The Big East Conference held its annual Media Day at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The event officially marks the start of the season for the men’s and women’s teams, as the Big East continues to be a force in college basketball.
As the collegiate athletic landscape continues to evolve, the Big East remains nimble. With conference realignment, NIL, and now revenue sharing for athletes, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman discussed the future of college athletics, noting that the conference may be in a better position than other major conferences because it lacks football.
“I think we’re in a good spot. We don’t have football money, that’s their advantage. My read is that a lot of that money there is going to go back into football. Those schools that run those sports, it’s very important to them, so they’re going to spend a lot of money to be good at it.”
“We don’t have that liability, which is a positive. But where that shakes out, I don’t think we really know. I do know our schools are leaning in and they want to stay really good at basketball. They’re prepared to do, within reason, what they can to acquire what they need to be nationally competitive. But I think the Big East is in a good spot. We got all the things you need to position yourself in the best way.”
Men’s Big East Media Day
The storylines for the conference are aplenty, especially when it comes to Seton Hall and St. John’s.
After a tough year in South Orange with an 7-25 (2-18 Big East) record, the Pirates are looking to rebound with an almost entirely new roster and a renewed focus on playing more cohesively as Seton
Hall looks to get back into the conversation as the best of the Big East after they were picked to finish last in the conference in the Preseason Big East poll.
“I got a group of guys who love to play. One of the things I talked about this year when we were recruiting guys was “Do you love the game or do you love what comes with it?” I think a lot of guys now love what comes with it. I want guys who love the game and it’s hard to find guys like that now. I think I found guys like that.”
The biggest issue for the Pirates is that they have 10 new players on the roster, which means cohesion will have to occur early in the season. Among the new arrivals to campus is guard Budd Clark, who averaged 19.8 points at Merrimack last season.
“First, I wanted to find a point guard and I think we got a couple of point guards. Second was to find some shooting and I think we got that too,” said Holloway. “So I’m pretty happy with what we have right now. I think we are in a good spot. Now we have to stay healthy, go out there and prove it.”
Holloway’s biggest job will be to get Seton Hall gelling and the players are already buying in.
“Coach has pushed playing together and not doing the excess stuff that you don’t need in the basketball game,” said graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray. “Swinging the ball around, making shots and playing defense together. That’s really the emphasis.”
St. John’s is the team that everyone flocked to during Media Day as the Red Storm enters the season at the top of the Big East in the preseason poll and fifth in the nation. Head coach Rick Pitino is looking to improve on the Johnnies’ second-round NCAA Tournament appearance with a roster that features Big East Preseason Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor.
“I wanted to find out early how good we are early on to see where we have to get better. Sometimes you open up 8-2, 9-1, 10-0 and you’re blowing out teams but you have a lot of blemishes and warts you don’t know about until you play Big East competition. So we are going to find very early where our blemishes lie.”
Women’s Big East Media Day
Later in the day, the women took the stage as Big East Women’s Media Day began.
Seton Hall, off a surprising 23-win season, welcomes back All-Big East guards Savannah Catalon and Jada Eads, who each averaged 14 points per game for the Pirates. While Seton Hall lost leading scorer and team leader Faith Masonius, head coach Anthony Bozzella praised his two dynamic guards as they step into the spotlight.
“They’ve worked really hard and they are considerably better,” Bozzella spoke of Catalon and Eads. “Most of all, I think they are so much more mature and much more understanding of the game and they want to lead. It’s their team now and they know it and they’re happy about it.”
Following such a successful campaign last season, the question arose whether the Pirates face pressure to replicate that success with eight new players joining the roster.
“I think it’s just built-up fire, said Eads, the first freshman in program history to earn All-Big East honors. “We need to add on to the previous season we had. We’re willing to get to the NCAA Tournament so whatever it takes to get there.”
St. John’s finished the season above the .500 mark but went just 5-13 in conference. They bring back three of their top scorers as they continue to rebuild.
“It’s never easy when you try to acclimate new players in general. We have one freshman and then five transfers,” said St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella. “We are getting a little better at it over the last couple of years in terms of trying to find the right pieces. We feel pretty good about where we are. It’s baffling some days and some days we feel great, but it’s a process.”
Skye Owen returns to Queens as one of the main cogs of the Red Storm after shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc and over 80 percent from the free-throw line. Going into her senior season, Tartamella is expecting big things from the Staten Island guard.
“Skye’s gotta be dynamic for us. We need her to take that next step, be that player in those high-leverage moments, whether that be she’s gotta make a basket or get a stop. I’m proud to have her on the team and looking forward to seeing her this year.”
As the day progressed, the conversation naturally shifted back to the landscape of college sports and the new rules regarding revenue sharing and NIL. For the most part, the sentiment was the same: players should see some of the money that comes in.
“I love it in theory. I think players should be paid and have an opportunity to share in revenue,” said Marquette women’s head coach Cara Consuegra. “I think for me, it is the way that it came about. When it first started with NIL, it was kind of the Wild Wild West and the revenue share is here and they are trying to rein it in. I think that’s made it a little more difficult rather than if it would have been a smoother introduction to it.”
“I do, but it’s all over the place right now, but I think it’s something that should be awarded to the players,” said Villanova freshman guard Acaden Lewis. “This is a billion-dollar industry and no billion-dollar industry doesn’t have to pay their employees. I think it makes sense that we’re allowed to be paid, but I do think the restrictions are starting to pick up because it’s a little all over the place.”
New Villanova men’s head coach and former Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard, in his return to Big East Media Day, looked beyond the money in the NIL conversation and wondered what damage this is doing to student-athletes in the long run.
“Education wise, it’s not good for them to got to four different schools. It’s not good for the universitites, it’s not good for college basketball, it’s not good for their fututres. I’m more more worried about these kids. I go to four different schools, where do they go back to? Where do they call home? What’s their future? That’s what I’m worried about.”
