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Big East Basketball: Vital questions facing the conference for 2018-19

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats directs his players in the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm looks on. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Mullin of the St. John’s Red Storm looks on. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

4. Can Ewing or Mullin take their teams to the Big Dance?

I know that it is not fair to always lump Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing together. Despite some similarities, they have taken vastly different paths to where they are now and have had far different coaching careers at their respective schools to this point. In regards to Coach Mullin, he has struggled to turn around the St. John’s program since taking over three years ago. He is yet to make an NCAA Tournament and is coming off of a disastrous Big East season.

On the flip side, though, Coach Ewing exceeded expectations last year in his first campaign at the helm of the Georgetown Hoyas. The team might not have made the NCAA Tournament but that was far from the expectation. Overall, the team showed growth last season and the majority of the roster is coming back for this campaign. Altogether, it was a positive campaign.

However, what the two coaches have in common heading into this season is that both are expected to at the very least be in the at-large discussion. Both teams have potential Big East Player of the Year contenders on their rosters in Shamorie Ponds (SJU) and Jessie Govan (G’Town) with plenty of talent around each. Because of this, expectations are fairly high for both coaches.

With this being said, non-conference scheduling might play a major role in determining which Big East teams actually go dancing this year. This is due to the idea that the conference as a whole will not be as strong as it has been in recent years. And while the Hoyas have not released their non-conference schedule, the Red Storm have and it is not particularly challenging. If Georgetown ends up with a soft schedule similar to last year, then neither team will be able to avoid many slip-ups in Big East play.

Regardless of this, the talent level is there for either team (or both) to make a run for an at-large bid and it will be interesting to follow if they actually live up to those expectations.

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