Participants of the 2018 Freshman Fundamentals.
BIG EAST Hosts Fifth Annual Freshmen Fundamentals Program
NEW YORK -- The BIG EAST Conference will host its fifth annual Freshmen Fundamentals program, designed to assist men’s basketball student-athletes make the transition from high school to college and the elite level of BIG EAST basketball, Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball Stu Jackson announced today.
Freshmen Fundamentals will be held in New York City on Sept. 14-15. All scholarship and walk-on freshmen from the league’s 10 schools are invited to attend. Thirty student-athletes are expected to participate.
“We are very excited that our Freshmen Fundamentals program has reached its fifth year,” said Jackson. “Our incoming freshmen players will face many new challenges on and off the court as high-profile athletes in the BIG EAST Conference. Our panelists and presenters for this year’s program will address pertinent topics and lead important discussions. Freshmen Fundamentals helps assist the ongoing efforts of our institutions to give our freshman student-athletes information and practices they can use during college and throughout their lives. It’s a testament to the commitment our men’s basketball programs have to developing the complete student-athlete.”
The Freshmen Fundamentals schedule for Sept. 14 will include a panel of former BIG EAST players: Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono, Seton Hall’s Michael Nzei and Connecticut’s Donny Marshall. Other speakers will be acclaimed experts in media training, relationship management and safety and student-athlete mental health. The freshmen also will hear from former NBA general manager Dell Demps, who will offer his insights on careers in professional basketball.
At the conclusion of the Saturday sessions, the players will visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in lower Manhattan.
On Sunday, the players will tour Madison Square Garden, the home of The BIG EAST Tournament, and will hear a presentation by Jackson on the NCAA/NBA Draft Eligibility process.
The panel of former BIG EAST players will be moderated again by Tarik Turner, a standout St. John’s guard from 1995-98, who has enjoyed a successful business career in finance and currently works for Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading New York investment firm. He also serves as an analyst for BIG EAST games on FOX Sports, the league’s television partner.
Turner will lead a discussion about professional careers after graduation. Arcidiacono plays for the Chicago Bulls after a college career at Villanova that included Most Outstanding Player honors in the 2016 Final Four where the Wildcats won the national championship. Nzei helped Seton Hall to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and was named the outstanding BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete for 2018-19. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in business administration, he immediately went into the business world and accepted a position as a Sales and Trading Analyst at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank and financial services company. From 1991-95, Marshall played at UConn where he was a three-year co-captain and helped the Huskies to three NCAA Tournament bids and two BIG EAST regular-season titles. After a five-year NBA career, Marshall has been a television broadcaster for the past 17 years. He currently serves as a college basketball analyst for FOX Sports.
Demps, a former NBA player and front office administrator, served as the New Orleans Pelicans General Manager from 2010-19. Previously, he was the Director of Pro Personnel for the San Antonio Spurs for five years. Demps played in the NBA for three years after an outstanding collegiate career at the University of Pacific where he is still the school’s second all-time leading scorer. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pacific.
Dr. Alfiee M. Breland-Noble is a sought-after speaker, media personality, researcher and consultant. She will conduct a mental health awareness discussion. Dr. Breland-Noble is an expert in teen, young adult and family mental health. She appears on and collaborates with major television networks, including NBC, PBS, FOX Sports and A&E, Lifetime Television and established print media, including Chronicle of Higher Education and Ebony Magazine, and podcasts. Dr. Breland-Noble is a licensed psychologist and clinical investigator and is recognized nationally as a gifted scientist, public speaker and author.
Kalimah Johnson, founder and executive director of Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing and Awareness (SASHA) in Detroit, Mich., returns to address the group for a session, Relationship Management and Safety. She has worked in the sexual assault and domestic violence field for over 20 years with the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Detroit Police Department and Serenity Services. Johnson graduated from Wayne State University’s School of Social Work with a master’s degree specializing in mental health and community organizing.
The media training session will be conducted by Dave Popkin, who has been a radio commentator for Seton Hall basketball for the past 16 years. A versatile sportscaster, he can be seen on CBS Sports Network during the college basketball season and is entering his 20
th season as the broadcast voice of the Northeast Conference. Popkin also has called baseball for the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) and FS1. He has 18 years of experience broadcasting minor league baseball.