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

Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

Ewing’s Hoyas have rebounded nicely from the depths of the JTIII era, posting a 34-29 record over the past two years after slumping to a 29-36 mark from 2015-17. Ewing has stockpiled intriguing young talent and bolstered it with a couple solid snags in the transfer market.

Now comes the hard part. Georgetown has been building a nice foundation under the radar but enters 2019-20 with legitimate NCAA tournament expectations. How will James Akinjo, Mac McClung, and Josh LeBlanc react now that they have a target on their back? The Hoyas put together a pair of cupcake soft schedules in Ewing’s first two seasons; things will get tougher in Year 3.

GU’s non-conference slate features home games with Penn State and Syracuse, road contests with Oklahoma State and SMU, and a neutral site meeting with Texas in the 2K Empire Classic (a game against Duke or California also awaits the following day). Even Georgetown’s mid-major matchups against UNC-Greensboro, Samford, and American will be more of a test than typical buy games, and, of course, the Big East as a whole will be much improved this year. Georgetown could very well be a better team in 2019-20, but may still stagnate as its youngsters continue to develop against a tougher schedule.

Mike Anderson, St. John’s

The St. John’s coaching search was something of a tragicomedy, but the Red Storm may have accidentally landed a decent head coach in the process. Anderson sports a 369-102 record in 17 seasons with UAB, Missouri, and Arkansas, and has earned nine NCAA tournament berths, including an Elite Eight in 2009 with Mizzou and a Sweet 16 with UAB in 2004.

These Johnnies are not quite ready to fight for a postseason berth, so Anderson may finish with the first sub-.500 record of his head coaching career. But here’s betting Anderson establishes a culture that sets St. John’s up well for the future, even though this is the Birmingham native’s first foray outside the south in his entire basketball career.

Jay Wright, Villanova

The best-dressed man in the conference now has to navigate his toughest test since the Big East reformation in 2013. Gone are the last vestiges of VU’s golden generation; the Wildcats are now relying on a roster without a single senior in the rotation. Wright is certainly capable of coaxing greatness out of a young team, yet as we saw last season with Jahvon Quinerly, it hasn’t always been a seamless fit.

Villanova has landed consecutive top-10 recruiting classes, so the talent is certainly there, but we’ll see if Wright is able to build the same type of consistency that has become part of the Villanova’s identity in recent years.