NEW YORK - When the re-modeled BIG EAST Conference debuted in the 2013-14 season there were plenty of doubters who questioned whether the Conference could live up to its prestigious name or storied history.
Gone were familiar marquee powerhouses Syracuse, UConn, Pittsburgh and Louisville.
In their places in a reduced 10-team conference were less familiar names like Creighton, Xavier and Butler.
But just five years later the questions have ceased and the skeptics have turned into believers and fans, as the BIG EAST has been a highlight reel of milestones.
“The results have spoken for themselves, “ said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman at the annual BIG EAST basketball media day on the floor of Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
“All of the things that our presidents were hoping for early have come to be,” said Ackerman. “The BIG EAST has remained a destination for the best players in the country. I think we all very satisfied with how things have progressed.”
* Villanova has won the NCAA title two of the last three seasons in 2015-16, and 2017-18.
* In the 2018 NBA Draft, Villanova had three first-round selections – Mikal Bridges (10), Donte DiVencenzo (17) and Omari Spellman (30). In total five BIG EAST players were taken in the 2018 Draft.
* In the 2017 NBA Draft the BIG EAST had two first round choices. Since 2014 there have been eight first-round selections out of the BIG EAST.
* Altogether since 2014, 16 BIG EAST players have been taken in the NBA Draft.
* The partnership of the world’s most famous arena Madison Square Garden as the home of the BIG EAST conference men’s tournament at 36 years is the longest running relationship in college basketball and is signed through the 2026 tournament.
*The steady and proven leadership of Commissioner Val Ackerman has guided the BIG EAST through the last five years with new programs like BIG EAST Serves and Freshman Fundamentals.
*An expanding TV broadcast lineup on FOX Sports, the league’s television partner for the sixth consecutive season. Highlights this year include 13 league games and the men’s tournament. CBS Sports will also telecast three games.
“I was one of the skeptics,” admitted Villanova coach Jay Wright, the dean of conference coaches in his 17
th season with the Wildcats. .
“The only reason I was a doubter and skeptic was that I had experienced the old BIG EAST, I had grown up with it and had so much respect for it. There is nothing like the old BIG EAST. There will not be.
“But what we are right now is the best college basketball conference in the country, the league that is most committed to college basketball, the league that has the most top to bottom equality and that is why I think it is the best. Change is inevitable and we have come out of this better than I thought we would.”
Last year the BIG EAST sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament. The previous seven teams in the Big Dance.
“I am not surprised by how well it is doing, “ said St. John’s coach Chris Mullin, who helped create the legacy of the old BIG EAST with his legendary battles against Patrick Ewing and Georgetown during his playing days. “It’s a phenomenal league to play in. From top to bottom it is better than it was. It is a very competitive league
“I am also not surprised by the doubters. A lot of people live their lives in pessimism and that’s their problem,” said Mullin.
“Doubters will doubt all their lives, that is on them.”
Success on the basketball floor is fleeting according to Ackerman so she does not dwell much on the triumphs of the past. She has her eyes turned forward and with continued improvements to playing and practice facilities in member schools and lots of promising underclassmen dotting rosters, the future is looking bright.
“Sentiments are changing, the naysayers have really been quieted. It doesn’t mean that we are standing still, if you stand still you will be left behind,” said Ackerman.