Big East Basketball: Ranking all 11 head coaches after Pitino/English hires
By Joey Loose
With the Final Four next weekend, this current NCAA basketball season has not yet concluded and has given us an unforgettable first two weeks of March Madness. That being said, it’s not too early to think about the effects of this season and how the future looks as well. This is a Tournament that has shown that you can’t necessarily pencil the best power conference teams into the Final Four, but that doesn’t mean that some of those teams haven’t performed this season.
Big East Basketball has emerged as one of the nation’s best basketball conferences and it’s getting even better. Connecticut has made their way to this year’s Final Four with dominant performances early in the Tournament. Creighton was just one point away from their own trip to the Final Four on the other side of the bracket. Marquette and Xavier had incredible seasons but saw their Tournament runs end earlier than they hoped, while Providence was also in the Big Dance. Programs like Butler and Seton Hall are on the rise under new head coaches, but things will be even tougher next season.
There have been some impressive head coaching hires in the conference in recent years, with the league adding Thad Matta, Sean Miller, and Shaheen Holloway last season. This year will prove to be just as monumental with Rick Pitino returning to the conference, this time helming a St. John’s program looking for that boost. Ed Cooley’s in-conference movement from Providence to Georgetown will also add to the intrigue in this league for years to come.
Simply put, we’re going to do our best to rank where the 11 head coaches in the Big East currently stand. This season is not over, but we know who will helm all of these programs and have a good idea of where these coaches sit compared to each other. Keep in mind, this is not a ranking of the programs, nor of which coaches we expect to have the best luck in the league moving forward. Today’s ranking is based on their entire careers, with more attention paid to recent years.