Big East Basketball: What happened to the beasts down low?
By Brian Foley
Big East Basketball used to be known for its physicality, but now, it’s the most prolific offensive conference in the country. What changed?
In the final years of the old Big East, the conference was known for its big men. No matter where you looked in the conference, every team had a formidable low post presence ready to do battle on ESPN’s “Big Monday” telecasts.
Just run through a list of the bigs from that era: Roy Hibbert, Hasheem Thabeet, Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, Luke Harangody, DeJuan Blair, Jack Cooley, Gorgui Dieng, Fab Melo, Henry Sims, Yancy Gates, Hamady Ndiaye, Davante Gardner, Chris Obekpa, and many more. Those are some legitimate beasts in the post, and while they all had different playing styles – some were shot-blocking board-munchers, others were ground-bound scorers – scrums in the paint were inevitable.
Needless to say, things have changed. Harangody, Blair, and Thabeet all won Big East Player of the Year awards roughly a decade ago. In 2017-18 though, only one player taller than 6-foot-8 was honored amongst the conference’s 13 total first-teamers, second-teamers, and honorable mentions (Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado).
This is not to say I miss the old days of 7-footers clawing at each other under the basket in a low-post standstill. After all, 6 Big East teams finished inside the top-25 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency last year, more than any other conference. The new Big East has been on the forefront of the offensive revolution in college basketball, resulting in extremely exciting campaigns and plenty of conference success.
Rather, this is simply an ode to a different time, when the big man ruled the conference, and created fascinating intra-conference conflicts.
From 2007-08 through 2012-13 (the final season of the old Big East), at least 10 Big East players each year finished with a block rate of 5% or better. The number of players to top that mark in the new Big East has dropped precipitously though, with just four players surpassing that (admittedly arbitrary) number in 2016-17 and only two accomplishing the feat last season. None of the players who cracked a 5% block rate in the past two seasons will return to the Big East in 2018-19.
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This isn’t just about pure shot blockers either. Run through each Big East roster, and you’ll see how few teams actually have a steady presence down low, especially once you get past Georgetown’s Jessie Govan. Seton Hall no longer has Delgado, Marin Maric graduated from DePaul, St. John’s’ Tariq Owens transferred to Texas Tech, and Villanova’s Omari Spellman moved onto the NBA. Butler big Tyler Wideman is also gone, and Xavier lost its tandem of Kerem Kanter and Sean O’Mara.
Marquette’s Matt Heldt started 32 contests for the Golden Eagles last year, but was one of just four players in the last decade to play at least 750 minutes across 35 total games and still attempt 85 or fewer shots. Heldt could also lose playing time this year with Marquette’s crowded frontcourt as well. Providence has plenty of options down low and Creighton will have to juggle minutes between the oft-injured Martin Krampelj and sophomore rim runner Jacob Epperson.
Of the 30 freshmen joining the Big East this year, just five stand at least 6-foot-9 and all of them are three-star recruits. Among eligible transfers, Taurean Thompson and Ed Morrow should be impactful players down low for Seton Hall and Marquette, respectively, but Thompson will be giving up 45 pounds to the Hoyas’ Govan and Morrow is just 6-foot-7. Neither one exactly fits the big man archetype.
Yes, this is the new age of basketball where guards and playmaking wings are paramount. But there is still a place for more traditionally-sized bigs in college basketball, as evidenced by last month’s NBA Draft, when five of the first seven picks were at least 6-foot-10.
Next: Preseason Big East rankings
A lack of size clearly hasn’t hurt the Big East on the floor – if anything, it could be part of the reason for the conference’s general success. But it’s remarkable how the Big East’s identity has shifted so much in 10 years. Goliaths use to roam free at Madison Square Garden, but now three Davids – 6-foot-1 Shamorie Ponds, 6-foot Kamar Baldwin, and 5-foot-11 Markus Howard – are likely the favorites for the 2018-19 Player of the Year award. Oh, how times have changed.