Big East Basketball Early 20-21 Outlook

[Herman Cain]

Looks like the Big East is going to be highly competitive again next year.  A quick look up and down the rosters of the top  teams  and it looks like most will continue to be solid with the core of their teams,quite a few decent transfers, plus some nice incoming recruits . For example Seton Hall picked up Bryce Aiken . 

https://shupirates.com/news/2020/4/20/mens-basketball-seton-hall-adds-dynamic-guard-bryce-aiken-for-2020-21-season.aspx

Also teams like  Villanova were able to keep a quality guy like JRE in school for his sophomore season .
https://www.vuhoops.com/villanova-basketball/2020/4/14/21220871/villanovas-jeremiah-robinson-earl-to-return-nba-draft

U Conn had some momentum, with a 19-12 record and will be a very tough conference foe out of the gate.
https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2020/3/24/mens-basketball-tough-identity-young-talent-keep-mbb-on-the-rise.aspx

Mike Anderson did a nice job with very little at The Johnnies and I would not be surprised to see him take that team up a notch. Georgetown has some question marks.

Once again, It will be key for the Big East schools to get out of the gates strong in Non- Conference.  Would be fantastic if the league could  come close to repeating last years non conference.

The only thing we know for sure is that DePaul will comfortable maintain its hold on last place.

https://depauliaonline.com/47951/sports/5-years-after-hiring-dave-leitao-depaul-still-stuck-in-the-bottom-of-the-big-east/

[WhiteTrash]

DePaul was the best last place team in the P6. The Big East is very tough.

[GooooMarquette]

DePaul was the best last place team in the P6. The Big East is very tough.

They were also the best last place team in 2018-19 when they went 7-11 in the BE and 19-17 overall. Heck, they probably have been the best last place team a few times in the last decade.

[Galway Eagle]

They were also the best last place team in 2018-19 when they went 7-11 in the BE and 19-17 overall. Heck, they probably have been the best last place team a few times in the last decade.

Ehhh a lot of other years had mind blowing non con losses and 18-19 it only came together in conference. This year they truly were the best last place team. 

[Herman Cain]

Butler picks up a quality grad transfer guard from South Carolina. 

https://bustingbrackets.com/2020/04/17/butler-basketball-dawgs-land-graduate-transfer-jair-bolden/

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Butler picks up a quality grad transfer guard from South Carolina. 

https://bustingbrackets.com/2020/04/17/butler-basketball-dawgs-land-graduate-transfer-jair-bolden/

He is the kid i wanted fir a fill in at the 2

[GooooMarquette]

Ehhh a lot of other years had mind blowing non con losses and 18-19 it only came together in conference. This year they truly were the best last place team.

I would argue that finishing strong in 18-19 (as opposed to their epic face-plant down the stretch this year) makes it even clearer that they were the best last place team.

[Galway Eagle]

I would argue that finishing strong in 18-19 (as opposed to their epic face-plant down the stretch this year) makes it even clearer that they were the best last place team.

Fair enough. Guess it depends if you mean best last place as in better than other conferences or best last place meaning able to compete within the conference.

[JakeBarnes]

However unlikely, Saddiq Bey could still return to Villanova as well.

[Dawson Rental]

However unlikely, Saddiq Bey could still return to Villanova as well.

That makes me shudder.

[GooooMarquette]

Fair enough. Guess it depends if you mean best last place as in better than other conferences or best last place meaning able to compete within the conference.

Honestly, I think it means a little of both. But making the distinction between the two is difficult because non-conference games are always weighted toward the early season, and conference games occur late. So the difference between 18-19 and 19-20 might not lie so much in whether DePaul was "better than other last place teams" or "more able to compete within the BE" as it was in starting slow one season and starting hot the other.

Put another way, maybe DePaul just appeared to be better than the last place teams of other conferences last season simply because they started hot. And maybe the season before, they didn't appear as strong simply  because they started slow.

Anyhow, to-MAY-toes vs to-MAH-toes. Either way, they are still the last place team, but not bad as far as last place teams go....

[DFW HOYA]

Mike Anderson did a nice job with very little at The Johnnies and I would not be surprised to see him take that team up a notch. Georgetown has some question marks.

Lots of question marks--GU could have as few as three returning players with any significant playing time.

[Galway Eagle]

Honestly, I think it means a little of both. But making the distinction between the two is difficult because non-conference games are always weighted toward the early season, and conference games occur late. So the difference between 18-19 and 19-20 might not lie so much in whether DePaul was "better than other last place teams" or "more able to compete within the BE" as it was in starting slow one season and starting hot the other.

