The 2008-2009 Big East

[vcjack]

Now that all of the BE teams have been eliminated from postseason play we can start looking towards next season. I think we can make this a running thread that can be updated throughout the offseason rather than having information dispersed all over


I'm not going to editorialize and make judgements on who should improve or decline, I'll leave that up for discussion
---------------------------------------
General Note: as of this season all 16 teams will make the BET, adding another day to the tournament but not changing the current bye situation

* Denotes potential early NBA entry, these are just my opinions

Cincinatti
Loses: Marvin Gentry, Marcus Sikes, Jamual Warren, John Williamson
Significant Returns: Deonta Vaughn, Rashad Bishop, Anthony McClain, Adam Hrycaniuk
Gains: Yancy Gates ( PF), Cashmere Wright (PG), Dion Dixon ( SG), Varez Ward (SG) Mike Williams (PF)

UConn:
Loses: Doug Wiggans, RUMORED TRANSFER: Curtis Kelly.
Significant Returns: Hasheem Thabeet* AJ Price (assuming full recover from ACL tear), Craig Austrie, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Jeff Adrien
Gains: Kemba Walker (PG), Nate Miles (SG), Scottie Haralson (SG) Ater Majok (PF) (strongly rumored)

DePaul:
Loses: Draelon Burns, Wesley Green, Karron Clark, Cliff Clinkscales
Significant Returns: Dar Tucker, Mac Koshwal
Gains: Jeremiah Kelly (PG), Devin Hill (SF)

Georgetown
Loses: Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr. Tyler Crawford
Significant Returns: (you know our guys)
Gains: Greg Monroe (PF), Chris Braswell (PF), Jason Clark (SG), Henry Sims (C)

Louisville
Loses: David Padget, Juan Palacios, Terrance Farley, Derick Caracter (Per Coach Pitino)
Significant Returns: Terrence Williams*, Jerry Smith, Edgar Sosa*
Gains: Earl Clark (withdrew from Draft) Terrence Jennings (PF), Samardo Samuels (PF), Jared Swoopshire (SF), Kyle Kuric (SG), Melquan Bolding (SG)

Marquette: (NOTE: Head coach Tom Crean has left the program, leaving the possibility for early defections and transfers)
Loses: Dan Fitzgerald, Ousmane Barro
Significant Returns: Dominique James*, Jerel McNeal*, Lazar Hayward, Wesley Matthews, David Cubillan, Maurice Acker, Trevor Mbakwe
Gains: Joseph Fulce SF, Chris Otule C, Tyshawn Taylor PG, Nick Williams SG

Notre Dame:
Loses: Rob Kurz
Significant Returns: Tory Jackson, Luke Harangody*, Kyle McAlarney, Ryan Ayers
Gains: None

Pitt:
Loses: Keith Benjamin, Ronald Ramon, Mike Cook
Significant Returns: Sam Young *, Levance Fields, DeJuan Blair*, Gilbert Brown, Tyrell Bigs
Gains: Ashton Gibbs (PG), Dwight Miller (PF), Nasir Robinson (SF), Travon Woodall (PG), Jermaine Dixon (PG)

Providence (Note: Coach Tim Welsh was fired after their season ended, no replacement has been named, which presumably releases their recruit from his LOI and lead to possible transfers in and out)
Loses: No one of significance
Significant Returns: Jeff Xavier, Weyinmi Efejuku, Brian McKenzie, Geoff McDermont
Gains: Bilal Dixon (PF)

Rutgers:
Loses: No one of significance
Significant Returns: JR Inman, Corey Chandler, Anthony Farmer, Hamady N’Diaye
Gains: Mike Rosario (SG), Christian Morris (PF), Patrick Jackson (SG)

Seton Hall (Note: Coach Bobby Gonzalez has been suspended for the first Big East game of the season for criticism of the refs in their regular season finale against Rutgers)
Loses: Jamar Nutter, Brian Laing
Significant Returns: Eugene Harvey, Jeremy Hazell, Paul Gause
Gains: Jordan Theodore (SG)

South Florida:
Loses: Kentrell Gransberry
Significant Returns: Jesus Verdejo, Dominique Jones
Gains: Eladio Espinosa (PF)

St John’s:
Loses: Eugene Lawrence
Significant Returns: Anthony Mason Jr. Justin Burrell, Larry Wright, DJ Kennedy
Gains: None

Syracuse:
Loses: Donte Green
Significant Returns: Eric Devendorf (From Injury), Andy Rautins (From Injury), Jonny Flynn*, Paul Harris, Arinze Onuaku, Scoop Jardine
Gains: Mookie Jones (SF), Kris Joseph (SF), James Southerland (SF)

