Big East needs another Nova, who will it be?

[GumbyDamnit!]

BillM, I agree with you 100%.

[gtmoBlue]

Great point on the new guys and recruiting expectations. I alluded to that when talking about how Coach Wright switched back to recruiting for program fit.

Surprised that Nova only has an overall record of 1711-919 (thru last season). Based on herotodus' rant I would have thought Nova was in the 2000 wins club.

Most,if not all, of this conferences teams are well over 1400 wins. The youngest program is probably over 1000 wins. Figures below are thru last season and are from each teams Wiki and the Creighton Media Guide 2016-17.

St Johns - 1803-979
Nova - 1711-919
Marquette - 1558-947
(unknown) Creighton - 1513-1007

[GumbyDamnit!]

Great point on the new guys and recruiting expectations. I alluded to that when talking about how Coach Wright switched back to recruiting for program fit.

Surprised that Nova only has an overall record of 1711-919 (thru last season). Based on herotodus' rant I would have thought Nova was in the 2000 wins club.

Most,if not all, of this conferences teams are well over 1400 wins. The youngest program is probably over 1000 wins. Figures below are thru last season and are from each teams Wiki and the Creighton Media Guide 2016-17.

St Johns - 1803-979
Nova - 1711-919
Marquette - 1558-947
(unknown) Creighton - 1513-1007

Overall wins are also affected by when each program started. For instance Purdue started 24 years earlier than VU yet Nova could catch them within the next couple of years.

Perspective:

Purdue: .630

SJU .647
VU .651
MU . 622
CU. . 590

[brewcity77]

My assessment of the current teams from best to worst (leaving MU out until last to avoid bias):

Butler: Chris Holtmann just keeps winning. Probably the best in the conference at getting guys to buy-in and maximize their ability. Every time I doubt them, they deliver. They are a viable Final Four contender this year.
Xavier: Mack has established himself as a recruiter and keeps getting big, tough, talented kids. Classes are balanced well and they should be a force for years to come.
Providence: Cooley always finds great guards, and that's what drives a program. Losing Dunn & Bentil made for a down year, but they are still a dark horse for a NCAA bid. He seems to view Providence as his destination job, I think once he gets around the decade mark, the Friars will be a consistent force.
St. John's: Mullin isn't much of a game coach yet, but he's getting some players. Next year they should be a tourney team. If he can keep his teams together (something Lavin failed to do) and keep a good staff of assistants, I could see the Johnnies rising up. That said, I could see Mullin getting bored with coaching and it all falling apart in one bad season.
Creighton: If not for the Watson injury, this could've been the year. But now they have three pretty important seniors departing, and Patton might join them. They fell hard after losing McBuckets, I just don't see the sustenance plan in place yet. I think they'll be a consistently good team, but not the next Villanova.
Seton Hall: I can't see Willard staying long term. He might be a Sweet 16 run away from taking off. Even if he does, he's had one class to attain real success. If they miss the NCAAs this year, that's one bid in 7 seasons. He's a mediocre coach at best.
Georgetown: Get back to me when they fire GTIII. Until then, they're treading quicksand.
DePaul: Get back to me when they fire Jeannie Lento-Ponsetto. Until then, they're treading quicksand.

And finally...

Marquette: Wojo's had them pointed up, and his recruiting has been stellar. On-court results and a cohesive defense hasn't come as fast as fans would like. That said, year 5 (2018-19) will be the big one. Opening up the new arena, the team will be all Wojo recruits, and possibly another All-American (?) freshman in the form of Joey Hauser stepping on campus. I'm bullish on our chances. This offense is the best we've seen in the Pomeroy era. If he can get the defense remotely close, he can make us a perennial league contender and make Final Four runs a reality. Right now, that's a big if.

[kmacker69]

Trying to be the next Nova is damn near impossible... Finding the right mix of talent and mentality is tough enough, but finding ones that also aren't belting for the NBA is also tough if they are too talented. (Marquette and Providence last year.) Not that I blame the kids, I'd walk away from a lot of stuff for a million+ a year. Butler has had a few head that way early also. They both play for the Jazz now and ones an all-star.
NC, Duke, and Kentucky can lose their young studs, because they have 3-4 5 stars coming in next year and every year, but it's tough getting great kids that aren't going to be sucked into the NBA. Nova has seemed to hit that sweet spot the last 3-4 years, but with all eyes pointing that way who knows if they will stay there for the long term? Lose a few and the class balance or team chemistry might be off for a few... We'll see how it plays out in a few years.

[ChestRockwell85]

St Bonaventure.



God knows we don't "need" another Nova, but if we can't snag the Bonnie's, then the Jays will have to step up their game (with or without Patton/Bowen). Youse guys will owe me bigtime for "saving" the conference.

gtmoBlue, you are LITERALLY one of my favorite posters in the world of college basketball messageboards but there is no way in HELL we are adding the F'ing Bonnies. They SCREAM mid-major, HELL, they just about make the cut to be considered mid-major. Not gonna happen. Knock it off. You are insulting the league. You're better than that.

In regards to Nova "inevitably" having a down year, yes, that happens, could happen as soon as next year with question marks like will Booth return? Will Brunson or Bridges decide to jump ship and go pro? Will Spellman ever suit up? etc. But what is a down year for Nova? A team like Duke has a down year and they are still ranked Top 25 the whole year and make it to the Sweet 16. Obviously I am a Wildcat fan, but if everybody who can suit up for the Cats does next year, we are going to continue to be fine for the foreseeable future considering the fact 2018 WILL be a stud class.

Villanova is a hot school right now, just not the basketball program, but the amount of money that is pouring into the school. The whole campus is getting a RIDICULOUS facelift. I don't know the numbers but the amount of applicants has increased SIGNIFICANTLY in recent years and I don't see that slowing down. I say yes, a down year can inevitably happen, but like what happened a few years ago, when we only won 13, we were dancing again the next year. As long as Jay Wright is the coach, Villanova is an Elite program. Just that simple.

[Bill Marsh]

I love the repeated predictions that I read here that Mullin is going to get bored with coaching and walk away. Where did that start? He's going to leave to do what? Does someone here know him? The guy has been a gym rat all his life, so I don't see him walking out of the gym. My guess is he's happy to be back there. Where he was probably bored was in the executive suite.

[alduflux]

Scoscox, curious... in your opinion, what does Nova have to do to be an "established power"?

4. That's a major accomplishment. Not on the list are "name" programs like Syracuse, Georgetown, Temple, Arizona, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Since when was Temple a "name" program?


The answer to the OP is Butler.

[Bill Marsh]

4. That's a major accomplishment. Not on the list are "name" programs like Syracuse, Georgetown, Temple, Arizona, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Since when was Temple a "name" program?

Fifth most wins in college basketball history does it for me. If not for you, that's okay too.

[scoscox]

The comments on recruiting... I'm not expecting that the recruiting benefits are gonna magically carry us to blue-blood status, but seeing what we were able to do with mediocre recruits for the twenty years before we joined the Big East, it makes me think we can be pretty darn good with higher caliber players. The recruiting between mid-major and major is not even the same playing field. No one is more acutely aware of that then Xavier and, I'm assuming, Creighton and Butler as well.