2003-04 Big East Preview
October 14, 2003 04:09 PM | General
Special to MSNsportsNET.com
By John Antonik
October 17, 2003
Big East Essentials
2003 Recruiting | Preseason Notebook | Women's Preview
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s a shame that most of the attention concerning the Big East conference has been focused on what’s taking place off the court because on it, Big East basketball is stronger than ever.
Despite the eventual defections of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the ACC, a strong Big East basketball conference will remain strong. In fact, it could become much stronger if published plans of adding additional schools are approved by league presidents in November.
As for this year, the Big East not only has the returning national champion in Syracuse, but also has the odds-on favorite to win the title this season in Connecticut.
First there’s Syracuse.
The Orangemen put together a dream season in 2003 behind the play of remarkable freshman Carmelo Anthony, who opted to stay in school just one year before declaring early for the NBA draft. Syracuse won 30 games and had one of the nation’s best offenses, averaging 79.6 points per game.
After losing to Connecticut, 80-67 in the Big East tournament semifinals, Syracuse reeled off six straight victories to claim its first basketball title under Coach Jim Boeheim. Although Syracuse will be without Anthony and graduated guard Kueth Duany, the Orangemen still have enough firepower returning to make another run at the Final Four.
Six-eight forward Hakim Warrick is one of the most exciting players in the Big East and teams with remarkable sophomore guard Gerry McNamara to give Syracuse an outstanding inside-outside game. Touted guard Billy Edelin also made big progress as the year went on and pairs with backup Josh Pace to give Syracuse three quality backcourt players.
Another strong recruiting class will also help fill the void for the Orangemen.
Connecticut's Omeka Okafor led the country in blocked shots last year
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Connecticut is being touted by many experts as the preseason favorite to win this season’s NCAA title. Coach Jim Calhoun has built this year’s UConn team around juniors Omeka Okafor and Ben Gordon.
The 6-foot-9 Okafor led the country in blocked shots last year and also averaged 15.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Gordon, a 6-foot-2 guard, is UConn’s top returning scorer with an average of 19.5 points per game and also made 41.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Gordon teams with dependable senior Taliek Brown in the backcourt.
The one possible soft spot in the Connecticut lineup was taken care of this summer when the Huskies managed to land one of the nation’s top prospects in 6-foot-10 forward Charlie Villanueva. Most Husky observers believe Villanueva is one and done and are hoping he can do for UConn what Carmelo Anthony did for Syracuse last season.
In addition to UConn, two other Big East teams advanced to the NCAA tournament “Sweet 16” last year in Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, making it just the second time in NCAA history a conference had all four of its NCAA tournament participants advance to the third round. The only other time that happened was in 1980 when the Big Ten sent Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State and Purdue to the “Sweet 16.”
Notre Dame should once again be clicking on all cylinders with key contributors Chris Thomas and Torin Francis returning. Thomas, who considered entering this year’s NBA draft before pulling his name out, averaged 19.7 points and 6.9 assists per game in 2003. Francis is one of the league’s rising stars, averaging 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
Notre Dame is the only Big East program to reach double figures in league victories in each of the last three seasons.
No school in the country in the last couple of years has risen to prominence faster than Pittsburgh, which over the last two seasons has posted a 63-12 record under Coach Ben Howland. Even though Howland left Pitt for UCLA, he did leave his top assistant Jamie Dixon with a good nucleus of players that includes Julius Page, Jaron Brown and Chevy Troutman. This group helped Pitt hold opponents to a conference-low 59.2 points per game.
The 2003 Big East champions had its sights set on a Final Four berth last year, but were derailed in the regional semifinals by a Marquette team that did make it to the Final Four.
Providence and Seton Hall, two NIT teams last year, have enough firepower returning to make a strong push for NCAA tournament consideration this season.
Providence has one of the top players in the country in 6-foot-7 forward Ryan Gomes, who averaged 18.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Veteran coach Tim Welsh has just about every player returning this year including 2002 leading scorer Abdul Mills, who sat out 2003 with an injured hip.
The Friars could very well be lying in the bushes waiting to ambush teams this winter.
Like Providence, Seton Hall will field a veteran lineup in 2003-04. Seton Hall is the only team in the Big East returning three starters averaging double figures in scoring (Andre Barrett, John Allen and Kelly Whitney) from a year ago.
Last year the Pirates won nine straight games during a period from January 29 to March 1, including all seven games in February. Among Seton Hall’s victims were NCAA tournament participants Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
St. John’s captured last year’s NIT championship but must find a replacement for top scorer Marcus Hatten. Coach Mike Jarvis might have Hatten’s replacement on campus right now in high-scoring guard Daryll Hill, who sat out last year to concentrate on academics.
Villanova started out the season strong but collapsed at mid-year when injuries and suspensions began to pile up. In early March, the team was ravaged by revelations of the misuse of a telephone access code by 12 players and finished the season with just seven scholarship players. Coach Jay Wright has recruited well since taking over the Villanova job and will field a large and talented seven-player sophomore class this season.
Boston College just missed going to the NCAA tournament last season and finished the campaign with 19 wins, but must find a replacements for high-scoring guard Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney, who left school before the start of the fall semester for personal reasons.
Also, two key performers – Craig Smith and Nate Doornekamp – suffered preseason injuries and will not be available when preseason practice begins. That means Coach Al Skinner will be scrambling with just nine scholarship players at the start of preseason camp.
When healthy, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Smith is a load averaging 19.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last year as a freshman.
Georgetown has some problems, too.
The Hoyas suffered massive turnover during the off-season and must find a replacement for powerful forward Mike Sweetney. Coach Craig Esherick hopes it comes from either Brandon Bowman or Courtland Freeman. Six-six guard Gerald Riley is Georgetown’s top returning player, averaging 14.1 points per game last season.
West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle averaged 11.6 points per game and shot 47 percent from three-point distance
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West Virginia got back on the right track in Coach John Beilein’s first season. Using a lineup comprised of freshmen and sophomores, Beilein guided the Mountaineers to a 14-15 record and a spot in the Big East tournament.
WVU pulled off surprising upset wins over Florida and Tennessee and has a good one-two punch returning in 6-foot-3 forward Drew Schifino and 6-foot-10 center Kevin Pittsnogle. Schifino is the league’s top returning scorer averaging 20.1 points per game last year while Pittsnogle earned Big East all-rookie honors.
Miami is looking to rebound after a disappointing 2003 campaign. Coach Perry Clark has one of the top returning players in 6-foot-10 forward Darius Rice, who made four shots at the buzzer last year to either win or send games into overtime. However, Clark must come up with a stronger supporting cast to surround Rice with.
Rutgers is in year three of the Gary Waters rebuilding plan. The former Kent State coach guided Rutgers to a surprising 18-13 record in 2002, only to see the Knights slip to 12-16 last season and fail to qualify for the conference tournament. Waters is hoping 6-foot-10 Herve Lamizana and 6-foot-4 guard Ricky Shields can help Rutgers get back into postseason play.
And Virginia Tech is hoping to make it to New York City in its final season in the Big East. Tech is starting all over with new coach Seth Greenberg, who will be utilizing a roster comprised primarily of freshmen and sophomores. Greenberg did inherit an outstanding player in 6-foot-7 junior forward Bryant Matthews, who became the first player in conference history to lead his team in scoring (17.3 ppg.), assists (64), steals (48) and blocks (34).
