The Big East should have plenty of firepower in the college basketball season, whether it be because of the players or coaches. The Big East has been represented by UConn in three of the last four championship games, but there will be some questions that need to be answered if the Big East wants a representative again this season.
Butler hired head coach Ronald Nored this offseason, and although Nored only has one year of college coaching experience, being an assistant coach for Northern Kentucky in 2016, Nored has been an assistant in the NBA since 2018. Nored was also a four year starter for Butler during his collegiate dats, averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 assists per game.
It makes sense for Butler to take a swing on Nored after he was widely considered a very talented assistant coach in the NBA with the ability to develop talent.
Butler was ranked last in the preseason Big East poll, and they didn't have any representatives on any of the All-Big East teams. Jalen Jackson projects to be the lead guard for the Bulldogs, and if Nored is able to translate to coaching college, his background as a point guard could help Jackson have a big season.
Creighton Bluejays forward Jackson McAndrew | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After Greg McDermott retired in April, it was officially announced that Alan Huss would take over the head coaching job, as he was "head coach in waiting" prior to the start of last season.
As is the case in modern college basketball, Huss' first task was to fill in the needs of the current roster. The Bluejays returned five players from last year's roster, but only one player was part of the backcourt room.
Alan Huss went out and got BJ Davis, a 6-foot-2 guard from San Diego State, Wes Enis, a 6-foot-2 guard from South Florida, and Kayden Edwards, a 6-foot-2 guard from TCU. All three are quality shooters who should fit into a Creighton system that relies on shooters to create spacing.
Davis and Enis project to be the starting backcourt duo to pair alongside a talented forward duo of Jackson McAndrew and Jasen Green.
DePaul is ranked 56th in KenPom's preseason rankings , the best ranking for the Blue Demons since at least 2012. A big reason why is the talented bigs this roster has.
7-foot-2 center Fabian Flores carved out a role as a productive backup big for DePaul last season, but head coach Chris Holtmann is one of the many coaches that seems willing to try a double big lineup. To pair with Flores, Holtmann went into the portal and got Magoon Gwath, a 7-foot-0 big from San Diego State.
They're an interesting duo that could end up complementing each other well. Both are quality rebounders and should give DePaul rebounding advantages. Flores is primarily an interior scoring big, while Gwath has shown a willingness to space the floor and shoot. Gwath also gives DePaul an elite rim protector.
Those two will be paired alongside 6'2" guard Layden Blocker, who was named to the Preseason All-Big East Third Team, giving DePaul a potentially very good core.
Kentucky Wildcats guard Jaland Lowe | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After averaging 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game during his sophomore season at Pitt, there was a lot of buzz going into last year when he suited up for Kentucky. However, he suffered a shoulder injury before the season started, and he reinjured it multiple times before having surgery in January.
In the nine games he played for the Wildcats, while battling injuries, he averaged 8.0 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game.
He gets a fresh start as he projects to be the primary contributor for a Georgetown team that has some depth to their roster, but no proven stars. Ed Cooley's system has generally allowed lead guards to have a high usage rate, relying on them to carry the offense. Lowe has shown he could do it while at Pitt, but Cooley is making the bet that Lowe can get back to that level this season.
Head coach Shaka Smart is known for not being active in the transfer portal, highlighted by not having a single transfer portal addition last season. Marquette ended up going 12-20 overall, and there were many questions surrounding Smart's reluctance to use the portal.
Smart added two transfers this offseason in Nolan Minessale, a 6-foot-5 wing from St. Thomas, and Sananda Fru, a 6-foot-11 enter from Louisville. Smart is once again relying on retention and program development, using the portal to only fill in the gaps of the roster as Marquette returns ten players from last season.
Two returning names to watch out for are sophomore guard Nigel James Jr. and junior forward Royce Parham. James averaged 16.4 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.4 rebounds as a freshman, and he was unanimously named to the Preseason All-Big East First Team. Parham averaged 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounders per game last season, and he was named to the Preseason All-Big East Second Team.
Desert Mountain guard Javon Bardwell | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
After head coach Bryan Hodgson got South Florida to the tournament last season, he was hired as the new head coach for Providence this year. He had to assemply an almost entirely new roster as Ryan Mela was the only returned from last season.
There's plenty of talent on the roster, highlighted by Georgetown transfer Malik Mack, and FAU transfer Devin Vanterpool.
This roster has six different players who averaged at least ten points per game last season, another player who averaged 7.8, and also a top 50 freshman in Javon Bardwell. It's a good issue to have when there's plenty of talent on the roster, but a lot of these players are used to having the ball in their hands or plays being ran for them.
For Providence to find the most success, there'll have to be a delicate balance between getting everyone involved, while also understanding who the true go-to guys are on the roster. Malik Mack has showcased being a quality facilitator, and he will most likely have to be the one that sets up the rest of the offense.