Villanova:
Loses: Malcolm Grant
Significant Returns: Scottie Reynolds*, Dante Cunningham, Dwane Anderson, Corey Fisher, Shane Clark, Antonio Pena, Corey Stokes, Cassiem Drummond
Gains: None (Possibly Tyreke Evans)

West Virginia:
Loses: Darris Nichols, Jamie Smalligan
Significant Returns: Joe Alexander*, Ale Ruoff, Joe Mazzula, Da’Sean Butler
Gains: Darryl Bryant (SG), Roscoe Davis (PF), Kevin Jones (PF)

[SirSaxa]

Is that true about ND and NOVA? NO RECRUITS? No recruits AT ALL?!?!?!
OK, I can understand SJU with their shaky coach situation,
but NOVA and ND with NONE?!?!??!

BE COY Brey couldn't sign a single recruit?

As for our Hoyas...
to me, the loss of Hibbert, Jon and Pat means we lose our three best players.
Yes, I am ranking them ahead of Sapp and Summers and Freeman.

One could argue there are returning players who have NBA potential.
But as far as actually delivering on the court, I think we lose our three best guys, and return only one senior.

That doesn't mean we will suck.
But, it does mean we need to be realistic about our expectations for next season.
On the plus side:
We have 3 returning starters off a 28-6 team.
And we have the best recruiting class (on paper) in the JT3 era -- and in a VERY long time.
And we have, IMHO, the best coach in the BE.
And we will have a total of 4 Mickey D AA's (Macklin, Freeman, Wright, Monroe)
Plus another Washington Metro area POY in Clark.

I have no doubt we'll be good.
But I'd rather be surprised by how well this team progresses and grows and improves during the year, than go in with unrealistically high expectations.

[sleepy]

Personally I am very excited about next season, even if we end up just being in the middle of the pack, I think it will be a very interesting year in the Big East. First of all I don't see any one or two teams that are clear cut favorites right now. The last three years there have been two teams that would obviously lead the way the whole season, and this year I don't see any teams that are sure fire contenders. Then with us we lost what has been the face of our programs resurgance, but add a lot of young talent. Next year will probably be a lot more fun to enjoy as a fan as there is a lot less pressure on this team, and probably more motivation for them to do well. While we will be experienced, I still think we will be young, and we don't know who the leaders of this team will be. There are a lot of options, and it will be exciting to see who will come into their own now that they are not in the shadows of an amazing senior class. I honestly don't know what to expect, but I am excited to find out.

[vcjack]

Mar 30, 2008 14:29:03 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

Is that true about ND and NOVA? NO RECRUITS? No recruits AT ALL?!?!?!
OK, I can understand SJU with their shaky coach situation,
but NOVA and ND with NONE?!?!??!

BE COY Brey couldn't sign a single recruit?

I don't know about Brey but Wright seems to be a fan of unbalanced classes. They didn't have any seniors this year either so on Senior day he decided to give a pregame ceremony for the seniors in "the best student section in America". Looks like in 2012 he'll be celebrating again with a bunch of kids currently in high school

[gsurus1]

Good list. Also going purely on gut (and rumors) I would think that both Earl Clark and Terrance Williams are possible early-entry candidates (they both talked about it after last year) and, based on the year he had, Jonny Flynn as well. I'd think he'd go in the first round (late) if he came out this year - certainly well ahead of Scotty Reynold or Edgar Sosa. On that subject, I can't imagine Sosa declaring, or at least staying in the draft - unless there are reasons to do so outside of basketball. He'd be mid/late second round at best. I think Harangody is even less likely to go. In fact given the trouble he experienced against bigger and/or more athletic guys, I question whether he will ever play much in the NBA.

[chep3]

In my opinion, it makes the most sense for Thabeet, Sam Young, Earl Clark and Joe Alexander. Everyone else probably shouldn't. Maybe Donte Greene if he can get drafted based on potential rather than what he actually did on the court.

[RBHoya]

Pretty sure I heard Nate Miles is going to be ineligible for UConn next year. Don't have a source though.

Re: Nova recruits, they had no seniors and as a result I don't know that they had any scholarships during the peak time to recruit players for 2008 (last summer). They definitely have some now because of transfers though. I heard rumors of a JUCO big man a while back, not sure if that will pan out.

Not sure what the deal is with Notre Dame and recruiting but they return their most important pieces so they'll probably be ok (though I thought they were playing over their heads for a while this year).

