By Aidan Joly
Last March and April certainly make the Big East look like the Big East of old.
UConn became the first school in the league not named Villanova to win a national championship since 2011 (and that school was, in fact, UConn) and a pair of ground-shaking hires gives the league plenty of intrigue heading into the new season.
That being said, it’s time to get into the 11 teams that will make up the league.
Marquette Golden Eagles
2022-23: 29-7 (17-3 Big East), lost in Round of 32
The defending Big East champions return most of the roster. The only major loss was Olivier Maxence-Prosper, who stayed in the NBA Draft.
What this means is a lot of the same team for Shaka Smart. Kam Jones didn’t test the NBA Draft waters, which is something of a surprise because he was expected to. Reigning conference player of the year Tyler Kolek returns to the fold as well as does Oso Ighodaro, who will see a larger role this season.
Overall, this is a strong team that will remain towards the top of the Big East for another year. Smart is a great coach and since he came to Marquette he has gotten the most out of his teams. This seems likely again.
Xavier Musketeers
2022-23: 27-9 (15-5 Big East), lost in Sweet 16
The injury bug is already hitting the Musketeers after recent news that both Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter will likely miss the entire season, Freemantle with a foot injury and Hunter with an undisclosed injury.
That news comes after losing Souley Boum, Jack Nunge and Colby Jones; Boum to the portal, Nunge to graduation and Jones to the NBA.
So, who is left? North Texas transfer Abou Ousmane and Western Kentucky transfer Dayvion McKnight will be thrust into big roles immediately. Rice transfer Quincy Olivari will need to play well too for the Musketeers to succeed.
The highest-scoring returner who will play this season is Desmond Claude, who averaged 4.8 points per game last year.
It might be tough for the Musketeers out of the gate. They’ll need to figure out what works, fast.
Creighton Bluejays
2022-23: 23-12 (14-6 Big East), lost in Elite Eight
The Bluejays might project as the best team in the Big East, talent-wise, right now. Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of the best players in the country, one of four players the Bluejays have that you can fairly put in the top 75 players in the country.
Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth is a star who should translate to this level extremely well. He was probably the best non-big in the portal in the country. A pair of returners in Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman both have star potential after putting up 13.5 and 12.6 points per game last year, respectively.
Arthur Kaluma is gone, but the argument can be made that that was addition by subtraction.
All in all, this team has so many scorers who will put up a lot of points. This makes Creighton a scary team in 2023-24.
UConn Huskies
2022-23: 27-8 (13-7 Big East), won national championship
The Huskies had a chance to return everyone that matters from a dominant run in the NCAA tournament that led to the program’s fifth national championship.
Unfortunately for them, Andre Jackson, Jordan Hawkins and Adama Sanogo chose to capitalize on their NBA Draft stock and turn professional.
Donovan Clingan will probably be the guy for the Huskies this season after putting up a good year, while playing behind Sanogo. Tristen Newton and Alex Karaban are both capable returners from the championship squad, too.
As for new guys, five-star prospect Stephon Castle is coming in and is likely to have a role. It seemed as those UConn waited for the NBA Draft deadlines to pass before making any portal decisions. It got slightly burned there, but recovered by picking up Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer.
This year’s UConn will be much different than last year’s, but is still one with plenty of talent and experience.
Providence Friars
2022-23: 21-12 (13-7 Big East), lost in Round of 64
The Friars were one of the teams who were caught up in the Big East coaching shuffle and ended up bringing in former George Mason head coach Kim English to run the program.
English has a lot of talent returning in leading scorer Bryce Hopkins and Devin Carter, so they project to be the team’s best players this season. English brought Josh Oduro with him from George Mason, but it remains to be seen how much he will move the needle.
It’s rare that a Big East team would bring in a coach with just two years of experience and a record of 34-29 to lead the program, but English is one of the hot young coaches in the sport. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to this new challenge.
Seton Hall Pirates
2022-23: 17-16 (10-10 Big East), lost in NIT first round
There were for sure some growing pains in Shaheen Holloway’s first season as head coach, and it ended with a fairly average season, but were never really in the NCAA tournament conversation.
Three of the top four scorers return in Al-Amir Dawes, Kadary Richmond and Dre Davis, all of whom had solid seasons in 2022-23. Richmond was not the team’s leading scorer but is probably the best player on the team, very all-around.
Santa Clara transfer Jalen Bediako and St. John’s transfer Dylan Addae-Wusu are both notable portal adds.
The Pirates will be a great defensive team, similar to last year. It is the offense that has questions, and it might be another middle-of-the-pack season in South Orange.
Villanova Wildcats
2022-23: 17-17 (10-10 Big East), lost in NIT first round
In Villanova standards, it was an extremely disappointing season in Kyle Neptune’s first season at the helm after replacing the retired Jay Wright. However, the Wildcats seem to be primed for a bounce-back season.
Cam Whitemore, Brandon Slater and Caleb Daniels all are gone, but Neptune did a fantastic job in the transfer portal, picking up former Richmond star Tyler Burton, Maryland’s Hakim Hart and Washington State’s TJ Bamba, all of whom have significant high-level experience. Lance Ware (Kentucky) is a former top prospect, but didn’t amount to much during three seasons in Lexington. This may just be the change of scenery he needs.