Last season, Seton Hall would've benefited from the expanded tournament that'll happen this season. The Pirates had an elite defense, but they also had one of the worst offenses out of power conference teams, and this caused them to end up being on the wrong side of the bubble.
Seton Hall has been respectable in three of the four seasons under head coach Shaheen Holloway, but Holloway had to revamp nearly his entire roster this offseason. Last season, Seton Hall was 334th in the country in three point percentage, and Holloway seemed to prioritize more shooting in the portal this offseason. Seven transfers shot at least 30 percent from three last season, and three of them shot better than 38 percent.
Del Jones, Rodney Brown Jr., and Kareem Thomas all averaged at least 14 points per game last season, but they'll all being taking big jumps in competition level as they transfer from Radford, Loyola Marymount, and Dartmouth, respectively.
With how good defenses have been under Holloway, the offense simply has to be respectable for Seton Hall to be very competitive this season.
St. John's Red Storm guard Quinn Ellis | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Amidst eligibility questions with this roster, there's still no doubt how much talent this team has.
Tounde Yessoufou was one of the bigger gets in the portal after he averaged 17.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for Baylor. Although the "Ian Jackson playing point guard" experiment didn't work for St. John's last season, Jackson still can be a prolific scorer when playing more off-ball.
However, both of them are scoring guards, not point guards. That's where Quinn Ellis comes in.
The 6'4" point guard played in the Italian League and EuroLeague last season. He's a pass first point guard who averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 assists per game in the EuroLeague last season. With the talented scoring duo mentioned above, Ellis' main task will be helping set up the offense, something St. John's didn't really have last season.
It was only an exhibition, but Ellis did have 13 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a 4OT win over Rutgers.
It feels strange to question UConn's offense heading into the season, but part of why that's happening is because of how good this team can be.
UConn has the 29th ranked KenPom offense, the same exact ranking as they finished last season. Just as a reminder, UConn ended up in the National Championship game still.
Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban finished their collegiate careers last season for UConn, and their impacts are going to be missed. In addition, it's been reported that Solomon Ball will miss the entire season after playing through two ruptured ligaments in his left wrist last season. Those three players averaged 14.2, 13.3, and 13.0 points per game, respecitvely, for the Huskies.
The backcourt duo of Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins project to be the catalysts of the offense this season. Demary averaged 10.6 points and 6.1 assists while shooting 40.5 percent from three. Demary was also named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year. Mullins averaged 12.1 points during his freshman season, and the sharpshooter is projected to have a breakout year. He was named to the Presseason All-Big East First Team.
Head coach Dan Hurley has one of the most complex offenses in the country, and that alone generally gives this offense advantages when they execute.
Villanova Wildcats guard Tyler Perkins | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Head coach Kevin Willard has plenty of talent on his roster for the upcoming season.
Devin Royal and Kwame Evans Jr. transfer in from Big Ten programs, and they both fit the mold that Willard has had success with in the past. Tyler Perkins returned to the Wildcats after a successful season last yer, and Elijah Crawford pairs up with Perkins in the backcourt after a good season at Illinois Chicago. All four of those players averaged between 13 and 14 points per game last season.
The biggest get for Willard this offseason may have been 7-foot-3 Italian center, Luigi Suigo. He's projected to be a lottery pick in the next NBA draft, and he has real touch for someone his size.
On paper, this is a very talented roster. However, spacing and shooting can potentially become concerns. Tyler Perkins shot 36.9 percent from 3 last season, but Royal, Evans, and Crawford all shot below 32 percent from three. Suigo did shoot 33 percent from 3 last season, although teams may be content with letting the 7-foot-3 center shoot 20 feet away from the basket.
Villanova does have multiple quality shooter on their projected bench in Matthew Hodge, Darryl Simmons II, and Jake Fiegen. Willard may have to tinker with lineups a bit to try and maximize the output.
Head coach Richard Pitino has consistently had one of the fastest teams in college basketball over the last half-decade. It didn't equate to success in year one at at Xavier, but this roster could potentially be better suited for it.
Xavier could have a potential nine-man rotation this season that would feature a lot of bigger guards to help fuel transition offense.
The backcourt of Chance Westry, Tru Washington, and Ruben Dominguez give Xavier multiple options to be able to push the ball and excel in transition. Jovan Milicevic isn't going to get to the rim, but he gives the backcourt trio a legitimate stretch forward who can shoot threes in transition to keep spacing.
There can potentially be more depth this season with the additions of players like Gabriel Pozzato (Evansville), Nikolaos Chitikoudis (Robert Morris), and Rolyns Aligbe (Southern Illinois).
This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as The biggest question for every Big East Team this college basketball season .
