With a new season about to tip off its time to take a closer look at the teams in the Big East.
Cincinnati: Last season the Bearcats finished 19-16 and went to the NIT, it was the school’s first appearance in the NIT since 2006. The Bearcats will have to replace former diaper dandy Lance Stephenson and Deonta Vaughn, who were the team’s top two scores from a season ago.
The team will return 8 players from a season ago with Yancy Gates being the headliner. Gates is the only returning player who averaged double digits last season averaging 10.4 ppg while also grabbing 5.9 rpg. Ibrahima Thomas who came over from Oklahoma State will have an expanded role this season after averaging just over 5 points and 5 rebounds a game. Coach Mick Cronin may look to sixth year senior Rashard Bishop to pick up the scoring that the team lost. Bishop averaged 8.4 ppg last season. The battle for the point guard position will come down to three players, Cashmere Wright, Dion Dixon and Jaquon Parker. Wright is the most likely starters after averaging 5.4 ppg in 11 starts as a freshman.
Mick Cronin did add two 3 star recruits to his team. 6-10 center Kelvin Gaines and 6-8 forward Justin Jackson. The losses of Stephenson, 12.3 ppg and Big East rookie of the year and Vaughn who finished third on the school’s all time scoring list will certainly hurt the Bearcats. The Bearcats will need to continue to crash the boards if they hope to have a successful season, they finished 2nd in the Big East in rebound margin at +6.2. The Bearcats kickoff their season Nov. 15 against Mount St. Mary’s.
Uconn: The Huskies are coming off their worst season in recent memory under Jim Calhoun. The Huskies went 18-16 and 7-11 in conference play. Four players did post double digits last season for the Huskies, but production fell off after that. After a disastrous regular season to a troubled regular season with Calhoun facing infractions from the NCAA, the Huskies are most certainly ready to start a new season.
Kemba Walker is back and it all falls on his shoulders. Walker was named All Big East third team last season after he averaged 14.6 ppg, 5.1 apg and led the league in steals with 2.1 a game. The only other starter that Uconn returns is center Alex Oriakhi. Oriakhi averaged 5 points and 6.6 rebounds a game and was named to the All Big East Rookie team. With only two starters returning freshman Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier could see minutes right away and contribute.
There are more questions surrounding this Uconn team than in years past. With Jerome Dyson, who led the team in scoring at 17.2 ppg, Stanley Robinson who led the team in rebounds with 7.6 a game and sixth man Gavin Edwards all gone the Huskies could struggle through the first half of their season. A bright spot for the Huskies however was in Big East play where they held opponents to 40.4 percent from the field, which was tops in the league.
DePaul: Despite being picked to finish last in the preseason poll there is optimism in the windy city. The Blue Demons somehow were able to lure Oliver Purnell away from Clemson. Purnell’s has went to the big dance the past three years and does a great job at building up programs. Purnell does have his work cut out for him has the Blue Demons have only won two conference games in two years.
The Blue Demons lost their two top scores, Will Walker and Mac Koshwal. Forward Mike Stovall will look to pick up the slack. Stovall started 20 games last season and averaged 7 ppg. Eric Wallace will also look to have a big season after averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds in his first season at DePaul, Wallace was a transfer from Ohio State. The offense will run through guard Jeremiah Kelley who averaged just over 5 ppg and led the team with 84 assists.
The loss of Walker and Koshwal will certainly impact a team who isn’t very good to begin with. Koshwal averaged 16 points a game and just over 10 rebounds and in 19 games had a double double 11 times. Walker was also another big time scorer for the team averaging just over 16 ppg as well. If anything Walker was dependable leading the Big East in minutes played, averaging over 38 minutes a game.
Georgetown: The Hoyas are coming off another successful season under JT3 in which the team went 23-10, went to the Big East championship game and made a trip to the NCAA tournament. The team did lose All-American Greg Monroe but returns a bevy of guards headlined by Austin Freeman who was picked as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year.
Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Jason Clark are back to form the best back court in the Big East. Wright was named to the Big East Second Team in the preseason and the trio of Freeman, Wright and Clark combined to average more than 41 ppg. Joining the trio of guards will be swingman Hollis Thompson. Thompson is a sophomore who averaged 5ppg and had 16 points in their NCAA tournament game.
The Princeton offense will be in full effect again this year, all be it with some minor changes. The will have to figure out how they will replace Greg Monroe who arguably was the team’s best passer despite be 6-10. Chris Wright and Austin Freeman will now have to create their own shots but few teams in the Big East will be able to matchup with Georgetown’s guard play. Once again expect another trip to the big dance if you are a Hoya fan.
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