Put another way, maybe DePaul just appeared to be better than the last place teams of other conferences last season simply because they started hot. And maybe the season before, they didn't appear as strong simply  because they started slow.

Anyhow, to-MAY-toes vs to-MAH-toes. Either way, they are still the last place team, but not bad as far as last place teams go....

Either way they had one hell of a successful 2019 calendar year for basketball. Maybe banner worthy there?

[brewcity77]

Need to look at the rest of the league more, but I think Ty-Shon Alexander is a bigger loss for Creighton than most are realizing. He's pretty much the only reason they were able to shut down Howard and Powell (went 4-0 vs MU/SHU). Their defense is terrible and losing him is like 2013-14 Marquette losing Vander. Their roster as compromised reminds me a lot of our 2018 team. Lots of shooting, but no defense and no interior offense.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Yes, FS1 did alot in the broadcast in the focus of Ty-Shon Alexander defense as the season went on. Huge loss as the "let it fly" team also had a stopper.

[GoldenDieners32]

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/1253655303398318080?s=21

[Herman Cain]

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/1253655303398318080?s=21

That is definitely a tough schedule for Creighton.

Losing Ty Shon Alexander  will be tough for the Jays, but they do have all the other starters plus Denzel Mahoney returning. They will also have a healthy Jacob Epperson . In addition  Antawn James the big guard  transfer from Memphis State will be eligible. Finally, Ryan Kalkbrenner the freshman big man  will be coming on line.

[Herman Cain]

X brings in multiple grad Transfers for the third year in a row,including going back to the D2 well. 

https://local12.com/sports/xu-musketeers/xavier-basketball-announces-addition-of-two-graduate-transfers-cincinnati-college-musketeers-nate-johnson-gardner-webb-bryan-griffin-mercy


https://local12.com/sports/xu-musketeers/xavier-basketball-recruiting-goes-virtual-as-pandemic-keeps-players-off-campus-cincinnati

X also has some decent incoming freshman prospects.

https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2019/11/14/20965672/xavier-has-locked-down-an-excellent-2020-class-basketball-big-east

[Herman Cain]

Creighton going Euro picking up some top prospects.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/recruiting/basketball/mens/story/_/id/29147139/creighton-lands-top-international-hoops-prospect-rati-andronikashvili

https://gocreighton.com/news/2020/4/30/mens-basketball-adds-to-2020-recruiting-class-signs-modestas-kancleris.aspx

The Blue Jays also picked up Duke Transfer Alex O' Connell.

https://gocreighton.com/news/2020/4/15/duke-transfer-alex-o-connell-joins-mens-basketball-program.aspx

[muguru]

This is no surprise at all...

Evan Daniels
@EvanDaniels
·
50s
DePaul forward Paul Reed is bypassing his remaining college eligibility and signing with Ron Shade of Octagon for his professional representation, a source tells @247Sports
. Reed averaged 15.1 PPG and 10.7 RPG this past season.

[Galway Eagle]

This is no surprise at all...

Evan Daniels
@EvanDaniels
·
50s
DePaul forward Paul Reed is bypassing his remaining college eligibility and signing with Ron Shade of Octagon for his professional representation, a source tells @247Sports
. Reed averaged 15.1 PPG and 10.7 RPG this past season.

Good for him. Crazy though Depaul would've probably improved to legit had he returned

[Billy Hoyle]

St. John's pulled out of the recruitment of a grad transfer due to not having an open scholarship they thought they'd have. That points to Figurora coming back.

[Eldon]

Mac transferring from GTown:

https://sports.yahoo.com/mac-mcclung-transfer-georgetown-212733878.html

Does not look good for Ewing.

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown's five year record since 2015: 78-82, 31-59 in the Big East.

And for 20-21? Georgetown loses 63% of its scoring and returns two starters, each of which shot under 39 percent on the season.

[brewcity77]

Georgetown's five year record since 2015: 78-82, 31-59 in the Big East.

And for 20-21? Georgetown loses 63% of its scoring and returns two starters, each of which shot under 39 percent on the season.

Is there any serious traction that this could be Ewing's last year? Where are the fans at? As much as we malign Wojo here, I feel like we are light years ahead of where Ewing has Georgetown. Ewing might be the better game coach, but he has been a poor recruiter and roster manager. I can't see any current long-term optimism for the Hoyas right now.