At Big East Basketball Media Day in New York, our Jason Horowitz had a chance to catch up with all the coaches in the Big East Conference, as well as commissioner Val Ackerman. Listen to the full interviews below!
The Big East is back for its second year and the conference introduced itself to the media on Wednesday in New York City at Big East Media Day.
Our Jason Horowitz had a chance to catch up with commissioner Val Ackerman ahead of the second season for the league.
(Listen to Big East commissioner Val Ackerman’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Butler: The Bulldogs didn’t enjoy a great amount of success in their first season in the Big East after moving over from the A-10 prior to the 2013-14 season. Butler finished 14-17 overall and were 4-14 in conference play. Head coach Brandon Miller is on a medical leave of absence and Chris Holtmann is serving as the interim head coach.
(Listen to Chris Holtmann’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Creighton: Creighton didn’t find the transition from the Missouri Valley to the Big East nearly as difficult as Butler did. The Bluejays enjoyed a great first season, finishing second in the conference with a 14-4 record in league play and making it all the way to the championship game at the conference tournament. Of course, that was all done with star Doug McDermott leading the way. How will Creighton fare now that McDermott is plying his trade with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls?
(Listen to Greg McDermott’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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DePaul: It was another disappointing year for DePaul, as the Blue Demons finished last in the league for the sixth straight year. The season did end on a positive note with a 60-56 win over Georgetown in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. The 2014-15 team returns the Big East’s Rookie of the Year last season, Billy Garrett, Jr.
(Listen to DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Georgetown: The 2013-14 season was far from a vintage year for the Hoyas, as they finished seventh in the league with an 8-10 mark and were bounced in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. A trip to the NIT came next and ended in the second round. Guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera will lead the way for Georgetown and was selected as the preseason Player of the Year by coaches at Big East Media Day.
(Listen to John Thompson III’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Marquette: 2014-15 will mark a year of big change for the Golden Eagles, as head coach Buzz Williams left for Virginia Tech after last season. Marquette wasted little time in finding a replacement, tapping long time Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski to lead the program. In 2013-14, Marquette was picked to win the league but finished sixth and missed the NCAA Tournament.
(Listen to Steve Wojciechowski’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Providence: This was our headline a year ago: “It’s been a decade since the Friars danced, with Providence College last making the NCAA Tournament field in 2004, and a further ten years removed from the school’s only Big East Tournament title in 1994.” Well, you can throw that sentence out the window. The Friars cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden before losing a heartbreaker to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
(Listen to Ed Cooley’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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St John’s: Steve Lavin is back for a fifth year as head coach of the Red Storm, coming off a 20-win season and a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Big East. The 2013-14 season ended with a first-round defeat to Robert Morris in the NIT, but Lavin says the goal is to make the Big Dance this season with a senior class that was the first he recruited to Queens.
(Listen to Steve Lavin’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Seton Hall: Another Big East coach entering his fifth season is Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard. The Pirates haven’t had a ton of success in recent years, but there’s an optimism about Seton Hall basketball headed into the season thanks to the return of guards Sterling Gibbs and Jaren Sina, who combined to put up about 20 points a game a year ago, and the arrival of highly recruited freshman Isaiah Whitehead.
(Listen to Kevin Willard’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Villanova: The inaugural year of the new Big East Conference brought a first regular season conference title since 2006 for the Wildcats. After racking up the most wins in the history of the Villanova program, the season ended somewhat disappointingly, with an exit from the Big East Tournament in the quarterfinals and a 3rd-round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual champions UConn. With most of the roster back for 2014-15, the Wildcats are picked as the pre-season favorites to repeat as conference champions.
(Listen to Jay Wright’s interview with Jason Horowitz)
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Xavier: The Musketeers’ first year in the Big East was largely a successful one, with a fourth-place finish in the league and a trip to the NCAA Tournament’s First Four.
Head coach Chris Mack is back for his sixth season, having led Xavier to the Big Dance in four of his first five years.
