Big East realizing bigger not better

[TyBull]

BE realizing bigger not better

Big East realizing bigger not better

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 25, 2007

By KEVIN McNAMARA

Journal Sports Writer

PC’s Herbert Hill saw his stock rise during last season.

Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez Ruben W. Perez

The Big East’s basketball meetings wrapped up in Florida this week with little news or fanfare, but you don’t have to be Inspector Clouseau to see that everyone is not happy.

The 16-team conference has had its critics from the day it was formed in 2003 after the Atlantic Coast Conference lured Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech away in search of bigger football paydays.

But now the critics lie within the league as well. Louisville coach Rick Pitino has referred to the Big East as “a corporation, not a conference,†on numerous occasions, including the 1987 Final Four reunion event that Providence College held two weeks ago. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse’s Hall of Fame coach, has said that the league’s bloated size was a major factor in the controversial decision to squeeze his Orange team out of the NCAA Tournament in March.

When the league was expanded to add Louisville, DePaul, Cincinnati, Marquette and South Florida, the basketball coaches expressed concern that the NCAA may hold the league’s size against it. When the Big East was 12 schools, for example, it would regularly see 50 percent of its teams earn NCAA tourney berths. Would the same happen in a 16-team league?

Thus far the answer is mixed. In 2006, the Big East set a record with eight bids but secured the eighth only because Syracuse recorded two major upsets (including No. 1-rated Connecticut) in the Big East Tournament. The coaches were actually miffed that Cincinnati (19-12 overall, 8-8 in the league) didn’t get in and make it nine bids. In ’07, Syracuse went 22-10 and 10-6 in league play and didn’t get it. The league settled for six bids.

“If 10-6 in the Big East isn’t good enough to be in, then I don’t think we should be in the Big East,†Boeheim said.

In order to address the Big East’s unbalanced schedule that prevented all teams from facing each other at least once, the league will expand to 18 games in 2007-08. That will no doubt spark cries of woe from coaches who will claim that playing 18 games will create a scenario where teams begin to beat up on one another.

While Boeheim has a legitimate beef with not getting into the tourney, his team didn’t play one strong nonconference road game or beat anyone of note out of the Big East. That’s why the Orange didn’t make it. If Big East teams win nine or 10 league games, grab two or more marquee nonconference wins and don’t get in the NCAAs, then the league should consider splitting along basketball/football lines and move on. But until that happens, it’s best not to listen to coaches who consider a spot in the NCAAs their birthright.

Hibbert’s decision good news

The Big East received some great news on Wednesday when 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert removed his name from the NBA’s Draft list and will return to Georgetown for his senior year. Hibbert was a clear-cut top-10 pick who battled Greg Oden to a draw in the Final Four but clearly is still raw, but rapidly improving. Hibbert was a first-team All-Big East pick who averaged 12.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and shot 67 percent from the floor. He’ll be a preseason candidate for national player of the year and anchor the Hoyas into the top-15 preseason polls.

“I thought about it and I said to myself: ‘Do I really want to go in the draft and sit on the bench? Or do I want to get better and hopefully my stock will rise next year,’[ch8194]†Hibbert told the Washington Post.

Hibbert said his matchup with Oden made him dream of bigger things to come for a Hoya team that loses junior Jeff Green to the NBA but welcomes a top recruiting class featuring guard Chris Wright and shooter Austin Freeman.

“It tempted me,†Hibbert told the Post, “but it also made me realize that maybe I can be the best big guy in the country next year. It made me think how good I could be. If I keep working and improving, why can’t I be a top pick next year?â€Â

Teams waiting, hoping

Two other Big East teams will sweat out decisions their top players need to make before the June 18 deadline to either stay in the draft or return to school. DePaul sophomore Wilson Chandler is one of the fastest-rising underclassmen in the draft and will likely go pro. Marquette point guard Dominic James isn’t seen as a first-rounder but clearly would like to leave school and is exploring all of his options before making a decision.

Despite rumblings to the contrary, it appears that PC guard Dwain Williams is still very much in Tim Welsh’s plans for next season. Williams is expected back at PC next week for the start of summer school, Welsh said.

Williams had a bumpy spring semester and even flew home to California and missed some school time, according to more than one source. But now it appears he’s committed to being at PC and he’ll give Welsh a deep backcourt along with Sharaud Curry, Weyinmi Efejuku, Brian McKenzie, transfer Jeff Xavier and freshman Marshon Brooks.

PC’s Hill likely a high pick

PC’s Herbert Hill will play at the NBA’s predraft camp in Orlando next week. Hill, a 6-10 forward, has seen his stock rise from nowhere a year ago to very much on the draft radar today. He is seen as an almost sure-fire second-round pick who could work his way into the bottom of the first round with outstanding play over the next few weeks. Scouts want to see if Hill can put the ball on the floor and pass away from the post area and defend quick power forwards on the perimeter.

Interestingly, it’s very possible that Hill is selected earlier in the draft than his former Friar teammates Ryan Gomes, who went to the Celtics with the 50th pick two years ago.

Nothing but net…

Brown is again hosting Rhode Island in men’s basketball. The two schools will play at the Pizzitola Center this December. URI opted to pay the Bears a financial guarantee instead of traveling to the East Side two years ago but the Rams will now spend that money on other opponents. … URI is expected to play in a November tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., against the likes of South Florida and Florida State. PC is going to Puerto Rico for three games in a tourney that also features Arkansas, Houston, Miami and Temple. Matchups have yet to be announced. … Seton Hall’s days at the Meadowlands are over. The Pirates are moving to the Prudential Center, the new, 18,500-seat arena in downtown Newark that opens this fall. The building features 76 luxury suites, 2,330 club seats, 750 television monitors and many more bells and whistles. The move makes sense for The Hall because its games will now be played much closer to its campus in South Orange but 18,000 seats remains much too large an arena for a program that doesn’t regularly live in the top 20.

http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=234943

[HarveyGlass]

Thanks for the links.  Good stuff.

[smazza]

basketball conference is unmanageable

get rid of catholic schools unless ND wants to join in football

[smazza]

big east needs to do what is best for big east

let notre dame start filling all their sports teams schedule as an independant

[USF-PMR]

What makes a conference "super?"  I think it is their play and record when the chips are all played.  The BE has demonstrated that the proof is in the pudding when the play is over.  Keep on winning will prove which conference is the best.

[bulls96go]

the basic 'deal' is for 5 yrs...so if the bball and foot ball schools can't be happy, they can split in two more years.

i still believe the BE is greater than the some of it's parts. ( all 16 notwithstanding)