2005 Big East Men's Preview
November 08, 2004 04:49 PM | General
November 9, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the past two years, being the best team in the country hasn’t necessarily meant being the best team in the Big East.
Connecticut finished a game behind Pittsburgh in second place in the league regular season standings last year, but wound up claiming its second national title under veteran coach Jim Calhoun.
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| Syracuse forward
Hakim Warrick Big East photo |
A year earlier Syracuse parlayed a Big East tournament semifinal loss into the school’s first national championship under coach Jim Boeheim.
This year, Syracuse is predicted to finish first in the Big East, but Boeheim is obviously looking for much more. “I have the same expectation every year, to play as well as we can and go as far as we can,” he said.
All indications from Syracuse are that the Orange could journey deep into postseason play behind an experienced and talented lineup that appears every bit as good as the 2003 NCAA championship team led by Carmelo Anthony.
All five Syracuse starters are returning from last year’s 23-8 team that made the round of 16. Six-foot-eight senior forward Hakim Warrick resisted the urge to leave early for the NBA and returns as one of the country’s most dynamic forwards, averaging 19.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
Junior guard Gerry McNamara lit the nets for an average of 17.2 points per game while shooting 38.9 percent from three-point distance. Seven-foot center Craig Forth returns in the middle and should be joined on the wing by 6-foot-5 Josh Pace and out front by point guard Billy Edelin, who is back in Boeheim’s good graces.
Syracuse has several options off the bench led by 6- 8 sophomore Demetris Nichols, 6-9 sophomore Terrance Roberts and 6-11 sophomore Darryl Watkins up front, and 6-5 sophomore Louie McCroskey and touted freshman guard Josh Wright in the backcourt.
It seems Boeheim has plenty of interchangeable parts: “When you have everybody back, you hope everybody’s improved, which I think they are,” he said. “I think everybody’s gotten stronger. I think everybody’s worked hard in the off-season. That alone should lead to improvement.”
Nipping at Syracuse’s heels is last year’s national champion Connecticut, which sustained heavy losses but is replacing talent with more talent. If not for playing in the Big East, Connecticut would rate as a favorite to win just about any other conference.
The Huskies have to plug in replacements for All-Americans Ben Gordon and Omeka Okafor, as well as finding a point guard to replace Taliek Brown.
But don’t feel too sorry for UConn because top-flight replacements are waiting in the wings. Six-foot-nine freshman forward Rudy Gay is considered by some to be the top freshman entering college this year and he will battle last year’s top recruit Charlie Villanueva to join a front line that already features defensive standout Josh Boone. Giving UConn even more front-court depth is 6-foot-8 Georgia Tech transfer Ed Nelson, the 2003 ACC rookie of the year.
“When you play against this kind of competition every day, you make yourself better every day,” Boone recently told the Hartford Courant.
Smooth-shooting Rashard Anderson averaged 11.2 points per game last year and will be counted on for scoring on the wing. Brown’s point guard job could very well go to Marcus Williams, who played 16 games last year and averaged a shade under three points per game. He will be challenged by 6-foot-2 freshman Antonio Kellog.
“He’s got great instincts and great speed, almost Taliek speed,” Calhoun said of Kellog. “He doesn’t know how to use it the way Taliek did but he’s a good passer and has a good understanding of what we are doing.”
Optimism is once again high in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers showed no drop-off last year under first-year coach Jamie Dixon. Pitt rolled to a 31-5 overall record and the Big East regular season title in 2004. Dixon led Pitt to its third straight NCAA tournament “Sweet 16” appearance and the Panthers appear NCAA-bound once again in 2005 with a strong trio of returning players led by junior guard Carl Krauser, who averaged 15.4 points per game as a sophomore.
Athletic 6-foot-10 forward Chris Taft gives Pitt a big-time option in the paint while 6-7 banger Chevy Troutman does most of the dirty work. The two combined to average more than 20 points and 13 rebounds per game last year. Veteran forward Mark McCarroll is expected to join Taft and Troutman up front in the starting lineup, while 6-6 juco transfer John DeGroat could work his way into the lineup at the shooting guard spot. DeGroat averaged 11.7 points per game at Northeastern Colorado JC, but more importantly shot 44.4 percent from three-point range.
“I like the group,” Dixon said. “I feel like we have depth in areas we didn’t have last year. I think that will be a lot of help to us this year.”
Notre Dame also boasts plenty of depth and is predicted to finish fourth by league coaches. The Irish have one of the league’s strongest backcourts in senior Chris Thomas and junior guard Chris Quinn. Both combined to average better than 33 points per game and made 168 threes between them in 2004.
Center Torin Francis has recovered from a herniated disc and will be ready to patrol the middle once again for the Irish. Arizona transfer Dennis Latimore and senior Jordon Cornette could wind up starting up front with Francis. Junior Rick Cornette is also an option.
After being besieged with injuries last year, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey is pleased to have a full roster of players to work with during the preseason.
“It’s really competitive,” he said. “That’s given us a shot in the arm.”
No. 5 Boston College is also looking for a shot in the arm in its lame duck campaign as a Big East member. The Eagles have a terrific all-around player in junior forward Craig Smith, who showed last year that he could carry the team when everyone else was struggling.
“He really is in good shape,” said BC coach Al Skinner. “He’s as strong, if not stronger than he was in the past but he’s quicker.”
Smith averaged 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last year as a sophomore and is paired up with 6-7 sophomore forward Jared Dudley, who extended BC’s tradition of producing impact freshmen last season.
The backcourt features point guard Louis Hinnant and shooting guard Sean Marshall, both familiar with Big East combat. Seven-foot center Nate Doornekamp returns to the starting lineup after taking a backseat to Uka Agbai last year.
