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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (5/5/2008)

It has been a few days since we went around the Big East with a News and Notes post, so we will try to catch everyone up.

Rutgers had a big visitor on campus last weekend and Seton Hall had a couple players touring their campus as well. Bob Huggins is finally signed on with West Virginia, and he could be there for the rest of his coaching career. Expectations are high for a ton of Big East teams, while UConn will look different, others, like Notre Dame, will look similar to this past season. The Big East promises to be BRUTAL next year.

Marquette will look very similar on the court next season, but have a very different look on the sideways, check out how the transition is going to date. Joe Alexander’s NBA draft decision will play a role in next year’s Big East race. Varez Ward is no longer headed to Cincinnati and is finding new interest on the AAU trail, including from another Big East school. A couple Big East targets have also made decisions on their future college homes, picking Big 10 destinations over the Big East.

Devin Ebanks had a very good visit this past weekend to Rutgers, however, it did not cause him to halt the process and commit to the Scarlet Knights as Ebanks Still to Visit Memphis This Weekend (Zagsblog), his fourth and final visit since re-opening his recruitment following the Kelvin Sampson fiasco at IU.

Ebanks has already visited West Virginia and Texas, along with Rutgers. Memphis has picked up high-profile recruits such as Tyreke Evans and Wesley Witherspoon. Is there enough basketballs for everyone looking to play just a year in college?

It was definitely a Big Weekend for RU and Seton Hall (zagsblog). Not only was Ebanks making his visit to Rutgers, but rival Seton Hall hosted Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell, originally from Mount Vernon, and their latest commitment, Melvyn Oliver from Mississippi Elite Christian Academy.

Despite entering the 2007-2008 season with a roster void of seniors, there has been quite a bit of change with the UConn roster and UConn Will Have a Different Look in 2008-2009 (Connecticut Post). Leaving the program since the beginning of the 2007-2008 season are Marcus Johnson, Doug Wiggins and Curtis Kelly (joining Robert Garrison and Ben Eaves who left in the Spring of 2007) to make room for newcomers such as Kemba Walker, Scottie Haralson, Ater Majok and Chukwuma Okwandu. There is still the outstanding issue of Nate Miles, but as of today, all 13 scholarships are accounted for heading into next year.
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When a press conference was hurriedly arranged Friday at West Virginia, one had to wonder ‘Now what?’ After all, the school recently saw their football coach jump to Michigan and refused to pay his $4 million buyout, where the governor’s daughter is given an eMBA degree based on grades she didn’t earn in courses she didn’t take, where the university president is being pressured to resign less than a year after taking the job, where a minority assistant football coach charges racism when he isn’t interviewed for the job, prior basketball coach John Beilein also had a buy-out controversy and now another press conference?

This time, the central figure was Bob Huggins, who has had his share of controversies over a coaching career that stretches back to 1980, had agreed to what amounts to a lifetime deal to coach the Mountaineers.

Huggins, who went through his first season at WVU without a signed contract, agreed to an 11-year deal with the Mountaineers and showed his faith in embattled WVU president Mike Garrison throughout the press conference and, according to Huggins: ‘Mike and I Will Be Here a Long Time (Times West Virginian).

Now, WVU fans hope for another press conference in the coming weeks, one announcing Joe Alexander will stay for his senior season. Right now, it is anyone’s guess and according to Alexander: NBA Decision coming in a Couple Weeks (Times West Virginian)
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Buzz Williams is Counting on a Flawless Transition in First Year as Head Coach (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) with Marquette. Taking over for Tom Crean, Williams is likely to return the top four scorers from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, assuming Jerel McNeal withdraws his name from the NBA draft prior to June 16. With the returning experience, especially with three senior guards in McNeal, Dominic James and Wes Mathews, next year should be fine…replacing that trio could be the deciding factor of Williams’ future in the Big East.

Todd Rosiak spends some time Checking in with Buzz for readers of his blog at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
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If your following the early preseason prognostications for the 2008-2009 season, you will find Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Marquette all rated highly with tremendous expectations for next season. Also, Villanova returns all the pieces from their Sweet 16 squad, Syracuse will get healthier and a final decision has not been made by Dante Greene in regards to the NBE Draft and West Virginia could get Joe Alexander back, suddenly, those teams push themselves way up in the rankings as well. As the South Bend Tribune looks at the expectations for the Irish, the Early Expectations are OK and should be embraced, but the work ahead is daunting to make the expectations a reality.
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With all that talent coming back to the conference, no wonder ESPN’s Andy Katz recently wrote that the Big East is Bearing Down on a Brutal 2008-2009.
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Varez Ward (Wichita Eagle), a 6’2 combo guard from the Paterson (NC) School is no longer verbally committed to Cincinnati and could be one of the better unsigned players left in the class of 2008. Back on the market and back on the AAU circuit, Ward is picking up interest from schools such as Kansas State, Texas, Arkansas, Florida State and Marquette as it becomes realized he is ready and willing to sign for 2008.

Ward had verbally committed to Cincinnati earlier this spring, but has decided to look elsewhere for more playing time.
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Maurice Creek had an offer from Pittsburgh and interest from several other Big East schools, but it was Tom Crean he wanted to play for and the Junior Guard Picks IU Without Visiting (Louisville Courier-Journal) the school, or the state, previously.
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Another target of Big East schools has decided on a Big 10 college as Kyle Rowley Opts for Northwestern (Illinois High school Basketball). Rowley, a 7-foot native of Trinidad, playing out of Lake Forest Academy has decided to re-classify back to the Class of 2008 and join the Northwestern program. Georgetown and Pittsburgh were among schools being considered when Rowley opted for BilL Carmody’s program.

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