Player of the Week
Darryl Morsell (Marquette)
Morsell comes into the Big East after playing four seasons with the Maryland Terrapins. Not be known for his offensive abilities, Morsell is currently second in scoring across the Big East averaging 22.7 points per game. He just dropped 21 points in a big win over No. 10 Illinois, a team he was familiar playing against in the Big Ten. The former Big Ten 2020-21 defensive player of the year has been reversing his role from being a blue-collar guy to being an elite scorer. He is currently the best two-way player in the conference.
Who’s Hot
Seton Hall
Before getting into their tough non-conference schedule, the Pirates have made a statement in their two season opening games. The most impressive win coming against Yale, who is the favorite to win the Ivy league. Ike Obiagu had a block party against Yale with 3 blocks continuing his paint dominance from last year after leading the conference in blocks. Jared Rhoden is healthy now and looked good coming off the bench. The Pirates will play Michigan Tuesday Nov. 16, their first game against a ranked opponent this season.
Saint John’s
Mike Anderson’s offense has been on fire to start the season averaging 105 points in their first two games, which ranks second in the nation. Julian Champagnie is torching the hoop just like last season scoring 21 points per game early on. Posh Alexander may be the best point guard in the Big East. Averaging 15 points and 8 assists a game, he is living up the hype from last season. He is just the third player in Big East history to win both defensive player and freshman of the year, the last two players to do this: Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing.
Who’s Not
Villanova
Going back to their first game it looked as if Villanova had a lot of depth, but that was not the case against No. 2 UCLA. Only 6 players received significant minutes with three of their starters playing over 40 minutes. If Villanova wants to be a top team this year, they can’t force their starters to play that long. It looked as if they were going to walk away with the game being up 10 with 10 minutes to go in the game. The Wildcats have some more tough non-conference games against No. 17 Tennessee, the winner of No. 18 UNC and No. 6 Purdue, then finally against No. 9 Baylor in Dec.
Georgetown
The Hoyas dropped their first game of the season to Dartmouth. Not much needs to be said. The reigning Big East champions were embarrassed at home scoring only 60 points. The only thing going for them was their star freshman Aminu Mohammed. Even the Big East, Dante Harris tournament MVP had a poor performance shooting 3 -for-13 from the field. Patrick Ewing was on the hot seat last season but was saved from winning the Big East tournament. If he can’t turn things around watch out because he could be in for a rude awakening.
Top 5 Freshman
#5 Stevie Mitchell (Marquette)
Mitchell is an underrated freshman coming into the Big East. He didn’t score in their big-time matchup against Illinois, but he looked solid in their first two games of the season. He will be a key bench player for the Golden Eagles this season. Shaka Smart can rely on him to provide valuable minutes being a smart basketball player who has a great feel for the game.
#4 O'Mar Stanley (Saint John’s)
Saint John’s explosive offense must give credit to Stanley’s spark off the bench. Just like Mitchell, Stanley will be a great guy off the bench to help when the starters are struggling to score. In the Red Storm’s first game of the season, he dropped 14 points shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in 20 minutes.
#3 Jayden Taylor (Butler)
This is a Butler team who has a lot of veteran players. Taylor has started all three games over veteran Jair Bolden who averaged 10.5 points per game last season. He is a young stud averaging 13.3 points per game early on for the Bulldogs with a team high 18 points in their win over Central Arkansas.
#2 Ryan Nembhard (Creighton)
Nembhard has been asked to fill an important role for Coach McDermott at Creighton after they lost all five starters from last season. He dropped 15 points and 10 assists in his collegiate debut for the Blue Jays against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. If he continues this production, he could easily be one of the top point guards in the Big East currently tied for 3rd in assists per game.
#1 Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown)
Mentioned previously in this blog, Mohammed is the only positive aspect Georgetown has at this moment. Coming into the season he was the favorite to win the Big East freshman of the year. The 2020-21 Missouri Gatorade player of the year has a high basketball IQ that goes well alongside his frame, which will cause matchup problems for smaller guards in the conference.