College Hoop Blog: Good 'N Plenty
by: goodmanonfox
BIG EAST OFFSEASON ROUNDUP
Jul 17, 2008 | 12:29PM | report this
Sorry for the delay, but the Big East is just too damn big these days. Here's the Big East Offseason Primer:

Cincinnati – The Bearcats will play in a tournament out in Las Vegas that also includes Florida State, UNLV and Cal. They will play two home games before going to Vegas and opening with FSU on Nov. 28. Mick Cronin’s team also has non-conference games against Memphis (12/29) and Xavier (12/13).

UConn – Jim Calhoun & Co. will play in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, along with Miami and Wisconsin, from Nov. 21-24. The Huskies will also face Gonzaga in Seattle on Dec. 20. Two players left the program – Curtis Kelly went to Kansas State and Doug Wiggins left for UMass.

DePaul – Director of Basketball Operations Ivan Vujic left for Northwestern. Jerry Wainwright’s team will play in the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 22-23 with the first two games at campus sites and the final two at the Orleans Arena. DePaul will play at Cal (12/3) and against UCLA (12/13) in the Wooden Classic. Former Ohio State wing Eric Wallace transferred into the program.

Georgetown – The Hoyas will play in the loaded Old ####e Classic in Orlando from Nov. 27-30 along with Michigan State, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Maryland and Oklahoma State. John Thompson III also has non-conference games against Memphis (12/13) and at Duke (1/17). Vernon Macklin (Florida) and Jeremiah Rivers (Indiana) transferred out of the program, and Julian Vaughn (Florida State) transferred in and will be eligible immediately.

Louisville – Rick Pitino & Co. will host its own tournament from Dec. 6-8 with Ohio, Lamar and Indiana State. The Cardinals will also play Minnesota on Dec. 20 in a doubleheader out in Phoenix and have non-conference games against Western Kentucky (11/29) in Nashville; Mississippi (12/18) in Cincinnati; UNLV at home on Dec. 31 and Kentucky in Freedom Hall on Jan. 4.

Marquette – New coach Buzz Williams hired Aki Collins (Fairfield), Tony Benford (Nebraska), Dale Layer and director of basketball operations Scott Monarch. The Golden Eagles will play in the Chicago Invitational and will play non-conference games against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11/22), Wisconsin (12/6) and at Tennessee (12/16). Scott Christopherson left to go to Iowa State.

Notre Dame – Assistant Gene Cross left to become the head coach at Toledo and was replaced by Anthony Solomon, who returned to South Bend after one season at Dayton and a head coaching stint at St. Bonaventure. The Irish will take a trip to Ireland from Aug. 12-25 and will also play in the Maui Invitational in Nov. Mike Brey’s team will play at UCLA (2/7) and the Irish have also added Ben Hansbrough (Miss. St.) and Scott Martin (Notre Dame).

Pittsburgh – Assistant Orlando Antigua left for Memphis and his spot was taken by Brandin Knight – who was promoted from the director of basketball operations. Brian Regan moved up from the video spot to the director of basketball operations. The Panthers will play in the Legends Classic in New Jersey and will also play at Florida State (12/21) and are still looking for an opponent at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17. Sophomore big man Cassin Diggs transferred out of the program and is considering Delaware State.

Providence – New coach Keno Davis brought two more Davis’ with him from Drake – Rodell and Chris Davis. He also hired Pat Skerry from Rhode Island. Providence will play in the Anaheim Classic from Nov. 27-30 along with Arizona State, Baylor and Wake Forest. The Friars will play at Boston College (12/20) and also lost Dwain Williams to Oregon State.

Rutgers – Fred Hill will replace video coordinator Ryan Krueger with alum Oliver Winterbone. The Scarlet Knights will host a five-team exempt tournament, the Garden State Challenge, along with St. Bonaventure, Marist, Delaware and Robert Morris. Rutgers will also travel to North Carolina. Hill will also bring in Jonathan Mitchell (Florida) and lose two transfers – Courtney Nelson (William Patterson) and Justin Sofman (Monmouth).

St. John’s – The Red Storm will play in the Preseason NIT (Boston College pod) and will also take a Labor Day trip to Cancun. Norm Roberts & Co. will play Duke and Miami (12/27) in Madison Square Garden. Two players left the program – guard Larry Wright (Oakland) and Mike Cavataio (Holy Cross).

