They couldn’t schedule some collective bye week for Big East football or something. It would have made things a little easier. Not to mention allowed the spotlight to go to a little bit of hyping for basketball season. As it is, I’m way behind on catching up.
Okay. The basics. UConn was picked to win the Big East by the coaches. Pitt finished 3d in the voting.
1. Connecticut (9) — 214
2. Louisville (3) —– 205
3. Pittsburgh (3) —- 200
4. Notre Dame (1) —195
5. Villanova ——— 153
6. Marquette ——- 146
7. Georgetown —– 141
8. Syracuse ——– 139
9. West Virginia —- 121
10. Providence —– 99
11. Cincinnati —— 91
12. Rutgers ——– 53
13. Seton Hall —– 50
14. St. John’s —— 44
15. DePaul ——— 43
16. USF ———— 26
Not sure if that was taken before or after Nate Miles ended up joining the cast of CSI: JUCO.
I’m not bothered by being picked third. The voting for the top 4 teams is so close, and rightfully so. All four are fully capable of winning the Big East — or finishing 9th. I mean WVU down at 9th. Damn. That’s a fringe top-25 team in preseason. That just feeds the meme of how loaded, deep and tough the Big East will be this year.
While Luke Harangody was picked as the preseason Big East Player of the Year, he and Sam Young were the only unanimous selections to the all-Big East Team. No other Pitt players were put on the 11-player, plus 3 All-Big East team. Coach Dixon and Sam Young were bothered.
But when Dixon sees Fields, the team’s heart and soul, and Blair, his gregarious, always-smiling man-child, omitted from All-Big East honors, even the normally reserved sixth-year coach was left bewildered.
“How is Levance not an all-conference player?” he said. “He would be all-conference in any other conference in the country, and DeJuan probably, too. It’s hard to believe.”
…
“I don’t know,” Young said, “I don’t get that. I don’t even know what to tell you. I mean, there’s no way you can evaluate the situation. I mean, geez. Here’s a guy (Blair) that had 10-plus double-double games, and he doesn’t get it.”
Pitt is expected to be ranked in the top 10 in virtually every preseason poll. But the accolades clearly won’t be going to their heads — not with the memory of the snubs at Big East preseason media day.
“I’m sure Levance is already motivated by it,” said Young, with Fields sitting one seat away. “Once we get to Pittsburgh and DeJuan finds out about it, I’m sure he’s going to be furious.”
The simple answer is it’s a 16-team conference and even with 14 slots, I’m hard-pressed to see who gets bumped.
2008-09 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM
*Luke Harangody, Notre Dame (Player of the Year), F, Jr., 6-8, Schererville, Ind.
Deonta Vaughan, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6-1, 195, Indianapolis, Ind.
A.J. Price, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6-2, 181, Amityville, N.Y.
Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr., 7-3, 263, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
DaJuan Summers, Georgetown, F, Jr., 6-8, 241, Baltimore, Md.
Terrence Williams, Louisville, F, Sr., 6-6, 210, Seattle, Wash.
Jerel McNeal, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-3, 200, Country Club Hills, Ill.
Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame, G, Sr., 6-0, 196, Staten Island, N.Y.
*Sam Young, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., 6-6, 215, Clinton, Md.
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse, G, So., 6-0, 185, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-2, 195, Herndon, Va.
2008-09 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION
Jeff Adrien, Connecticut, F, Sr., 6-7, 243, Brookline, Mass.
Earl Clark, Louisville, G/F, Jr., 6-8, 220, Rahway, N.J.
Dominic James, Marquette, G, Sr., 5-11, 185, Richmond,Ind.
There’s a lot of deserving talent. You may not like some of them, but those are great players. Besides if it helps motivate Fields and Blair a little more, I’m all for it.
