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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (3/17/2009)

With seven Big East teams readying for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, three more for the NIT and one for the CBI, there is still plenty of action ahead as March Madness begins tonight.

Be sure to visit our page devoted to the 2009 NCAA Tournament & Tickets for links to purchase tickets every step of the way so you do not miss a single minute of action as the Big East looks to make more history this month.

The USBWA writers handed out their All-American awards on Monday and a Big Fella represents the Big East on the 1st team. UConn hopes to use the Big East Tournament loss to their advantage, but time is running out for their seniors to mark their legacy in Storrs. Villanova is riding their upperclassmen leadership into the Big Dance while West Virginia is using their toughness and useful exuberance for a run through what they feel is a favorable draw. Marquette looks to dig deep on the defensive end as they shuffle off to Idaho. Once coach believes the top seeds are positioned well for a deep run.

Notre Dame will put the disappointment of a regular season of failed expectations behind them tonight as they open the NIT against some familiar faces in new places. St. John’s opts to extend their season while Cincinnati and Seton Hall have different views on the feeling of their coming to an end. UC also has some roster updates forthcoming and Rutgers looks to begin some improvement under Fred Hill, but roster shuffling could happen with the Knights as well.

The coaching carousel also can cause for some new available spring recruits to appear. That could be the case with the Virginia coaching change and it could lead to a very high profile transfer being available. Will Barton shined last weekend in Maryland and he has plenty of Big East offers. Also, Jarrid Famous is making another Big East official visit.

Yes, it is a pretty jam-packed edition below…

Pittsburgh will rely heavily on their newly minted 1st-Team All-American as DeJuan Blair had that honor bestowed on him by the USBWA yesterday. More All-American Honors for Blair (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) followed the Sporting News last week selecting him as a 1st-team AA player and the Big East naming Blair co-Player of the Year with UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet.

Blair was the only Big East representative on the USBWA 1st-team and joined Tyler Hansbrough (UNC), Stephen Curry (Davidson), James Harden (Arizona State) and Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) as the higest honorees.

Thabeet and Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody were named to the USBWA’s second-team.
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The last we saw of Connecticut they were shuffling out of Madison Square Garden in the wee hours of Friday morning following their epic, six-overtime loss to Syracuse in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. The Huskies Are confident their Loss to ‘Cuse Will Pay Off (Norwich Bulletin) and they will take advantage of th eopportunity in front of them.

That opportunity is a last one for seniors AJ Price, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie. Price has played just nine NCAA Tournament minutes in his career, all coming last year versus San Diego before tearing an ACL. Adrien and Austrie were reserves on the Elite 8 squad that lost to Cinderella George Mason in 2006. This senior class did not win a Big East Tournament game in their four seasons, so a run in the Big Dance is something they are motivated to provide in order to leave their legacy on the program in Storrs.
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At Villanova, the importance of upperclassmen leadership game into focus as the Wildcats became a dangerous top 10 team as the season matured. Jay Wright believes it is the ‘Nova Upperclassmen to be Credited for Team’s Success (The Mercury) this season. Led by seniors Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham, and Frank Tchuisi, along with juniors Scottie Reynolds and Reggie Redding, the Wildcats finished 26-7 overall on the seasn with a 13-5 Big East record that helped them earn a #3 seed in the East Region of the 2009 NCAA Tournament and the potential of their first two games right at home in Philadelphia (although, the prospect of a second round match-up with UCLA is hardly a gift for a home team).

The seniors have been developed and prodded along by their head coach and the Tough Love is all Wright with Villanova (Philly Inquirer).
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West Virginia might be a team that does not shoot all that well. They might be a team short on size and also on experience up and down their roster. However, For WVU, Toughness is the Great Equalizer (Daily Mail) and will make it difficult for unsuspecting teams in a tournament setting to adjust against the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineer trio of freshmen, Devin Ebanks, Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones have played a vital role and their expanded production in the last few weeks have helped propel WVU to a 6th seed in this year’s brackets. The WVU Freshmen are Eager for First Dance (Register-Herald) in what their fans hope is only the beginning with this group under Bob Huggins.

WVU is Feeling Good About NCAA Tournament Draw (Martinsburg Journal) , but the ex-Cincinnati coach knows that it is also important to be lucky once the Big Dance tips off.
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It looks as though Marquette is in the Relocation Program (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) as the NCAA Selection Committee ships the Golden Eagles west to Boise (ID) to open the first round against Utah State. Finding their suffocating perimeter defense for the NCAA’s will be a key for MU to overcome their lack of size, something Utah State does have an advantage with.
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It looks like the NY Times got it right this year calling on Mike Brey to give their readers some tournament insight. Afterall, the Irish coach faced ALL four NCAA Tournament top seeds this season (as did Rutgers, who faced three in week back around the New Year). In One Coach’s Take, the Top Seeds Will Rule Again (NY Times).
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From 14-4 a year ago in the Big East to 8-10 this season, Notre Dame’s Fall is Really Inexcuseable (Post-Tribune) as the Irish went from a preseason top-10 team to a NIT competitor. Notre Dame opens NIT play tonight against C-USA’s UAB. While UAB Questions NIT Tourney Spot (Birmingham News) as a 7-seed in the 32-team tourney, the Irish Await Familiar Faces (Post-Tribune) in UAB head coach Mike Davis and his former player at IU Robert Vaden in tonight’s 1st round game in South Bend.
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Despite a 16-17 overall record in 2008-2009, the basketball season is not quite over for St. John’s as they will be participating in the 2009 post-season. St. John’s is in the College Basketball Invitational (Newsday) and will visit Richmond on Wedesday in the East Regional of the CBI.