Seton Hall – The Pirates will play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 20-23 along with Memphis, Xavier, USC, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Fairfield and one other team. Keon Lawrence has transferred in from Missouri and Larry Davis (Loyola Marymount) and Augustine Okosun are leaving the program.

South Florida – Stan Heath’s team will play in the San Juan Shootout on Dec. 20-22 along with Murray State, Wright State and ORU. The Bulls have non-conference games at Virginia (11-19), at UAB (12/3) and at Vanderbilt (12/16). Augustus Gilchrist transferred in from Maryland and South Florida lost four players – Aaron Holmes (Santa Fe CC), Solomon Bozeman (Ark-Little Rock), Orane Chin (San Francisco) and Amu Saaka (Furman).

Syracuse – The Orangemen will host one of the four pods in the CBE Classic, along with Kansas, Florida and Washington, which culminates in Kansas City on Nov. 24-25. Jim Boeheim's team will play at Memphis (12/20) and also host Virginia.

Villanova – Jay Wright’s team will play in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, which is on campus sites on Nov. 16, and moves to the Palestra the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Other teams involved are Penn State, Rhode Island, Towson, Niagara, Hartford, Monmouth and NJIT. ‘Nova will also bring in Taylor King from Duke.

West Virginia – Bob Huggins’ team will play in the Las Vegas Invitational from Nov. 28-29 and will open with Iowa and then face either Kansas State or Kentucky. The Mountaineers will play Ole Miss and Huggins’ old assistant, Andy Kennedy, at home on Dec. 3 and also play at Ohio State on Dec. 27.

14 Comments | Add a comment  
 
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Surprisedmeee
Jul 18, 2008
10:31 AM
I am a black single girl who want to end her single life, can you bring some changes to me? Let's mingle at ++++B l a c k W h i t e K i s s . c o m +++ if you can. It is a wonderful place for black and white singles to have fun together.

Naveend
Jul 18, 2008
3:32 PM
Nova's winning the Big East this year guaranteed

jdhow2
Jul 18, 2008
5:27 PM
I like that pick since they lost nobody form last years team except for Grant who averaged 12 mins a game and transfered. They have a great shot however i don't think anyone can realistically predict who is going to win the big east. Conference is going to be super strong. The only prediction i will make is Rutgers finishes last.

KungFool
Jul 19, 2008
12:56 PM
I can't for the life of me figure out why Faux Sports would censor the word ####E in the Old-####e Classic reference in the Georgetown paragraph.

NatiDevil
Jul 19, 2008
7:01 PM
Orane Chin (from South Florida) didn't transfer to San Francisco as Jeff Goodman reported. Chin transferred to CSU Fullerton. Here's the link to prove he's wrong.

http://fullertontitans.cstv.com/spo
rts/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062508aae.htm
l

pantherboy
Jul 20, 2008
5:00 PM
Sorry #2 preseason Pitt is IT this year in the Big East....L O A D E D......

bighead64
Jul 21, 2008
6:44 PM
All i can say is.......with return of Devendorf, and Rautins, and the addition of two very good forwards...............THE CUSE IS IN THE HOUSE!!

NYshook
Jul 22, 2008
12:33 PM
CUSE!!!!!!!!!

FinalFourFreak
Jul 22, 2008
1:32 PM
Go Cards, all the way..... They have one of the best shooting big men coming in as well as the return of Smith, Sosa,Earl Clark, and Terrence Williams... Watch out Big East, and College Basketball. The Cards are on a crash course for the final 4 this year.

graywolf59
Jul 23, 2008
7:30 AM
KungFool - it's because the word contains a four-letter ethnic slur against hispanics. You'll note that the word su####ious here in my post will also be censored.

PITTISIT23
Jul 23, 2008
12:32 PM
Pitt is going to win it all this year. They should be big favorites for the big east.

BOBKISSlinda
Jul 24, 2008
6:14 AM
Beautiful woman,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, But I am just a bit curious..the magazine HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP reported her profile was found on the famous rich men seeking affairs site "______kissmillionaires*c o m_____ "last week and she was seeking her sugar daddy there. ..................wow.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!

kennytee
Aug 5, 2008
7:20 AM
Old ####e tournament

kennytee
Aug 5, 2008
7:21 AM
####e

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goodmanonfox
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com
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