 2012-13 season. In 2016, for instance, the Big East made $32.8 million in rights fees from its contract with the network, according to tax records.