Hall will be worthless until they get some big guys of consequence. Rosario will not be enough to turn it around at Rutgers. SJU is the biggest mess of all. Metro area ball continues to flounder.


Early (bold?) predictions:

-West Virginia wins the conference if Alexander comes back. Pitt is second (if Young is back).

-Cincinatti is next year's "surprisingly good" team and finishes in the top 6, making the tournament. As always there will be one team that is not as good as expected, who people predict to make the tournament but doesn't... Marquette? UConn? GEORGETOWN?!?!?

-5 guys most likely to be POY (if none go pro): Young, Alexander, Adrien, Flynn, Williams, roughly in that order (and no I'm not forgetting Harangody)

-5 guys most likely to be freshman of the year: Samuels, Walker, Monroe, Rosario, K. Jones roughly in that order

[EasyEd]

I think the most improved team next year will be Syracuse if Flynn returns and they get Rautins and Devendorf back from injury.

[GUJook97]

Yeah, UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, all pretty strong teams.

Scheduling will be interesting. I cant see us going to Pitt or Syracuse again. We've gone to Pitt 3 years in a row, right? and Syracuse 2 years. I am in favor of rivalry games, but its unfair if our home and home has to be against Syracuse every year. (I am speaking without any knowledge of this, of course.) I think we definitely end up going to UConn and ND, though, because we havent been there in a while. Road games will be really tough for our young team.

[SFHoya99]

Thoughts on teams:

- Marquette should return everyone. McNeal is their best prospect, but only James seems in any hurry to go, and he's not a first round pick. If Mbakwe can make big strides, they could be really good. But still a donut.

- If Sam Young stays, Pitt is going to be just as good, if not better, and just as tough an out for us. Seniors in Fields and Young, Blair as a soph, and all they really have to replace is the shooting of Ramon/Benjamin. Gilbert Brown is a talent so I think they will.

- Louisville could struggle just because I could see them not only losing Padgett and Caracter, but Clark and Williams. They suddenly get real young in that scenario. If they keep Clark and Williams, they still may struggle b/c the offense was really only any good with Padgett out there.

- I don't see UConn being all that good. Thabeet is gone, and unless Price recovers fully, where's the talent? Adrien's a decent complementary player and Kemba Walker will be a good frosh, but eh. People have been all over this class's talent, but I'm sorry: Adrien, Dyson, Stanley Robinson, that group just doesn't inspire me to think they are great. Good, sure. But not a real contender. With Thabeet and Price they will obviously be good.

- Syracuse will score. Will they defend?

- Nova returns everyone. Reynolds is going nowhere. Same with ND and Harangody.

- Next year we see if Fred Hill can coach. We know he can recruit. But a team of Rosario, Chandler, Farmer, Inman and N'Diaye should not be anywhere near the bottom of the BE.

- If WVU can keep Alexander, they should be good -- but beware teams that lose senior PGs and start frosh in their place.

----------

How much junk will there be in the BE next year dragging down conference RPIs?

DePaul has two nice sophomores, but I can't see them as legit. St. John's is a disaster. South Florida has Jones getting older but Gransberry is gone so there's nothing improving immediately there. Seton Hall loses Laing, so they should be good for a couple of upsets but hardly setting the world on fire.

Your wildcards: Cincy, which loses a lot and collapsed in BE play but seems to have some potential; Rutgers, which is greatly improving its talent level and used to have a good homecourt; and Providence, which has the players and a brand new coach.

The league would be well served if those three schools could perform in non-conference play.

[chep3]

Wouldn't WVU be starting Mazzulla at PG?

[RDF]

Too early to make definite predictions--due to possible roster movement--such as Calhoun throwing guys out to bring in new guys--he's going to land Ater Majok--a 6'9 Sudanese player via Australia, so that means Curtis Kelly is gone for certain. If Thabeet stays-they are my choice as top Big East team. If he leaves--they drop down.

WVU--Huggins team will be good--and once Bielein guys leave--it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Notre Dame--they are what they are.

Nova and Marquette--same team and same level of annoyance.

Louisville and Syracuse--I choose them to be top in top 3 of conference no matter what happens. They will benefit from departure of a turd--(Caracter) and arrival of more athletic bigs who are "system" guys-Samuels and Jennings. Syracuse has a very good team--but will they share the ball? If they do--they are up there as top team entering season. That can't be judged until season starts.

Hoyas--start out slow, come on late January/early Feb, and then make a move to do some damage come March.

