If you ask me (and if you are reading this, you implicitly did ask me), the Big East is too big. Not to single out the Big East, but no conference should have 16 teams. It makes for an unbalanced schedule and the bottom feeders of the Big East never see the light of day. Wouldn't some of these teams be better off in a nice high Tier 2 conference? Sadly, that won't happen. The upside is that when you draft your Tier 1 team, some of the quality players in the lower half of the conference might be overlooked. We'll take a closer look at these teams in the first of our two-part Big East Roundup. Let's start at the bottom.
DePaul Blue Demons
In the five years since the Big East expanded, it is clear that DePaul has shown the least ability to adapt. The Blue Demons, who were once a college basketball powerhouse, have only won one conference game over the last two seasons. One could put hope in new coach Oliver Purnell who had a nice run of success at Clemson, but he will need a few years to fill a Blue Demon squad that is bereft of upper class talent. Senior forward Mike Stovall is the leading returning scorer at seven points per game. He did have 30 points in a losing effort against Providence last year, but did not top 19 in any other game. The 2010-11 recruiting class (forwards Cleveland Melvin and Moses Morgan, and guard Brandon Young) has talent, but DePaul will need them to mature quickly.
Providence Friars
After just one season in Providence, coach Keno Davis is starting over. After his stunning success at Drake, Davis found life in the Big East a bit more difficult. Doubling those difficulties, Davis lost his top two scorers and will have to rebuild on the fly. The Friars do have some talent on perimeter returning. Marshawn Brooks scored 14.2 points from the wing and sophomore point guard Vincent Council returns after averaging 10.3 points and 4.5 assists. Freshman Gerard Coleman from Massachusetts should be able to help in the scoring department, but Providence will often be beat up on the interior (although F/C Bilal Dixon could be a factor in leagues requiring a center).
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The Scarlet Knights haven't sniffed the NCAA tournament since 1991. The reign of Fred Hill ended last season. He was able to recruit some promising players, but he couldn't hold onto them. New coach Mike Rice (continuing the Rutgers trend of single-syllable coach names) had success at Robert Morris and will try to swim with the big fish. He has a talented frontcourt in Jonathan Mitchell and sophomore Dane Miller. They could combine for 30 points per game. The problem will be in the backcourt. Mike Coburn and James Beatty shared the point guard role last year, but neither was fantasy relevant.
St. John's Red Storm
Like Rutgers, St. John's is looking to a new coach for hope. No one can argue with Steve Lavin's run at UCLA from 1996 to 2002. He did not miss a Sweet 16 in six straight years, but got fired after one bum season. Lavin spent the intervening years at ESPN and now takes his coach's whistle to the Red Storm. D.J. Kennedy returns and brings a nice all-around game that should whet fantasy owners' appetites. The 6-foot-6 swingman led the team in scoring (15.1 points), rebound (6.1) and passing (3.1 assists). The team also has some returning depth. Justin Burrell and Justin Brownlee will lead the frontcourt as seniors and point guard Malik Boothe hopes to bounce back from a poor junior season.
Connecticut Huskies
Kemba Walker is a player that fantasy owners in keeper leagues can get behind. He spent his first year in the shadow of more prominent players and showed a diverse array of skills in his sophomore year. The 6-foot-1 point guard is not quite good enough to leave early, but should be a progressively productive player. Last year, Walker averaged 14.6 points and 5.3 assists. He'll be the veteran cog in a team that fields an impressive recruiting class, but not much returning talent. Huskie fans will enjoy small forward Roscoe Smith and the team has a lot of size (whether the bigs develop into quality players remains to be seen).
Cincinnati Bearcats
Much the Huskies, the Bearcats return a lot of frontcourt players. Yancy Gates was the most productive of the Bearcat bigs last year. He averaged 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds as a sophomore. Gates will be flanked by former Oklahoma State forward Ibrahima Thomas and Rashad Bishop, which could be one of the better forward trios in the Big East. The big questions surround the backcourt. Cashmere Wright did not look like a top fantasy prospect in his first year after knee surgery. Sophomore Anthony McBride could be a player to watch.
Seton Hall Pirates
We've already discussed the Pirates' two best players, but there is depth on the roster behind Jeremy Hazell and Herb Pope. Kevin Willard takes over as Pirate coach after three years as the head man at Iona. Williard spent ten years as an understudy to Rick Pitino, so his pressing style may fit the talent on the Pirate roster including high flying forward Jeff Robinson. The former Memphis Tiger provided 12.2 points last year. The other player to know is point guard Jordan Theodore, who will not have to compete with Eugene Harvey for minutes this year. Theodore scored in double-digits in four of the last six Pirate games, including back-to-back 21-point efforts against Providence.
South Florida Bulls
The Bulls got some national ink for winning ten of their first 12 games. They also had two winning streaks of four games during Big East play. So, things were looking up for the Bulls. Now, they have to replace Dominique Jones who left after three seasons. South Florida does have a pair of center-eligible players who have upside. Augustus Gilchrist and Jarrid Famous averaged a combined 23.8 points and 13.4 rebounds. Gilchrist, a junior, missed 15 games with an ankle injury. He has been pronounced healthy and should probably be the first Bull off the draft board. The point guard spot will either be taken by freshman Lavonte Dority or juco transfer Shedrick Haynes.