By Howie Kussoy
October 12, 2016 | 1:00am
MORE ON:
BIG EAST
How Big East can be big winner (or loser) of NBA Draft Combine
Isaiah Whitehead's rise pays off as All-Big East teams revealed
St. John's-Seton Hall postgame fight could cost them
Why Chris Mullin can smile during historically bad St. John's season
Khadeen Carrington stood in Madison Square Garden, bombarded by flashbacks of Seton Hall’s Big East Tournament title run in March.
“You step on the court, you get all the feelings back,” Carrington said Tuesday. “I can still picture it.”
Even with glitzy championship rings wrapped around their fingers, reminding the nine other teams at Big East Media Day of their triumph, the Pirates felt like they were forgotten winners, selected to finish fourth (tied with Georgetown) in the coaches’ preseason poll.
“We’re going to prove to a lot of people that we’re better than what they expect,” forward Angel Delgado said. “We proved people wrong last year and still the same thing.”
Except the Pirates aren’t the same. Coming off a 25-win season, the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade and its first conference tournament title in 23 years, Seton Hall brings back four starters, but returns without Big East Tournament MVP Isaiah Whitehead.
Though Whitehead is back in Brooklyn with the Nets, the Pirates refuse to believe a step back is a certainty.
“It definitely changes because he was a big piece of our team and now that he’s gone it’s definitely going to be more attention on us,” Carrington said. “He definitely took a lot of pressure off us last year hitting big shots, but don’t think we can’t get back to where we were or we can’t go farther. Everyone on this team thinks differently.
“I think we have enough firepower to get back to where we were. We’ve got four returning starters, four guys that have been through it. We know how to handle every situation.”
Carrington and Delgado were both named to the Preseason All-Big East Second Team.
Defending national champion Villanova was unanimously selected to win the Big East regular-season title for the fourth straight year.
The Wildcats, who have gone 16-2 in the Big East in each of the previous three seasons, return three starters, including Big East Preseason Player of the Year Josh Hart, who averaged 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, and Kris Jenkins, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the ages gave Villanova its first national title since 1985.
Villanova coach Jay Wright’s first-place vote was for Xavier, which was picked to finish second in the league, followed by Creighton, Seton Hall/Georgetown, Butler, Marquette, St. John’s, Providence and DePaul.
Jenkins was named to the Preseason All-Big East First Team, along with Xavier guards Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner, Butler’s Kelan Martin and Creighton’s Maurice Watson Jr. DePaul’s Billy Garrett Jr. earned Second-Team honors, along with Georgetown’s Isaac Copeland and Marquette’s Luke Fischer.
http://nypost.com/2016/10/12/seton-hall-were-going-to-prove-we-can-win-without-whitehead/
October 12, 2016 | 1:00am
MORE ON:
BIG EAST
How Big East can be big winner (or loser) of NBA Draft Combine
Isaiah Whitehead's rise pays off as All-Big East teams revealed
St. John's-Seton Hall postgame fight could cost them
Why Chris Mullin can smile during historically bad St. John's season
Khadeen Carrington stood in Madison Square Garden, bombarded by flashbacks of Seton Hall’s Big East Tournament title run in March.
“You step on the court, you get all the feelings back,” Carrington said Tuesday. “I can still picture it.”
Even with glitzy championship rings wrapped around their fingers, reminding the nine other teams at Big East Media Day of their triumph, the Pirates felt like they were forgotten winners, selected to finish fourth (tied with Georgetown) in the coaches’ preseason poll.
“We’re going to prove to a lot of people that we’re better than what they expect,” forward Angel Delgado said. “We proved people wrong last year and still the same thing.”
Except the Pirates aren’t the same. Coming off a 25-win season, the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade and its first conference tournament title in 23 years, Seton Hall brings back four starters, but returns without Big East Tournament MVP Isaiah Whitehead.
Though Whitehead is back in Brooklyn with the Nets, the Pirates refuse to believe a step back is a certainty.
“It definitely changes because he was a big piece of our team and now that he’s gone it’s definitely going to be more attention on us,” Carrington said. “He definitely took a lot of pressure off us last year hitting big shots, but don’t think we can’t get back to where we were or we can’t go farther. Everyone on this team thinks differently.
“I think we have enough firepower to get back to where we were. We’ve got four returning starters, four guys that have been through it. We know how to handle every situation.”
Carrington and Delgado were both named to the Preseason All-Big East Second Team.
Defending national champion Villanova was unanimously selected to win the Big East regular-season title for the fourth straight year.
The Wildcats, who have gone 16-2 in the Big East in each of the previous three seasons, return three starters, including Big East Preseason Player of the Year Josh Hart, who averaged 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, and Kris Jenkins, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the ages gave Villanova its first national title since 1985.
Villanova coach Jay Wright’s first-place vote was for Xavier, which was picked to finish second in the league, followed by Creighton, Seton Hall/Georgetown, Butler, Marquette, St. John’s, Providence and DePaul.
Jenkins was named to the Preseason All-Big East First Team, along with Xavier guards Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner, Butler’s Kelan Martin and Creighton’s Maurice Watson Jr. DePaul’s Billy Garrett Jr. earned Second-Team honors, along with Georgetown’s Isaac Copeland and Marquette’s Luke Fischer.
http://nypost.com/2016/10/12/seton-hall-were-going-to-prove-we-can-win-without-whitehead/
