In a carryover from the early spring, the Big East could be the most interesting conference in college basketball this season. UConn is the reigning champion, having won a fifth national title in men’s basketball since 1999 — validating its blue blood status in the process after one of the most statistically dominant NCAA Tournament marches in history.
Beyond that, the league got gusts of buzz with spicy coaching movement. Ed Cooley abandoned Providence to remain in-league and head down to the District, where he’ll try to restore some luster at Georgetown. Cooley’s controversial decision sparked a passion from within Providence’s fan base that burn so long as Cooley is leading the Hoyas. His replacement is former George Mason coach Kim English, who is regarded as one of the up-and-coming young coaches in the game.
The biggest hire of all, of course, was St. John’s bringing Rick Pitino back to New York City and coaching at Madison Square Garden. Pitino, 71, flipped almost the entire Red Storm roster and already has SJU more relevant than it’s been in years — at least heading into the season.
And oh: Marquette swept both titles in this league last season, brought back almost its entire roster and is favored to repeat. Should be an awesome next five-plus months for this conference. Let’s take a look around, and we’ll start with none other than Marquette.
Preseason Player of the Year
Tyler Kolek | PG | Marquette
Flashback to 12 months ago. The scene: Big East Media Day in New York. The preseason poll comes out, and Marquette is picked ninth. Kolek, at this point, is projected to be a quality starter for the Golden Eagles but nobody views him as a league MVP. He’s asked about where his team is picked, and fires an off-the-cuff, insta-legendary response.
It would become a rallying cry for MU, which went on to win the Big East regular-season and postseason championships. Kolek became one of…
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