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| Providence forward
Ryan Gomes Big East photo |
Providence has been a Big East team frequently flying under the radar screen. Last year the Friars produced a solid 20-9 record and advanced to NCAA play for the second time under Coach Tim Welsh.
The Friars have the Big East preseason player of the year in senior forward Ryan Gomes, a 6-foot-7-inch vacuum cleaner in the paint that averaged 18.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in 2004. Gomes doesn’t quite have the same supporting cast he had last year with Rob Sanders, Sheiku Kabba and Marcus Douhit all graduating, but the Friars expect to come up with adequate replacements. However, one of those, 6-4 guard Gerald Brown, will be sidelined for at least the first couple weeks of the season after having preseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
Villanova has been kind of a mystery the last couple of seasons under Coach Jay Wright. This year the league coaches predict the Wildcats to finish seventh based on a talented group of players that have been bigger on potential than results.
Allan Ray and Randy Foye both averaged double figures last year, as did 6-7 junior forward Curtis Sumpter. Point guard Mike Nardi will once again run the show and Jason Fraser should be back to patrol the middle if his knee can hold up. Villanova has been a fringe NCAA tournament team the last couple of years but has been unable to come up with a string of victories to get them over the top. Wright hopes that 2005 is the year to do it.
Seton Hall, picked eighth, came up with the big wins last year to get into the NCAA tournament, winning 21 games and advancing to the second round.
Coach Louie Orr doesn’t have dynamic point guard Andre Barrett or dependable forward Marcus Toney-El, but he does have a pair of solid forwards in junior Kelly Whitney and senior John Allen. Both averaged double digits last year along with guards Andre Sweet and J.R. Morris. The new guy in the lineup figures to be either 5-foot-10 junior Donald Copeland or touted 6-5 freshman Justin Cerasoli.
Seton Hall was able to get a head start on finding Barrett’s replacement by going to Costa Rica for a tour of exhibition games earlier this fall.
Another team hoping a preseason tour will pay big dividends is West Virginia, which returns all five starters. Third-year coach John Beilein got the Mountaineers back into post-season play last year in the NIT after completely overhauling the program in 2002.
Six-eleven shot-swatter D’or Fischer is one of the more underrated players in the Big East, as is 6-foot-6 guard Joe Herber. West Virginia makes up for a lack of athletic ability with a sophisticated system that relies on intelligence and experience – which the Mountaineers have in abundance this year. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey calls ninth-place West Virginia his ‘sleeper team’ in the Big East this year.
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| Seton Hall forward
Kelly Whitney Big East photo |
“I hope he’s right,” said Beilein. “We don’t consider ourselves a sleeper but we don’t consider ourselves a favorite either.”
Rutgers is coming off a post-season run that nearly wound up with an NIT championship. The Scarlet Knights got all the way to the NIT title game where they lost to Michigan, 62-55. Coach Gary Waters has a preseason second-team all-league pick in senior Ricky Shields, but his best player may very well be sophomore guard Quincy Douby.
A real question for Rutgers will be who patrols the paint, especially if 6-foot-8 junior Adrian Hill can’t return from a preseason knee injury. Waters says if Hill isn’t 100 percent he may redshirt him this season.
Georgetown is in the peculiar place of being picked 11th in the preseason. First-year coach John Thompson III inherits a Hoya team with just two seniors, and plans on employing Princeton’s motion system. Six-eight junior forward Brandon Bowman is Thompson’s best player, averaging 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last year.
Guard Ashanti Cook was next in line averaging 9.2 points per game.
“We’re going to share the ball, we’re going to play together, and hopefully there will be a lot of spacing and movement,” Thompson said. “It’s the way of playing, based on sharing the ball and movement that will be consistent.”
Last place St. John’s is hoping for some consistency, too. Like Thompson, new St. John’s coach Norm Roberts is working with a short deck of cards this year. His best returning player is 6-foot junior guard Darryll Hill, who averaged 14.8 points per game during the Red Storm’s six-win campaign last year. Six-nine forward Lamont Hamilton also showed promise, averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while making four starts. Roberts welcomes five newcomers including two JC transfers, though one of them, Jermaine Maybank, is lost for the year after suffering a torn patella tendon in his left knee during pre-season practice.
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Preseason All-Big East First Team |
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Craig Smith, Boston
College, F. Jr., 6-7, 255, Los Angeles, Calif. |
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Chris Thomas, Notre
Dame, G, Sr., 6-1, 185, Indianapolis, Ind. |
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Carl Krauser, Pitt, G,
Jr., 6-2, 200, Bronx, N.Y. |
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Chris Taft, Pitt, C,
So., 6-10, 230, Brooklyn, N.Y. |
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Ryan Gomes,
Providence, F, Sr., 6-7, 240, Waterbury, Conn. |
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Gerry McNamara,
Syracuse, G, Jr., 6-2, 179, Scranton, Pa. |
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Hakim Warrick,
Syracuse, F, Sr., 6-8, 209, Philadelphia, Pa. |
Preseason Player of the Year
Ryan Gomes, Providence
Preseason Rookie of the Year
Rudy Gay, Connecticut
Preseason All-Big East Second Team
Rashad Anderson, Connecticut, F, Jr., 6-5, 210, Lakeland, Fla.
Josh Boone, Connecticut, C, So., 6-10, 230, Mt. Airy, Md.
Ricky Shields, Rutgers, G, Sr., 6-4, 190, Upper Marlboro, Md.
Kelly Whitney, Seton Hall, C, Jr., 6-8, 240, Chicago, Ill.
Allan Ray, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-2, 205, Bronx, N.Y.
Curtis Sumpter, Villanova, F, Jr., 6-7, 220, Brooklyn, N.Y.
