clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

It’s Big East Media Day

The Musketeers were back in New York today. No nets were cut down, but they will be back.

By Brad D
/ new
NCAA Basketball: NIT Final-Xavier vs Texas A&M
The last time X was in New York
Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

We’re picking up momentum now, friends. Despite the nearly tenth of an inch of rain that fell in a three hour span and forced a cowering Aaron Boone to plead with MLB to cancel the game so his players didn’t get sort of damp, the Big East media was able to brave the near drizzle to meet the players and the coaches of the conference. It’s less than three weeks until the season tips and, unlike last year, everyone attending media day for Xavier is healthy and ready to go.

The Musketeers showed well their last time in New York. Things were a lot different then. Jonas Hayes was the coach, Dwon Odom was the point guard, and Paul Scruggs was the wounded warrior cheering the team on. All three of them are gone now. In their places come Sean Miller, a question mark at point guard (Adam Kunkel?), and, thankfully, no one hurt to prowl the sidelines.

The Musketeers also showed well this time in New York. Xavier was picked to finish second in the Big East coaches poll and received two first place votes. The team they finished behind? Creighton. Villanova finished a single vote behind X in third. The top three are tightly packed, with UConn hanging just off the pack, and then a bit of a gap to the rest of the conference.

  1. Creighton (8) 98
  2. Xavier (2) 86
  3. Villanova (1) 85
  4. Connecticut 77
  5. Providence 62
  6. St. John’s 52
  7. Seton Hall 44
  8. Butler 36
  9. Marquette 32
  10. Georgetown 21
  11. DePaul 12

Somehow, the team that didn’t win a game in conference last season isn’t picked to finish last. The power of DePaul to fail is just permanently ingrained in Big East voters.

Xavier took home some personal honors as well. Jack Nunge and Colby Jones were both selected as preseason all Big East first teamers. While no more Musketeers made the second team or honorable mention squads, Villanova put four players in the lists and Creighton had three.

Regarding the votes Sean Miller said, “It’s better when people say good things about your team and your program than the other... there has to be a reason, right? And I think in our case the returning talent is a big part of what gets everybody’s attention and rightfully so.” With that returning depth and a very talented freshman class, second seems very attainable. First? We’ll found that out in March

What Miller didn’t mention was Adam Kunkel’s run for Swaggiest Big East Player (a category I’m assuming they’ll unveil soon).

I can’t wait for basketball season.

Loading comments...