Player of the Week
David Duke (Providence)
The leader of the Providence Friars, Duke has been one of the best guards in the Big East this season. He’s averaging 19.3 points per game and can easily go off and score 30 points on any given night. Duke earns player of the week from his spectacular performance against Butler. He shot 81% from the field combining for 22 points. The wild thing about Duke is that he’s not just a scorer. He also had eight assists and 13 rebounds in this game. It’s not common for a college player to record a triple double and Duke almost achieved that feat against Butler.
Who’s Hot
Jamal Cain (Marquette)
Cain is coming off his career high in Marquette’s most recent game against Georgetown scoring 25 points. He shot the lights out from the three, shooting 80% beyond the arc. If he is able to put up these numbers and play this efficient the rest of the season, Marquette will be a challenge to beat since they have several other young talented players. Cain also provides leadership being one of two seniors on the team who gets playing time.
Jared Rhoden (Seton Hall)
Seton Hall has so many weapons offensively. This is now the third Seton Hall player to make the Who’s Hot list. That goes to show how talented Seton Hall is. In his last five games, Rhoden is averaging 18.3 points per game. The craziest stat about Rhoden is that he is leading the team in rebounds at 7.6 rebounds per game. Rhoden is 6’6. Seton Hall starts Sandro Mamukelashvili and Ike Obiagu who are 6’11 and 7’2 respectively.
Who’s Not
Georgetown
The Hoyas have now lost three games in a row falling to 1-4 in the Big East. Their offense has been struggling, especially in their last game against Marquette in which they only put up 60 points. They shot 38% from the field with only one starter scoring double figures. Fortunately for the Hoyas, their next game is against Butler who has also been struggling recently. If Georgetown wants to change things around this season, they’ll have to start by grinding out a victory against Buter.
DePaul
Another disappointing performance from DePaul this week losing by 21 points to UConn. Now 0-2 in the Big East, DePaul’s next three games include Villanova, Seton Hall and UConn again. It looks as if DePaul is going to go 0-5 to start the season in the Big East. It is promising for DePaul since they were able to take Providence to double overtime considering Providence is a solid team.
Top Five Coaches
#5 Steve Wojciechowski (Marquette)
Coach Wojciechowski has a young team this year and has been able to lead them to victory over top ten teams Wisconsin and Creighton. He has been able to keep Marquette competitive even with the departure of Markus Howard.
#4 Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)
Seton Hall has been a top team in the Big East for several years now thanks to Coach Willard. Just like Marquette, people were questioning Seton Hall this season with their leading scorer, Myles Powell, leaving to the NBA. Yet again it seems that Seton Hall will be a contender for this year’s Big East title.
#3 Ed Cooley (Providence)
Providence basketball brings back playstyles from the past being the most physical team in the Big East. Coach Cooley’s teams are always good defensively. He was able to lead Providence to 5 straight NCAA appearances, the longest streak in school history. His team looks as if they will be able to make an impact in March Madness this season.
#2 Greg McDermott (Creighton)
The 2020 Big East coach of the year, McDermott has won at least 20 games in nine of the last 10 seasons. Creighton is now 4-1 in the Big East. Last season Creighton was projected to be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. He was able to lead Creighton to No. 7 overall in the country last season after they were projected to finish seventh in the Big East.
#1 Jay Wright (Villanova)
Two national championships, four of the last five Big East tournament championships and six Big East Coach of the year awards. There’s no question that Wright is the best coach in the Big East. He has created one of the best cultures in college basketball across the nation with nine former players now making an impact in the NBA.