This is the second installment of my thoughts and observations as the transfer portal comes closer to its conclusion, and the new student/athletes will begin attending their new destinations. This article will focus on how the Big East teams have approached the portal, and the success or failure of their approaches. To be clear, these thoughts are just my observations of what has happened, with little or no input from personnel at the various schools.
Solid Planning and Execution
Butler – Butler appears to be competing in the league with far fewer resources than their Big East brethren but are managing to remain competitive. Last year, they had a strong campaign, especially considering they were picked only one point above DePaul for last place in the pre-season poll. After the season, they lost their backcourt of Posh Alexander and DJ Davis, but were able to get Finley Bizjack to return, and added Kolby King, along with forwards Jamie Kaiser and Patrick McCaffrey. The center position with Andre Screen appears to be a concern, but with two potential all-conference players in Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks, Butler has the potential to be solid again this season.
Connecticut – In many ways, Dan Hurley has replicated and updated his formula for success at the University of Rhode Island. Even more fitting, Hurley was getting questioned be his own fan base at both schools for their lack of early success. In both places, he made adjustments midway through a pivotal season and turned everything around.
In terms of roster building, Hurley has consistently focused on high school recruiting and supplementing the roster with underappreciated transfers. When the Huskies returned to the Big East, Hurley brought in Tyrese Martin and RJ Cole to go with his young roster filled with future pros. Cole ended up as a first team all-Big East player, and Tyrese Martin made it to the NBA. In 2022-23, with a more veteran presence, Hurley added Tristen Newton and three bench players (including 2023-24 Sixth Man Hassan Diarra). This past year, Hurley added solid but unspectacular Cam Spencer, who became the most valuable transfer in the country. For next year, Hurley has addressed his biggest needs through the portal, adding a big man (Tarris Reed) and a shooter (Aidan Mahaney) to mesh with their returning talent and the 10th and 31st ranked incoming freshmen.
Creighton – Greg McDermott has had shooters galore since he and Creighton came to the Big East. Last year was no exception as the Bluejays shot 37% from three on 30 attempts per game. Now Creighton has lost two all-Big East players in Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman and is replacing them with high-end transfers Pop Isaacs and Jamiya Neal, along with two top 50 recruits. Isaacs shot nearly 40% from three as a freshman, but struggled this past season, and was subject to a criminal investigation (without charges) and Neal is not a deep threat. Creighton does still have Steven Ashworth, Mason Miller, Isaac Traudt, and incoming freshman Jackson McAndrew to open the middle for Ryan Kalkbrenner.
DePaul – Chris Holtmann clearly realized that the entire culture at DePaul was broken and needed major changes. The entire roster from this past season is gone, either through graduation or the portal (their choice or that of the new staff). While people are questioning his portal additions, I think Holtmann had a clear objective to bring in shooters, and it appears that he has succeeded in his plan. Following the past several years since the portal has come into existence, it seems to me that shooting is the quality that most easily translates for players moving up a level. Of the eleven new Blue Demons, nine shot over 36% from 3 last year, and four of them were over 40%. All of the players taking a big step up in competition are among the nine over 36%. If I was a gambling person, I would bet that DePaul will not be the last place team in the Big East this year.
Providence – I previously expounded upon the Friars outstanding efforts in the portal here. To summarize, Coach English identified needs for the team to match his style (shooting and someone who could get into the lane at will) and to replace the major losses incurred. English and his staff executed with the precision of a skilled surgeon. In rapid succession, the staff was able to get a point/combo guard, a 7-foot center, and a stretch four, all of whom shot 36%+ from three last year. This enabled them to quickly pounce on Wesley Cardet as soon as he entered the portal. He is a competent shooter from three and elite at getting to the lane and foul line at will, as evidenced by the fact that he has averaged over six free throw attempts per game over the past two seasons. My guess is that he will benefit by having top talent around him.
Xavier – Sean Miller and his Musketeers are the team that is becoming the hot pick to make a giant leap this year, possibly as a top 25 team. I like the manner in which Miller has rebuilt his roster, but still feel a lot rests on the health of Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter. He has brought in a strong mix of scoring (Marcus Foster), shooting (Dante Maddox and John Hugley IV), and rebounding (Lassina Traore), which will help make up for the losses of their top two scorers, Quincy Olivari and Desmond Claude. The bottom line is that without Freemantle and Hunter, they will have a difficult time matching up with the size of the other contenders in the conference. With one or both of them coming back to their previous levels, they will be in good shape to return to the NCAA tournament after missing out this past season.
