The 2025-26 campaign for Big East Basketball was one the league will probably want to forget. UConn and St. John’s proved to be as good as advertised, while Villanova, under first-year head coach Kevin Willard, overachieved. However, no one else was very good, with only those three programs finishing over .500 in league play.
Just those three teams made the NCAA Tournament. The Big East will look to add more teams in 2027, with several teams improving their rosters. Here’s a current way-too-early look at the Big East for next season.
11. Butler Bulldogs
2025-26 record: 16-16 (7-13)
Likely departures
- Finley Bizjack (17.1 ppg and 2.5 apg)
- Michael Ajayi (16.4 ppg and 11.1 rpg)
- Jamie Kaiser (9.5 ppg and 4.3 rpg)
- Yohan Traore (8.3 ppg and 3.0 rpg)
- Evan Haywood (7.2 ppg and 1.9 rpg)
- Azavier Robinson (6.1 ppg and 2.5 apg)
- Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor (5.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg)
- Yame Butler (4.2 ppg and 1.4 apg)
Likely returnees
- Drayton Jones (6.3 ppg and 4.6 rpg)
Roster additions
- Eduardo Klafke (4.6 ppg and 2.5 rpg at Ole Miss)
- Jordan Ellerbee (13.1 ppg and 3.4 rpg at Florida Gulf Coast)
- Christian Moore (11.2 ppg and 3.1 rpg at The Citadel)
- Treyson Anderson (10.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg at North Dakota State)
- Samis Calderon (0.4 ppg and 0.8 rpg at Kansas)
- Herly Brutus (4-star wing prospect)
It’s a new era with the Bulldogs, with Ronald Nored taking over for Thad Matta as head coach. It’s a completely new roster he’s working with, with a lack of firepower being a clear concern with the roster. If Calderon, a former four-star prospect who was buried on Kansas' depth chart, breaks out in a similar way Ajayi did last season, then Butler will have hope.
Otherwise, pressure will be on the trio of mid-major double-digit scorers to see their production translate to the Big East level for them to be competitive. We also have to find out if Nored is the guy to get Butler back onto the national conversation. For now, there’s a lot the program has to prove.
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