[vcjack]

I envision the 2008-2009 Cards looking very similar to the 2007-2008 Hoyas, they lose their identity on offense but remain a very talented, defense oriented, and well coached team. They will do a lot of damage especially with their pressure defense but will have serious offensive flaws that will bite them at times.

EDIT: A lot of you make good points on who could be going pro, I forgot to add Clark and Williams to the list (and I just have a hunch about Sosa) but had to rank the likely-hood of early entries it would look like this

Thabeet
Green
Young (He's 23 years old)
Alexander (A good postseason for him)
Clark
Williams
Blair
Sosa (he's not ready but someone every year makes an ill advised jump)
Flynn
McNeal
James
Summers (I know what he's said but there is a chance)
Reynolds

[sleepy]

Comments made by Pitino after the game have led to rumors of another player beside Caracter possibly leaving. Rumors indicate the player could end up being Sosa for what its worth. Also while thinking about how Louisiville is losing Padgett, I think that loss really hurts them next year. Their whole offense ran threw him, and the games where he was out or ineffective they lost or looked like a NIT team. He also hid the fact that they didn't have guard to run the offense, and since they don't have any coming in, they could be in for a few more speed bumps than expected.
Speaking of running offense's throught people, who are we going to run our offense through? Two years ago it was Jeff, this year it was attempted to be run through Hibbert but sometimes it would be through Ewing. A freshman? Dajuan? Wright? Freeman?

I think Thabeet is definitly gone, other than that I wouldn't be surprised if any of those guys, minus Summers, McNeal, and Flynn ended up leaving.

[RockawayHoya]

Didn't Terrence Williams say at some point during the season if he was coming back next year? I could be mistaken. In any case, I still think Louisville will be rough to deal with next year. I've seen Samuels a few times this year, and he was very impressive. He should be more than enough to make up for Caracter (although I don't think he can fill the void left by the loss of Padgett's passing ability and leadership yet).

Although both return virtually their entire teams, I feel like both ND and Nova have hit their ceilings (ND especially). Perhaps Fisher and Stokes at Nova will get better, but they are still going to basically be the same team they were this year.

Aside from L'ville, I'd have to put Pitt and Cuse up near the top next year. Cuse lost several games this year because they totally ran out of gas due to the short bench (which shouldn't happen next year), and Pitt doesn't lose anything that they can't replace.

I am just praying our incoming and returning big men can rebound. That will be the key to whether or not we can stick around the top 3-4 or end up being in the 5-8 range.

[HometownHoya]

Mar 30, 2008 22:20:29 GMT -5 sleepy said:

Speaking of running offense's throught people, who are we going to run our offense through? Two years ago it was Jeff, this year it was attempted to be run through Hibbert but sometimes it would be through Ewing. A freshman? Dajuan? Wright? Freeman?

I hopefully Dajuan will step it, Sapp should improve (hopefully become a good leader) and with the progressions of Wright and Freeman we should get pretty good production out of both. Rivers, I hope so but who knows. Additionally, I can't say much for how good the incoming freshman coming in but if any of them get consistent minutes and score that would be nice too.

[Filo]

I think Alexander should go pro and take advantage of his late-season run. He's a very talented player, but I think he went from being completely under-the-radar to almost-overrated over the course of 5 games.

He's good, but I don't think he will be able to live up to the pre-season hype he is going to get if he sticks around.

[strummer8526]

Mar 30, 2008 23:40:20 GMT -5 HometownHoya said:

Mar 30, 2008 22:20:29 GMT -5 sleepy said:

Speaking of running offense's throught people, who are we going to run our offense through? Two years ago it was Jeff, this year it was attempted to be run through Hibbert but sometimes it would be through Ewing. A freshman? Dajuan? Wright? Freeman?

I hopefully Dajuan will step it, Sapp should improve (hopefully become a good leader) and with the progressions of Wright and Freeman we should get pretty good production out of both. Rivers, I hope so but who knows. Additionally, I can't say much for how good the incoming freshman coming in but if any of them get consistent minutes and score that would be nice too.

If we end up EVER trying to run our offense through Rivers, I will be a very surprised and unhappy fan b/c that will mean options 1 through 7 fell through.

[seaweed]

Somebody forgot to put an asterix next to DeJuan's name on that list. I am not saying anything, I'm just saying....

[lichoya68]

we are georgetow we are back adn our coach aint graduating adn our recruits number three or four or five in the country with the number one hmmmm i think we will be ok AND SURPRISE ALOT BY MARCH yup go hoyas lets celebrate the seniors and fill the center on next wed apr 16th GREAT senior class of classy kids yup go hoyas