1. Today is the biggest day in DePaul basketball in a very long time. Consensus top five recruit Cliff Alexander will be deciding where he plays possibly his only year of college basketball. Alexander will be picking between Illinois, Kansas, Memphis and the Blue Demons. There has been a lot of speculation during the past few days that he will pick between DePaul and Illinois, but Alexander’s mother has explicitly stated that all four schools are still in play even if he has already decided in his mind. DePaul has as good a shot as anyone to get the Chicago native, as he has expressed a desire to stay home near his family. Recruiting powerhouse Kansas would seem to be the most logical fit for such a talented player, but DePaul and Illinois will allow Alexander to star from the moment he sets foot on campus. If Alexander commits to DePaul, it will be a historic pickup for the program and could work wonders for the future of the team.
2. The early signing period began Wednesday and many Big East teams reeled in some sensational talent. Leading the way was Xavier, ESPN.com‘s fourth best 2014 class, and Seton Hall, seventh best, two teams who have not had classes like these in many years. Chris Mack brings in four four-star recruits, led by Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Summer. Isaiah Whitehead headlines Seton Hall’s class, along with Angel Delgado. Whitehead, in particular, is a lot of fun to watch. Georgetown is eighth, right behind the Pirates, while Marquette comes in at #15, and Providence rounds out the Big East teams at #20. This is a tremendous year for recruiting in the Big East as some fans around the league were worried that the losses of powerhouses like Syracuse and Louisville would hurt league-wide recruiting, but the coaches have stepped it up regardless. The future of the Big East is certainly bright with so many great players signing on with conference teams.
3. There are several big games on the docket this weekend for Big East schools, including two of the top teams facing tough challenges. Marquette hosts Ohio State in the first game broadcast on Fox in quite a while. Buzz Williams’ squad will play the Buckeyes after last season’s scheduled game on an aircraft carrier was canceled due to moisture on the court. This year both teams are coming off of Elite Eight appearances but have also lost their best players in Vander Blue and Deshaun Thomas. The game will be a good indicator of how far along the Golden Eagles are at this point in the year. Creighton also visits St. Joseph’s on Saturday after crushing the Hawks in Omaha last year. Creighton should make sure to be ready as St. Joe’s has played very well so far and a tough road game this early in the season will really test Greg McDermott’s squad. The Bluejays will also be without a fully healthy Grant Gibbs, as he hurt his finger two weeks ago and has not been the same ever since.
4. Marquette play-by-play announcer Steve  “The Homer” True was rushed to a hospital on Wednesday after getting into a car accident. True was hit by a suspected drunk driver and suffered a dangerous head injury. He was upgraded from critical to stable condition yesterday as the Milwaukee area and entire Big East conference wishes him the best. Marquette head coach Buzz Williams has the utmost respect for him, saying, “Homer is one of my all-time favorite people in the world and I sincerely mean that. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.” There has been nothing but positive words said about True and we send our prayers and best wishes to “The Homer” as he recovers.
5. Some Seton Hall players were upset with a couple of Kent State players after their recent game. The Pirates said that two players were yelling at them as they took free throws and were generally acting disrespectful during the game. Although there is no rule prohibiting this, it is considered a lack of sportsmanship to be yelling “Miss it!” and screaming when another team is shooting, regardless of the score and situation. This was one of many of the chaotic events from Seton Hall’s win on Wednesday night. For example, Brian Oliver received a technical for standing over a Kent State player and taunting him after blocking his shot. It was a particularly boneheaded play as the ball was still in play and could have been grabbed before it went out of bounds.

George Hershey (47 Posts)

Fordham University 2017 Aspiring Accountant

This entry was posted on Friday, November 15th, 2013 at 7:20 am by George Hershey and is filed under big east, microsites, morning 5. Tagged: cllff alexander, creighton bluejays, depaul blue demons, marquette golden eagles, seton hall, Seton Hall Pirates, steve true, xavier musketeers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.