Big East Offseason Thread

@JonRothstein: BREAKING: @maverickrowan told @CBSSports he is in the process of reclassifying to 2015. Will officially visit St. John's on Monday. #sjubb

UW wants him.....

@jeffborzello: Maverick Rowan says he's considering four schools, won't specify which four (announced a final six recently).

Visits St. John's tomorrow.

Lock him up Johnnies!

Gonna go out on a limb and guess Wisconsin isn't one of the four.

I think his father played with Mullen at SJU

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Originally Posted by AlexJesswein

I think his father played with Mullen at SJU

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Yep.....
@coreyevans_10: Maverick Rowan visits St. John's tomorrow. Father played with Chris Mullins at SJU. Red Storm need immediate backcourt help. Makes sense

Likely losing Obepka (strong rumors on their board that he's finally done there), but Rowan would be a huge late add. Johnnies could be super young (with some talent) next year, and then much better a year from now if/when Mullin adds a strong 2016 class to the nice base he is building.

Can you clarify? Are you implying that Obekpa might not play for SJU this season? If so, that is a huge blow. There is no other front court experience, unless Duran Johnson, the transfer from Pitt, plays small forward.

By the way, curious what board you are referring to. The Scout board is pretty much extinct. Do you have a link?

Going to guess either Rumble in the Garden (SB Nation site) or Johnnyjungle.com which is a fansite for the Johnnies.

No way a kid would pick a Big East school over UW, unless there was some other circumstances like Mullin playing with his dad. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Phantom Warrior

Can you clarify? Are you implying that Obekpa might not play for SJU this season? If so, that is a huge blow. There is no other front court experience, unless Duran Johnson, the transfer from Pitt, plays small forward.

By the way, curious what board you are referring to. The Scout board is pretty much extinct. Do you have a link?

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This is from redmen.com, which I slightly prefer to Johnny Jungle. I would not worry too much about St. John's for this season, but am very optimistic towards their future once Mullin's clean up the mess Lavin left behind (and the program will be better off long-term with Obepka and Jordan not around to influence the rest of the young players).

Thanks. A week or so ago, I went to the various Scout boards for each Big East school and found only two others - Providence and DePaul - whose public boards were functioning.

Here is some info on Rowan from Zags blog. Seems he was very impressed with Louisville as well.
Wants to play right away, and St. John's can sure offer that opportunity. Seems like a perfect fit with Rowan's dad playing with Mullin. I'd also like to see Mullin get a great start on the recruiting trail.

http://zagsblog.com/recruiting/maver...hns-on-monday/

“I’m not going to go to a place where I’m not going to play right away,” he recently told SNY.tv, “and that’s just the bottom line.”

Pump the brakes a little bit kid.:rolleyes:

Aaaaaaand that's the bottom line....cuz Ice Cold Rowan said so!!!! :D

I actually think in some ways St John's may be a more uphill battle than DePaul. They were a tourney team, but lost most of that team and there seemed to be a lot of negatives even with the returning players. Neither school seems to have great support from administration, and at least at DePaul the expectations are low so any progress will be a positive. Mullin has clearly done better recruiting wise, but with Garrett, Henry, and Hamilton in place, Leitao has something to work with.

It will be very interesting to watch those two programs over the next 2-3 years.

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Originally Posted by Phantom Warrior

Thanks. A week or so ago, I went to the various Scout boards for each Big East school and found only two others - Providence and DePaul - whose public boards were functioning.

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Sometimes you have to look around some, for example if you just went to the MU scout board you wouldnt find this site... Different schools use different sites.

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Originally Posted by MKE_GoldenEagleFan

Sometimes you have to look around some, for example if you just went to the MU scout board you wouldnt find this site... Different schools use different sites.

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MU is unusual for BB with 3 active boards.

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Originally Posted by Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"

I actually think in some ways St John's may be a more uphill battle than DePaul. They were a tourney team, but lost most of that team and there seemed to be a lot of negatives even with the returning players. Neither school seems to have great support from administration, and at least at DePaul the expectations are low so any progress will be a positive. Mullin has clearly done better recruiting wise, but with Garrett, Henry, and Hamilton in place, Leitao has something to work with.

It will be very interesting to watch those two programs over the next 2-3 years.

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That used to be true for St. John's, but they have heavily invested with this current staff (Slice reportedly making around 500K himself) and will give Mullin whatever support he needs. It will not be long before Johnnies run by the mom and pop shop on Belden and a lot of other conference mates (in 2-3 years, I envision regular top four being Nova, Georgetown, Marquette, and Johnnies).

We'll see if that support at SJU requires immediate results. Not sure they'll be patient if it's a rocky first two years.

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Originally Posted by Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"

We'll see if that support at SJU requires immediate results. Not sure they'll be patient if it's a rocky first two years.

