Big East Basketball: Top 5 rising sophomores for 2018-19

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Naji Marshall #13 of the Xavier Musketeers reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 09: Marshall of the Xavier Musketeers reacts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Big East basketball had to say goodbye to an elite group of seniors after this past season. Yet, this group of rising sophomores is ready to take the next step.

Big East basketball is coming off of an incredible year. The conference was remarkably competitive in 2017-18 and boasted two serious national championship contenders. Even though Xavier went down in the second round as a No. 1 seed, Villanova picked up the slack by winning the entire NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. The last few years have been incredible not only for Villanova but for the whole conference. However, the league had to say goodbye to an incredible senior class this offseason. All of these household names (among others) are now gone due to graduation:

Xavier: J.P. Macura, Trevon Bluiett, Kerem Kanter, Sean O’Mara
Butler: Tyler Wideman, Kelan Martin
Providence: Rodney Bullock, Kyron Cartwright, Jalen Lindsey
Seton Hall: Ismael Sanago, Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez, Angel Delgado
Creighton: Marcus Foster, Toby Hegner
Marquette: Andrew Rowsey
St. John’s: Bashir Ahmed
DePaul: Marin Maric

With all of this talent leaving the conference, many are expecting a down year for the league. While this may occur, the talent cupboard is not left completely bare in the Big East. There are some elite returning players still on each roster. However, the rising juniors and seniors have already proven their worth in their first two years and we mostly know what were going to get from them.

The excellent rising sophomore class of the Big East, though, is still full of relatively untapped potential and there are a ton of tremendous players ready for breakout seasons. Now, let’s jump into my top five rising sophomores for Big East basketball heading into 2018-19.

Others considered (no order): Myles Cale (Seton Hall), Aaron Thompson (Butler), Makai Ashton-Langford (Providence), Jamal Cain (Marquette), Greg Elliot (Marquette), Collin Gillespie (Villanova), Paul Scruggs (Xavier), Jacob Epperson (Creighton), and every Villanova sophomore.

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