Previewing the Big East

Oct 28

The Big East is coming off a mixed result in 2023-24. The top of the league was as good as ever, with 3 powerhouse teams—UConn, Marquette, and Creighton—making the NCAAT, and UConn of course wining its second consecutive National Championship. Creighton and Marquette each made the Sweet 16. On the flip side, 3 Big East teams were snubbed by the committee: Seton Hall, St. John’s and Providence. Seton Hall participated in the NIT, winning the whole damn thing. Val never went to bat for the league public following the snubs, but Hurley and Pitino have each used their ample pulpits to criticize the committee. “Bold move Cotton.”

Now that media day has come and gone, I’m going to give my picks her for preseason individual awards and all-conference teams. Below, I will also post my Big East rankings as I reveal them twice daily, starting Wednesday, with the final 3 dropping on Sunday. Without further ado, here’s my votes (that don’t count for anything lol):

Conference POY: Kadary Richmond - what can I say, I’m a homer. But it does seem like Kadary is dialed-in at St. John’s. His teammates voted him captain. I think he has a monster year with St. John’s, removed from the pressures of having to carry the load almost entirely on his own.

Conference DPOY: Ryan Cockbrenner - I mean this goes without saying. Odds would be like -15000 if you could find them posted. When the officials are scared to call fouls against you, it’s pretty easy to be elite defensively.

Freshman of the Year: Liam McNeely - not a lot of freshmen that will contribute in the Big East at the level McNeely figures to contribute. Feels pretty close to a lock here too barring injury.

Newcomer of the Year: Ryan Conwell - this kid is a baller. We’ve seen what Miller can do with transfer guards, and Boum and Olivari didn’t even have as much success before they got to X as Conwell did last year.

Coach of the Year: Rick Pitino - he’s going to have this Johnnies team cooking from the opening tip on 11/4, and they’re not going to stop cooking until March, maybe April.

First Team:
Ryan Cockbrenner, Creighton
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Dayvion McKnight, Xavier
Alex Karaban, UConn
Kam Jones, Marquette

Second Team:
Pierre Brooks, Butler
Jahmyl Telfort, Butler
Deivon Smith, St. John’s
Ryan Conwell, Xavier
Aidan Mahaney, UConn

Third Team:
Aaron Scott, St. John’s
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Steven Ashworth, Creighton
Jayden Pierre, Providence
Wooga Poplar, Villanova

PROJECTED BIG EAST RESULTS: