- Finally, news that a school with a basketball history is set to join the Big East. Sources are saying Memphis will join the conference for all sports in time for the 2013-14 season. Money makes this decision a no-brainer for the school, but I am not so sure Josh Pastner should be that excited. They haven’t been their usual dominant selves this season, but they are still clearly the class of Conference USA. No other team in the conference can compete with the Tigers when it comes to recruiting, tradition, and facilities, but that will change when they move to the Big East. They have proven in past seasons that they can earn a top two seed even with their easier schedule, so what exactly do they gain from playing a tougher schedule and competing for more recruits?
- The rest of the league had the night off, so televisions around the globe tuned it to see last night’s battle between Villanova and Providence for the right to stay out of the conference cellar. The game featured very little defense and plenty of turnovers, but also plenty of intrigue. Redshirt freshman JayVaughn Pinkston scored 28 points and had 14 rebounds, including some big buckets down the stretch as ‘Nova rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Friars. Let’s face it, this game showed why both of these teams are where they are: inconsistency, youth, and not much defense. The good news is that both teams have interesting young talent. Assuming no one does anything silly, the Wildcats will return everyone on their team and add at least two impressive freshman.
- The big man woes for Marquette continue as the Golden Eagles aren’t certain when they will get Davante Gardner back from his knee injury. They have their fingers crossed he will be back Saturday when they play Cincinnati. Buzz Williams and company won two of three games since he has been out, but they could use his size and rebounding against a physical Bearcats team this weekend.
- Speaking of Mick Cronin‘s scrappy bunch, sophomore star Sean Kilpatrick got some much-deserved praise for his season so far. The 6’4″ combo guard leads the team in scoring (15.4 PPG) and is second in rebounding (4.8 RPG), but he is also commended for his leadership in what has certainly been an interesting year for the Bearcats. Cincinnati still has a lot of work to do to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but Kilpatrick has been a big reason why they are in this position in the first place.
- It’s time to stop pretending like it doesn’t exist, my colleague Pat here at the Big East microsite has a man-crush on newly minted 2012 recruit Nerlens Noel. He also has trouble masking his affinity for Providence, so it will make him very nervous to hear that No. 2 Syracuse may have an advantage thanks to Noel’s friendship with Orange freshman Michael Carter-Williams. Apparently the two are “best friends” and they have known each other for years thanks to AAU ball. At the same time, Carter-Williams also said he has not tried to sway his close friend at all, so breathe a little deeper Pat.
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Being the fair and balanced soul that I am, I would like to stick to facts. Fact #1: You might not be all that far off on the man crush thing. Fact #2: Here are the results of the latest Nerlens Noel poll: Providence (66%), Syracuse & Kentucky tied at 12% despite FakeGimel's vast sphere of influence, G'town and UNC (4%), UConn & Florida (1%). Fact #3: MCW (who prepped at St. Andrew's in RI) is also good friends with Ricardo Ledo, who considered Syracuse before choosing Providence. Fact #4: Villanova nor Maryland while fine institutions and programs are on Noel's list.