The team’s leading scorer, Eric Dixon, is back, as well as Justin Moore, who played just 13 games last season after suffering a torn Achilles in the 2022 NCAA tournament. Chris Arcidiacono is back for the Wildcats as well. Jordan Longino started 2022 in the starting lineup, but was relegated to a bench role after a slow start.
At the very least, this Villanova team should be a contender for a NCAA tournament bid.
St. John’s Red Storm
2022-23: 18-15 (7-13 Big East), no postseason
St. John’s comes into the season being nationally relevant for the first time in about two decades, luring Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino to join them.
The hire was the biggest one of this year’s coaching carousel, and the question is how long it takes before he turns the program around.
Joel Soriano is the only returner. He was the team’s leading scorer at 15.2 points per game as well as the leading rebounder, with 11.9 per game. Technically, he’s not he only returner, as Drissa Traore and his 49 total minutes last year is back too.
Anyway, for the roster. Penn transfer Jordan Dingle and Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum are the safest bets to be key contributors after starring in the Ivy League. Naheim Alleyne was a role player for a national championship team last year. Former top prospect Zuby Ejiofor never caught on at Kansas as a freshman and now he’s here. There’s other guys who we don’t have time for right now, too.
As for freshman, it’s a gimme that Brady Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher will have immediate roles.
As for how the Red Storm will do this year? Man, it’s hard to have any idea. But there’s not a head coach in the league better than Pitino, and it’ll be a real show to watch.
Butler Bulldogs
2022-23: 14-18 (6-14 Big East), no postseason
It was a promising start to Thad Matta’s return to Indianapolis after an 8-3 start, but things went south quickly and resulted in a finish towards the bottom of the Big East.
The Bulldogs also lost a ton of players in the off-season. Butler lost each of its top five scorers, seven of eight who averaged more than two rebounds per game, and all of its players who averaged more than one assist per game.
The only notable returner is Jalen Thomas, who made 13 starts in 21 appearances to the tune of 7.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
That leaves a big group of new players. St. John’s transfer Posh Alexander is here now after putting up decent career numbers with the Johnnies. However, he is coming off his worst collegiate season. Jahmyl Telfort (Northeastern), DJ Davis (UC Irvine), Landon Moore (St. Francis PA) and Andre Screen (Bucknell) all put up good numbers last year, albeit at the mid-major level.
Michigan State transfer Pierre Brooks has high-major experience, but didn’t put up eye-popping numbers with 3.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
There are a few moving parts here. One is that there’s a new collection of players, and basically every player responsible for last year is gone. The second is Matta, who definitely struggled in his first season back on the sidelines since the 2016-17 season. He’ll need to catch back up or risk another losing season.
DePaul Blue Demons
2022-23: 10-23 (3-17 Big East), no postseason
It was another rough season for DePaul towards the bottom of the Big East.
DePaul was supposed to be decent last season, but that did not come close to happening. Now, the Blue Demons lost five of its top six scorers, four of the five top rebounders and two of three who averaged more than two assists per game.
Who is left? Da’Sean Nelson is the highest scorer returning after putting up 10.0 points per game. Caleb Murphy was limited to 15 games due to injury, but wasn’t bad in those games. Zion Cruz and Jalen Terry were role players who are back.
As for new guys, Texas Tech transfer Elijah Fisher is a former top prospect who never gelled with the Red Raiders and now he is here. Freshman Dramane Camara is a decent prospect, but it’s hard to know what his role will be. Chico Carter (South Carolina), Jeremiah Oden (Wyoming), Mac Etienne (UCLA) and Jaden Henley (Minnesota) all had varying roles as their last stops, but are all sure to find a spot for Tony Stubblefield.
Overall, it’s unlikely that DePaul will be much of anything this season. Someone needs to do something well, and it’s tough to see where that will come from.
Georgetown Hoyas
2022-23: 7-25 (2-18 Big East), no postseason
Georgetown has been bad for years now, and finally got the shot in the arm that it needed in the off-season, parting ways with Patrick Ewing after a disaster of a tenure and luring former Providence coach Ed Cooley to the nation’s capital.
When Georgetown pulled out an out-of-nowhere Big East tournament title in 2021, it was seen as the moment Ewing had it figured out. In retrospect it was all a big fluke and Ewing won just two league games the rest of his tenure.
So, it’s a big rebuilding job for Cooley, one of the better coaches in the country. It won’t be a quick one, though. The Hoyas have 11 new faces and the one with the most significant experience is Fairfield transfer Supreme Cook, a decent rebounder who should have a fairly large role. Kansas State transfer Ismael Massoud had a coming-out party in the Sweet 16 with 15 points, but it seemed to be a fluke after averaging 5.4 points per game on the season. Donteez Styles (North Carolina) and Jayden Epps (Illinois) are former high level prospects who will look to carve out a role.
Rowan Brumbaugh did not play as a freshman for Texas last season, so he will play his first year of college hoops this season. Cooley pulled four-star guard Drew Fielder from his commitment to him at Providence to come to Georgetown.
The only returners are Jay Heath and Wayne Bristol. Heath averaged 12.3 points per game, which is good, while Bristol was a bit player.
All in all, it won’t be a pretty first year for Cooley at Georgetown. He’s a great coach, but the talent just isn’t there. This was seen as one of the best hires of the carousel, and Cooley will get it done eventually. Just not yet.
AJ Hoops 