Big East Basketball: 20 most interesting people of 2019-20 season

Markus Howard & Steve Wojciechowski, Marquette

Just 225 days ago, Marquette was ranked no. 10 in the country, working on a four-game winning streak, and sitting on a 1.5-game cushion for the Big East regular-season crown. Now? Not so good. Since that high-water mark, the Golden Eagles have:

• Endured a 1-6 finish to the year despite MU holding a lead or tie in the final five minutes of four of the six losses (Marquette was down one point late in a fifth loss as well)
• Watched Howard shoot 35 percent down the stretch after the star guard battled significant wear and tear during the season
• Suffered the sudden transfers of their second and third-best players roughly 72 hours after Howard announced his return for his senior season
• Handed out a contract extension to a coach who is yet to win an NCAA tournament contest and – at best – generates a tepid reaction from the team’s fanbase

After what should have been a thoroughly positive campaign (24 wins, 5 seed, scoring records, et. al.), Howard and Wojciechowski are now in the position where they need to prove they: 1) can lead a team for a full campaign, and 2) are capable of change following the Hauser exodus that, at least partially, falls at the feet of the senior guard and sixth-year head coach.

Can Wojo effectively steward a team that is light on shooting, but heavy on athleticism and size? Is Howard ready to sacrifice bits of his monstrous usage rate? Their Marquette legacies – and status in the 2019-20 Big East – likely depend on the answers to those questions.

Myles Powell, Seton Hall

An analysis of Seton Hall also requires flashing backwards to six months ago, when the Pirates were 16-12 (7-9 Big East) and coming off a three-game losing streak in late February. Things looked bleak and SHU seemed NIT-bound. A late rally, which included a four-game winning streak against Villanova, Georgetown, and Marquette (twice), combined with a near-miss against VU in the Big East tournament championship game, pushed the Pirates into the NCAA tournament as a 10 seed, where they ultimately lost by 16 points to Wofford.

But the story doesn’t end there. Because after an offseason of #HALLin Hype, Seton Hall finds itself as the preseason favorite in the Big East with the preseason conference Player of the Year in Powell.

You must be thinking to yourself, “Wow! A team that barely squeaked into the tournament only to get blasted by mighty Wofford must have added a lot of talent in the offseason if they are now the pick to win the entire Big East, right?”

And you know what, friend, in some sort of normal reality, that would make sense. But 2019 is not that reality. Seton Hall actually possesses the fourth-highest rate of roster continuity among high-major teams, which, though normally a good thing, becomes a little less useful when you are trying to make the leap from 10-seed to conference favorite.

All this is to say: Powell better be really dang good this year. He truly is a remarkable talent, but he still has a ways to go if he wants to drag this roster – which is fine, but nothing special – into the national spotlight. Too often, Powell drifts through games; now, he often awakens with a flurry of baskets in crunch time, so he doesn’t stay down for long. But for the Pirates to establish the night-to-night consistency required to win the Big East, he will need to remain fully focused for all 40 minutes.

Last season, among the 39 players who were 6-foot-5 or shorter and posted a 25 percent usage rate, Powell ranked just 31st in assist rate (Howard, by comparison, ranked 10th). One of the Big East storylines to watch will be how Powell improves his playmaking – something the NBA surely wanted to see more of when he went through the draft process this spring – if Seton Hall really is ready to to be a top-10 team in America.