While the CBI is a relatively meaningless exercise, the Redstorm does get some extra practice and preparation time. With a young team, each day of learning is an important one and playing together can go a long way in their development. With recruit Omari Lawrence coming in, their pursuit of Lance Stephenson ongoing and the return of Anthony Mason Jr. from injury, next year could be the season Norm Roberts takes his program to a major step forward.
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Two teams in similar situations as the Redstorm are not continuing on with their seasons. Cincinnati, who played inthe inaugural CBI last season, went from an NCAA Tournament hopeful a couple short weeks ago to a team without an invite to the NIT. The Bearcats finished the season 18-14 and to Mick Cronin: NIT Snub? Big Deal (Cincinnati Enquirer). While his players would have liked to keep going, the UC coach understands the make-up of the NIT and the made-for-television match-ups the tournament needs as to why Georgetown and Notre Dame got invites over his Bearcats, despite their 3-0 record against them in the regular season.

Cronin will use the time to get on the recruiting trail and UC can begin preparing Mike Williams’ request to the NCAA for an additional year. Cronin has one additional scholarship for next season with the news that Kenny Belton, who missed all of this season with spinal cord problems, has been declared medically disqualified and will not play again. Also, once again, Alvin Mitchell’s status with the program is up in the air as the coach will meet next week with the player to determine a direction for the two parties.
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While Mick Cronin is at peace that the UC season has ended, that does not quite seem the case at Seton Hall where Seton Hall Coach Bobby Gonzalez Can’t Accept the Fact the NIT Snubbed the Pirates (Star-Ledger). Of the 26 at-large teams selected for the NIT, Seton Hall’s RPI of 101 was below every single one of them. With talented transfers in Herb Pope, Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robinson set to join the team on the court next season, an NIT bid next year might be met with disappointment, but after two NCAA Tournament appearances in Louis Orr’s final three seasons, Gonzo has yet to deliver a post-season appearance in his three seasons. Next year will be crucial…
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Another team whose season is over following the Big East Tournament once again is Rutgers. While RU fans cringe at the thought of Gary Waters coaching his new team, Cleveland State, in the NCAA Tournament this March, Fred Hill Jr. continues to spin his wheels with the Scarlet Knights. Despite the 2-16 conference campaign in 2008-2009, Hill Sees the Knights Developing (Asbury Park Press) for a brighter future.

Rumors of transfers, like Corey Chandler, have been running rampant around the Rutgers program for weeks, so we will see how that plays out. They will have Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell eligible to play next season as well as incoming recruits Dane Miller, Auston Johnson and Brian Okam (see more on Okam HERE!!), who verbally committed to RU last week.

The Scarlet Knights are also searching high and wide for a point guard to help in the backcourt next season.
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By now, everyone is aware that former DePaul head coach and UConn assistant Dave Leitao has been ousted as the head coach of Virginia after four seasons. The Change Could Impact the Class (DailyProgress) Leitao signed last fall, including Tristan Spurlock who strongly considered Georgetown before signing with the Cavs. According to the article, sources are pretty clear that Spurlock will look to be let out of his LOI and explore his options.

Another player that was heavily recruited by Big East programs, most notably St. John’s, was current UVA frosh and the 2008-2009 ACC Freshman of the Year Sylven Landesberg. The DailyProgress.com article quotes Landesberg’s facebook account (wow…isn’t that some kind of investigative reporting) on the star freshman’s reaction to the situation, “[What the (expletive)]!” wrote Landesberg on his Facebook page. “I came to play for him, didn’t think I would feel this way.”

UVA assistant coach Bill Courtney was vital in bringing Landesberg to Charlottesville and also in the recruitment of Spurlock, so his retention on the future staff could play a major role in the decision of current players and recruits to stay or go. Or, it could make Courtney a highly targeted assistant coach by many other programs at the high-major level.
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This past weekend, the Maryland high school state Final Fours were held in the Comcast Center on the University of Maryland campus. A Former National Christian Star Stands Out (Washington Post) as junior Will Barton, playing for former Syracuse Orange forward Herman Harried, led Lake Clifton to two routs and the Maryland 3A championship.

Barton told the Post he has yet to narrow his college choices, holding scholarship offers from Maryland, Georgetown, Kentucky, Indiana, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Marquette, Memphis, Tennessee, Florida, South Florida and others.

NBE Basketball Report will have more on the action fromthe Comcast Center of last weekend later on this afternoon. So check back later on…
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The recruitment of Jarrid Famous will continue as the 6-foot-11 JUCO center recently completed a visit to Missouri and a Big East school is next up for an official visit. Famous is to Visit South Florida (ZagsBlog.com) later this month. Other involved in his recruitment include Seton Hall, who he visited last Fall and has made several unofficial stops to see games, Villanova, who he recently took an unofficial visit to, Connecticut, where he has also visited on an unofficial trip, Louisville and Xavier, who is is looking to set up an official visit to.
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