-Big East Media Days: Cards in the spotlight/Pitino & Boeheim have war of words
Louisville is the runaway choice to win the 2012-13 Big East title in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll, which was released on Wednesday morning prior to the league’s annual media day event in New York City. And For the first time in Big East Conference history, a Louisville player Peyton Siva has been tabbed as the league’s Preseason Player of the Year.
Our Cardinals received 14 first-place votes and a total of 196 points. The league’s head coaches do not place their own teams on their ballots, so the other first-place vote, cast by Rick Pitino, went to Notre Dame.
There are 15 Big East basketball teams, but since Uconn is banned from the post season only 14 will play in the Big East Tournament.
-2012-13 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Louisville (14) 196
2. Syracuse 175
3. Notre Dame (1) 166
4. Cincinnati 152
5. Georgetown 136
6. Pittsburgh 132
7. Marquette 121
8. USF 96
9. Connecticut 83
10. St. John’s 73
11. Rutgers 63
12. Villanova 61
13. DePaul 48
14. Seton Hall 42
15. Providence 31
Below are the Preseason All-Big East teams:
-2012-13 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Siva on the Big East: “The Big East is special. There’s nothing like playing in the Big East Tournament.”
Siva on the quality of the Big East: “Providence is picked 16th (sic) and they smacked us by 31 last year.”
-2012-13 BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year
Steven Adams, Pittsburgh
-2012-13 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6-4, 221, White Plains, N.Y.
Otto Porter, Georgetown, F, So., 6-8, 205, Sikeston, Mo.
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville, C, Jr., 6-10, 225, Dakar, Senegal
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame, F, Sr., 6-9, 244, Glenview, Ill.
Vincent Council, Providence, G, Sr., 6-2, 180, Brooklyn, N.Y.
-2012-13 Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut, G, Jr., 6-1, 171, Roxbury, Mass.
Cleveland Melvin, DePaul, F, Jr., 6-8, 208, Baltimore, Md.
D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s, G, So., 6-3, 202, Missouri City, Texas
Anthony Collins, USF, So., G, 6-1, 175, Houston, Texas
Brandon Triche, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6-4, 205, Jamesville, N.Y.
-2012-13 Preseason BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Chane Behanan, Louisville, F, So., 6-7, 250, Cincinnati, Ohio
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, G, Jr., 6-5, 185, Bowie, Md.
Tray Woodall, Pittsburgh, G, Sr., 5-11, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
C.J. Fair, Syracuse, F, Jr., 6-8, 212, Baltimore, Md.
Perhaps the biggest news out of the Media Days event was the war of words between Coach Pitino and Jim Boeheim. The two Hall of Famers got into a friendly war of words over the question of whether Memphis and Temple could replace Cuse and Pitt in the Big East. Rick says yes, but Jim says no.
Boeheim: “Rick’s full of shit if that’s what he really said,” “If he was in the Big 12 right now like he wanted to be, he’d being saying the Big 12 is the best. That’s the bottom line.”
“The only thing I’ll say about what Rick said all summer is that if Louisville could have left they would have left,” “Everybody knows it and I’m really tired of him saying what Syracuse should be or should have done because they would have left in a heartbeat. Everybody knows it.” “I don’t mind him denying that fact, but when they start talking about Syracuse, I’m going to start talking about them.”
Pitino: “I think he’s full of shit, and so we’re both full of it,” ”I think without question Temple and Memphis…Look, we’re going to miss Syracuse because they bring more than just a team. They bring the fans and Memphis and Temple can’t do that.” “But anybody who looks at where Memphis has been in the last 10-12 years, anybody who looks at the tradition of Temple and knows Franny Dunphy, would know I’m not full of shit.” “If Temple played Syracuse 10 times right now, one’s gonna win six and the other’s gonna four. Syracuse and Pitt are two great teams.”
“I think [Boeheim] is full of shit. I’ve worked with Jim, I don’t always agree with him.”
(Quotes Courtesy of SNYtv & Props to @AdamZagoria for landing all the “full of shit” quotes. His story is great! ZagsBlog )
Good stuff! And looking forward to watching Pitino take it to Cuse this season. Hope we send them out in style.