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Seeing that they decided to get rid of Lavin in the first place, I think they will understand that it will take some time to get St. John's towards the top of the conference. Slice's contract is also reportedly for the same six years as Mullin, so they have essentially tied long-term to their two most important coaches.

! RT @UConnMBB: #UConn: Men's hoop releases 2015-16 non-conference schedule. Huskies, Hoyas renew rivalry. #BleedBlue http://bit.ly/1CqIiqg

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Originally Posted by Markedman

! RT @UConnMBB: #UConn: Men's hoop releases 2015-16 non-conference schedule. Huskies, Hoyas renew rivalry. #BleedBlue http://bit.ly/1CqIiqg

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Would love to see MU-Ville renew.

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Originally Posted by 79warrior

Would love to see MU-Ville renew.

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or ND

Ditto...difference is that UCONN needs scheduling help...ND and 'Ville do not.

VS

The thing that gets me is that we all know MU played ND many times before MU joined the Big East.

I wonder if the Brey - Wojo Duke thing would be as much of a barrier to MU and ND playing like other Duke connections may be.
I think Wojo and Brey might have overlapped, Wojo as player and Brey as coach, by one year.

It would be great to somehow get ND on the schedule.

I was told at one point that Pitino did not want to schedule MU. Don't know if that changes with Wojo,, but at the time was told there was no way.

2016 5-star big man for Villanova, looks good and fits their style of play:

http://www.vuhoops.com/2015/6/18/880...-at-nbapa-camp


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O1IGdU9LYmE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Originally Posted by MU/Panther

The thing that gets me is that we all know MU played ND many times before MU joined the Big East.

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The combination of conferences getting larger, made for TV neutral site games, the fact that the Big Tenlevenfourteen Network and the (South Bend is nowhere near the Atlantic) ACC is so tough they get RPI boost from conference play and everyone's need to get 20 wins (even if 10 come against the Little Sisters of the Poor) have made it more and more difficult to schedule good home and home nonconference games. Who suffers? The fans who buy season tickets.

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Originally Posted by Goose85

I wonder if the Brey - Wojo Duke thing would be as much of a barrier to MU and ND playing like other Duke connections may be.
I think Wojo and Brey might have overlapped, Wojo as player and Brey as coach, by one year.

It would be great to somehow get ND on the schedule.

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I had heard there were discussions last year, not sure where it stands now.

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Originally Posted by MayorBeluga

The combination of conferences getting larger, made for TV neutral site games, the fact that the Big Tenlevenfourteen Network and the (South Bend is nowhere near the Atlantic) ACC is so tough they get RPI boost from conference play and everyone's need to get 20 wins (even if 10 come against the Little Sisters of the Poor) have made it more and more difficult to schedule good home and home nonconference games. Who suffers? The fans who buy season tickets.

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Mayor, two points in your post really hit the nail on the head, and not just for basketball.
Made for TV games are great, but at some point you need to take care of your season ticket base with some top level home and home arrangements. That is one reason why I'm a big fan of keeping the Big East at 10 unless some incredible opportunity presents itself.

Sure most long time season ticket holders will keep buying the tickets, but student packages in many places do suffer.
The overall schedule may look good, but a made for tv game and playing good teams in a holiday tournament often leave room for just one good nonconference home game.

That problem is moving to college football as there is the lack of H/H games and the push is now everything is neutral site games and now games out of the country.

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Originally Posted by MU/Panther

That problem is moving to college football as there is the lack of H/H games and the push is now everything is neutral site games and now games out of the country.

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I know more than a few Badger fan students that no longer buy football tickets. It's great to have Alabama and LSU on the schedule, but none of those games are played at home. Also, the unbalanced schedule for football has not been kind to the Badger season ticket holders for a few years now.

@GoodmanESPN: St. John's shot-blocker Chris Obekpa is transferring -- per a release from the school.

Jeff Borzello ‏@jeffborzello · 1h1 hour ago
St. John's now has three returning scholarship players from last season: Felix Balamou, Christian Jones, Amar Alibegovic. 4.0 ppg total

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Originally Posted by milkbone

Jeff Borzello ‏@jeffborzello · 1h1 hour ago
St. John's now has three returning scholarship players from last season: Felix Balamou, Christian Jones, Amar Alibegovic. 4.0 ppg total

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Good Lord. They've turned into us this past season.

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Originally Posted by MayorBeluga

Good Lord. They've turned into us this past season.

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Damn now I have to wipe off my keyboard!!!!!!!!!!:p

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Originally Posted by MayorBeluga

Good Lord. They've turned into us this past season.

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I can see them following a similar course to us, playing hard but losing close games due to being undermanned next year and take a big step up a year now thanks to a strong recruiting class (like I expect from us, from 13 to around 20 wins next year).

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...anova-wildcats

@PrepWars: Former Mott Community College All-American & Detroit King guard Malik Albert has committed to Creighton.