Big East Media Day: Rick Pitino’s NIL thoughts, Ryan Kalkbrenner chases history, more

NEW YORK — While college football forges on across the country, continuing to set record-breaking TV ratings week after week, a record number of media members were in attendance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday morning at Big East Basketball Media Day. 

Ahh, the Big East. The league that makes any college hoops lover crack a smile. A conference born in 1979 that has stood the test of time. Even when breakups happen, the conference has been able to not just survive, but thrive, accounting for four of the last eight men’s college basketball national championships. 

If the walls at the world-famous MSG could have talked on Wednesday, they would have told the stories of Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing, Pearl Washington, Kemba Walker and, most recently, the likes of Donovan Clingan, Tristan Newton, Jalen Brunson and Kris Jenkins. As the coaches stood at center court for a group photo featuring a Hall of Famer in Rick Pitino, a future Hall of Famer in Dan Hurley, as well as coaches who have etched their names in history with memorable March runs, like Thad Matta, Sean Miller, Shaka Smart, Greg McDermott and Shaheen Holloway, we were all reminded what the Big East is all about: college basketball. 

There’s truly no comparison for this league in the college sports landscape. You have northeast hatred with just how badly these teams want to beat one another, but on the same hand, there is a true mutual respect and desire for them to beat out-of-conference opponents in March, to prove the league’s dominance. You have an outspoken social media community that provides nonstop conversation and frivolity. You have the longest running conference tournament at any single venue when the Big East Tournament hits MSG in March for the 43rd consecutive year. 

But all of that is supplemental to the biggest point of them all: national championships. When this league shows up to the dinner table, it brings the porterhouse steak with lobster tails in the form of four national titles since 2016. The conference backs up all of its pageantry and elite coaching with wins during the time of year when it matters most.

That starts with Dan Hurley and the monster he has built at UConn. The Huskies are 43-3 in their last 46 games with a 12-game NCAA Tournament winning streak by a combined 260 points. Last year, they posted as dominant of a season as we have seen in recent memory, winning six March Madness games by an average of over 23 points. What Hurley has accomplished in Storrs, Conneticut is frankly unbelievable, and UConn’s bid at a three-peat is quite realistic.

In the last decade, Jay Wright built a dynasty on the Main Line at Villanova and his titles in 2016 and 2018 got the new-look Big East (circa 2013-14) to the grand stage in the sport, solidifying that this league would be able to march on. Now, third-year head coach Kyle Neptune is trying to get the Wildcats back to the NCAA Tournament in what is a critical season after they’ve missed the Big Dance the last two years. 

And that illustrates what this year is all about in the Big East: accumulating non-conference results in November and December. While many casual fans don’t follow college hoops until football is done, you get a pretty good idea how many tournament slots each conference is getting by Christmas. Why? Because at that point in conference play, you’re beating up on one another. 

Last year, the Big East had three Sweet 16 teams in UConn, Creighton and Marquette, but those were the only three that made the Big Dance. Disappointment? Selection committee errors? Regardless, the league has to silence the “should we have been in?” talk with results early in the season to compile a résumé that says 5–7 teams should make the tournament.

“We think the Big East is primed to remain a college basketball powerhouse, even as the terrain beneath us keeps shifting,” 12th-year commissioner Val Ackerman said on Wednesday. 

With national titles, sellout crowds, and some of the biggest characters in the sport, you can’t tell the story of college hoops without the Big East. And because of that, they’re as good a testament as any that basketball still carries weight of its own in the football-driven world. 

Here are five other takeaways from Big East Men’s Basketball Media Day:

Rick Pitino holds nothing back about the new landscape

After a first season that saw his Johnnies win six of their final seven games to get into the bubble conversation but fall just short of the NCAA Tournament, Pitino and his staff hit the transfer portal hard and reeled in the No. 4 class in the country, according to 247Sports.com. St. John’s brought in Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith from Utah, and are returning RJ Luis, Simeon Wilcher, Zuby Ejiofor and Brady Dunlap. With that, the Red Storm are poised for a big season and hovering right around the edge of the preseason top 25. 

As for how Pitino views the current college basketball landscape with over 1,500 transfers this past offseason and NIL dollars driving the bus, he’s totally fine with it.

“I’m a big proponent of NIL. We’ve been paid millions of dollars through the years and players got nothing, and I think that’s totally unfair,” Pitino said. “We’ve been able to move, they’ve been unable to move. 

“Back when I first started coaching, there were a lot of programs running NIL when NIL was not legal. I like the fact that it’s all legal now. They are professional athletes that are being treated like professional athletes who are getting an education. That’s the ball game. That doesn’t bother me at all. That’s the way it is. I’ll go out and raise money.”

