Player of the Week:
Umoja Gibson (DePaul)
After leading Oklahoma last season with 26 double-digit point games, Gibson is coming of a DePaul career high 31 points against Georgetown. The point total in this game is tied for the third-most by any Big East player this season in a single contest. He led the way to help the Blue Demons to get the victory in their Big East home opener. He’s had two games this season where he has only scored three points, but consistent scoring alongside teammate Javan Johnson will help DePaul get big time wins.
Who’s Hot:
Marquette Golden Eagles
Shaka Smart continues to prove why he is one of the best coaches in the conference. He immediately came into Marquette and provided them with success. The Golden Eagles have won two straight games and are 3-1 in the Big East with wins over Creighton, Seton Hall and Villanova. It isn’t every day that you go into the Pavilion and beat the Wildcats on their home court. Marquette always has a young stud step up in significant matchups and this time it was Stevie Mitchell who earned career high 19 points and career high four steals against Villanova. Mitchell isn’t a known scorer who averaged just 6.9 points per game before this matchup.
Xavier Musketeers
Are the Musketeers the best team in the Big East? They just handed UConn their first loss of the season and their starting five has so much talent. Four different players scored 15+ points. As an opposing coach how do you even prepare to guard a team that is so diversified in scoring? They have great interior threats with Zach Freemantle and Jack Nunge alongside talented guards in Souley Boum and Colby Jones. This team is built for a tournament run.
Who’s Not:
Villanova Wildcats
Dropping their last two games, Villanova needs to start earning victories or else they will find themselves missing March Madness this season. No moral victories in the Big East. They barely lost to UConn giving them a tough contest and lost by two points at home to Marquette. Cam Whitmore earned his first career start and looked solid for Villanova, but you can’t rely on a freshman to lead you in scoring every night. The second half killed the Wildcats scoring only 22 points shooting 31% from the field. Thankfully for Kyle Neptune they have Georgetown up next which is a must win game against the worst team in the Big East.
Saint John’s
Entered the bulk of their Big East play 11-1 and looked as if they were going to be competitive but have now lost three straight games. Two of those were double digit losses to Villanova and Seton Hall. Joel Soriano has provided them with consistent scoring and effort getting several boards in the paint, but they don’t have any high-level perimeter shooting players. As a team they are shooting 31% from the three, which ranks 10th in the Big East.
Top Five Coaches:
#5 Greg McDermott
Even though Creighton hasn’t been playing the best recently, coach McDermott will have them ready for postseason basketball as they have had plenty of recent success there. Last season the Bluejays brought in a top 10 recruiting class and struggled a big earlier on. By the end of the season, they were able to finish 23-12 losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Kansas by just 7 points. The Jayhawks went on to win a nation title and Creighton earned their highest ever preseason rank coming into this season. A potential sweet sixteen run like in the 2020-21 season is afoot.
#4 Shaka Smart
Just his second season with Marquette, Smart proves he is able to lead a team without highly tenured players. It is always tough rebuilding a program in your first season as a head coach. This year Smart has the Golden Eagles sitting at 11-4 overall with some big wins especially over No. 6 Baylor. They are a tournament team and can possibly win the Big East sitting in tied for 2nd place.
#3 Sean Miller
Xavier is ranked No. 18 in the nation and sits in first place inside the Big East at 4-0. This is Sean Miller’s first season back with Xavier since he was the head coach for them back in 2004-2009. He was previously at Arizona for 12 years where he his program produced 13 NBA draft picks and led them to seven NCAA tourney appearances. He has the roster and skillset to make the tournament again this year with a chance to make the final four.
#2 Dan Hurley
No matter what players he losses, he just finds greater talent with solid all-around bench depth. He brought in some great transfers and freshman to compliment his stud returning players. His winning percentage has increased each season at UConn and has them standing at 14-1 suffering their first loss of the season in their last game. This was the best start in program history since the 1998-99 season when they started 19-0. Can they win another national championship under Hurley?
#1 Ed Cooley
The reigning Big East coach of the year got his team back to the current No. 1 team in the conference at 4-0 overall. Coming into the season they weren’t even picked to finish top five yet have remained competitive. Last year was the first ever regular season Big East title in program history. He brought in several transfers who have stepped up at a high level to start the season. Providence is trending to defend their reigning regular season title.