Questionable Planning but Strong Teams
Marquette – Shaka Smart has taken a significantly different path than his Big East (and national) peers by basically ignoring the portal. Instead, he returns ten players, supplemented by three freshmen, including two top-100 recruits. While they have significant talent returning, I am not sure how they replace Tyler Kolek (a former portal entrant) and Oso Ighodaro. Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell, along with continued growth from Ben Gold will keep Marquette competitive, but it will be interesting to see how this strategy works.
St. John’s – Along with Providence and Seton Hall, the Red Storm were denied their rightful place in the NCAA tournament in March, Unlike the others, Coach Pitino chose to pass up an NIT bid to get a jump on the transfer portal which opened the day after Selection Sunday. They immediately go to work and … did nothing. Weeks went by and even Red Storm die-hards were getting concerned. They added Aaron Scott and Vince Iwuchukwu, but this was not going to make up for the losses of Joel Soriano, Chris Ledlum, Jordan Dingle, and Nahiem Alleyne. Then, over the course of three days a couple of weeks ago, Pitino was able to solidify and improve his backcourt by securing Deivon Smith and Kadary Richmond. This changed Johnnie nation from a state of panic to elation. With Rick Pitino on the bench, I suspect that this team is good enough to return to the NCAA tournament next March.
Lack of Resources Limiting Expectations
Seton Hall – Like Butler, Seton Hall appears to be under-equipped to acquire talent in the portal era, despite winning 13 conference games and the NIT championship in impressive fashion. That team has lost four of their five starters, plus a key reserve. I think their additions are solid and have potential with Chaunce Jenkins, Scotty Middleton, and Gus Yalden, but it is difficult to understand how this will balance the losses of Kadary Richmond, Dre Davis, Al-Amir Dawes, Jaden Bediako, and Elijah Hutchins-Everett. If Coach Holloway can continue to get as much out of this group as he did last year, they will surprise a few teams, but I suspect their ceiling is limited.
What the (Heck)
Georgetown – I can honestly say that I have no idea what Coach Cooley is doing, what the problems are, and if there is a plan that I and most college basketball observers are apparently missing. The Hoyas are bringing in a solid recruiting class, but there are no top ten or top 25 prospects among their hauls. In the portal, I am much less impressed with their commitments than their fans appear to be. Malik Mack is a (barely) 6’ point guard who shot 25% from 3-point range from December 1st to the end of the year in the Ivy League. I wonder how he will pair with 6’1” Jayden Epps against the many bigger guards in the Big East. They also got a commitment from Micah Peavy of TCU, a solid defender with limited offensive skills. I would have liked this pick-up more if it had not immediately led to the departure of Dontrez Styles, who I think was the best player on the Hoyas last year. They also added Curtis Williams and Jordan Burks, both of whom they hope to have better skills than they showed in their respective freshman seasons. They still have not replaced the defensively challenged but adequate offensive threat Supreme Cook (and may even be trying to get him back now!). If you want a laugh, read this article from Hilltop Hoops, a Georgetown “insider” who identified expected targets for the Hoya roster. The end result is that as of today, they have ten players on their roster, eight of whom are freshmen or sophomores. This is not a recipe for success in the Big East and goes against Coach Cooley’s longtime plan to get old and stay old. If I had to rank the teams today, the Hoyas would be a prime candidate for 11th place.
Villanova – The Wildcats off-season went from a complete disaster to less disastrous in the last couple of weeks with the addition of Enoch Boakye and the return of Eric Dixon. They’ve also added a couple of guards from their Philadelphia Five rivals, which is a far cry from their much-celebrated portal haul last season. TJ Bamba, Hakim Hart, Tyler Burton, Lance Ware, and the return of Justin Moore had Nova in most preseason top 25 polls. Then every player underachieved, and Villanova had their second consecutive disappointing season. It is ironic that Georgetown and Villanova fan bases were the two that were consistently bragging about their NIL budgets being in the top 5 of college basketball. I’d be very concerned if that was actually true, since it means that they couldn’t give their money away this spring.
The end result is that the Big East will be a top conference again next year, and probably won’t have historically bad teams like Georgetown and DePaul again. I also suspect that Connecticut will not be a historically great team but will still be a top 10 team. Finally, I will promise to give up Dunkin’ Donuts for a year if the Big East only gets three NCAA bids again next season.
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