Ryan Kalkbrenner trying to do something only Patrick Ewing has done

Creighton fifth-year senior Ryan Kalkbrenner can join the Georgetown G.O.A.T. this season if he is named Big East Defensive Player of the Year for a fourth time, something only Ewing can say he’s done. Kalkbrenner, a FOX Sports Preseason First-Team All-American, averaged 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and a whopping 3.1 blocks (second in country) per game last season. His head coach, Greg McDermott, said that Kalkbrenner deserves more national attention. 

“As you look back to last year and the draft boards after the season, Donovan Clingan is a terrific, terrific basketball player. But is Ryan that much different?” McDermott asked. “He’s going to be looked upon as one of the better centers to ever play in the Big East. The best is yet to come for Ryan Kalkbrenner.” 

Sean Miller and Xavier look the part of a Sweet 16 team

Last year was an absolute rarity for Xavier, finishing the season with a 16-18 mark and missing out on the Big Dance. The Musketeers, who were dealt a terrible card with injuries, had not had a losing season since 1996. That ate at 20th-year head coach Sean Miller, who has won over 71% of the games he’s coached.

The Musketeers cleaned up with one of the best transfer portal classes in the country, bringing in Ryan Conwell (Indiana State), John Hugley (Oklahoma), Marcus Foster (Furman) and others. With Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter finally healthy and ready to make an impact, the Musketeers will have veterans across the board. Dayvion McKnight, who led the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, is also set to return and should serve as the main ball-handler alongside Conwell. 

“You think about it, and he and [Tyler] Kolek, now of the Knicks, were at the top of assist-to-turnover ratio last season,” Miller said of McKnight. “To be able to have that experience back and a starting point guard back, Dayvion knows what to expect. He had an excellent offseason and can be an All-Big East performer. 

“As for Ryan Conwell, he can really play. If you were a college basketball fan last year, it was hard to ignore Indiana State, who made it to the final of the NIT against Seton Hall. They won 30 games for a reason. His ability to make 3s at a high rate and be efficient is special. He really lets the game come to him and I appreciate that so much. He’s a great playmaker and has a really bright future. I’m excited for him to play on our stage, the Big East stage. A lot of people will get to know him this year and deservedly so.”

Kam Jones sets aim on authoring an All-American season and leading Marquette back to the Big Dance

Coming off the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in over a decade, the Golden Eagles lost Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, but are still a preseason top-20 team. That’s a testament to what Shaka Smart, who has won 56 games over the last two seasons, including a Big East regular-season and tournament title, has built in Milwaukee. 

The headliner this season is FOX Sports Preseason Third-Team All-American Kam Jones, who averaged 17.2 points per game last year. Smart unveiled Wednesday that Jones, who averaged 2.4 assists per contest last season, is going to do a lot more than just score this season.

“I’m going to give you guys something that nobody really knows: he’s a better passer than you think,” Smart said of Jones. “You’re going to see this year a really dynamic playmaker in Kam Jones. Remember, Tyler [Kolek] was out for some time at the end of last season, and we got to see it. Kam had 30 points and nine assists at Xavier and that gave you a sense that he could score and distribute at the same time. You will see a guy who will be one of the best guards in college basketball.”

Doubt the Pirates at your own risk

Last year, Seton Hall was picked to finish ninth in the Big East preseason poll. The Pirates proceeded to beat UConn and Marquette and go 13-7 in the league with a top-four finish. This season? The coaches hold The Hall in even lower regard, picking them 10th in the league. 

Yes, the Pirates only return two impactful players in fifth-year senior Dylan Addae-Wusu and sophomore Isaiah Coleman. But Shaheen Holloway has won 42 games in his first two years on the job with the Pirates, the most by a coach in his first two years in program history. He also led Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight in 2022. Doesn’t he deserve a bit more respect? 

“It is what it is. People got time to sit around and pick other people’s teams. It’s kind of nuts,” Holloway said. “I’m not worried about nobody else. You know me, I don’t really care if we’re picked first or last. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s preseason. I just care about my team. 

“You know me, you know my teams, we get better as the year goes on. So, right now, I’m not happy where we are, but I think we’re going to be really good. I think we have a chance.”

The Pirates brought in length and versatility in the form of Ohio State transfer Scotty Middleton, Boston College transfer Prince Aligbe, and a quality mid-major guard in Chaunce Jenkins (Old Dominion). And don’t sleep on Providence transfer Garwey Dual. The reigning NIT champions have a coach and motivated pieces in place to prove doubters wrong again.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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