You name it, they more than likely accomplished it in their four-year journeys. 
 
The BIG EAST’s all-time leading scorer and the pride of Marquette. A 2,000-plus point scorer and Seton Hall’s first AP All-American First Team selection since 1953. A performer who put Hinkle Magic on display every chance he could, defining “clutch” time and again, all while on the journey to being named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year in his final season. A swiss army knife for the Providence Friars who Ed Cooley said was “the heart and soul of the program,” all while scoring nearly 1,600 points. A double-double machine for Xavier, one whose career featured an Elite Eight run and the best season from a Musketeer post player since that of David West. 
 
These are just five members of a loaded senior class out of the conference - Marquette’s Markus Howard, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell, Butler’s Kamar Baldwin, Providence’s Alpha Diallo and Xavier’s Tyrique Jones - all who thrilled the world of college basketball and performed at the highest of levels this season. 
 
Powell and Howard have led many national storylines, both as Associated Press and USBWA All-American First Team selections, marking the first time in a decade that the Big East has had two first teamers. There are more accomplishments than one can count. Perhaps the best way to pay tribute to them at this juncture is to use the words of opposing coaches earlier this season.



“Myles is one of the great players I’ve ever seen in college basketball,” said Michigan State’s Tom Izzo of Powell.
 
“Markus Howard’s not walking through these doors again. There won’t ever be one truly like him,” said Purdue’s Matt Painter. 
 
Both players are generational talents, Mount Rushmore candidates and the perfect examples in the NCAA of maximizing a four-year college career. 
 
Baldwin made the most of any and all big moments. This year alone, he willed Butler past Minnesota in the Gavitt Games, delivered a game-winner over Stanford in the Hall of Fame Classic, lifted the Dawgs from the dead to force overtime and beat Marquette and hit a buzzer-beating, game-winning three against Villanova. It was only fitting that in what would be his final collegiate game, Baldwin saved his best for last against a rival. The senior put on a master class, scoring a career-high 36 points and a cold-blooded game-winner as the Bulldogs edged Xavier at the Cintas Center. 
 
“He’s as good as any player in the country,” said Musketeers head coach Travis Steele of Baldwin after the game.
 
Indianapolis Star beat reporter David Woods says it best of Baldwin: “He’s the Mariano Rivera of the BIG EAST.” 
 
High praise, but the tape of Baldwin clutch shots seems endless. 
 
You know what else is endless? Ed Cooley’s amount of inspirational quotes. 
 
“He always knows what to say,” Alpha Diallo said earlier this season. That may not be more true than in the way Cooley speaks about his senior, Diallo. 
 
“If we can bottle that up and recruit that, it’s everything I could ask for in a player,” Cooley said of Diallo. 
 
Like Baldwin, Diallo bottled up his very best for last as well. The Friars went from being an after-thought in the NCAA Tournament conversation to getting on the right side of every bubble projection, reeling off six consecutive wins to end the season, finishing fourth in the BIG EAST. 
 
On the six-game surge, Diallo averaged 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. 
 
“We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could play the Providence Basketball we knew we were capable of,” said sophomore AJ Reeves of his team’s late surge. “That started with our senior class and their mentality.” 
 
For Diallo, one of six in a stacked class, they went out in winning fashion. 
 
Entering this college basketball season, it had been a while since a Xavier player averaged a double-double. The Musketeers have always been known for a physical, gritty pedigree but it was not since 2003, when future NBA champion David West averaged a double-double, that Xavier had a presence that consistent with those numbers. 
 
Seventeen years later, Tyrique Jones has etched his name in history. Leading the BIG EAST and standing third in the nation with 21 double-doubles on the season, Jones finished with 14.0 points and 11.1 boards per game. 
 
If there’s anyone who knows what it takes to achieve that workrate, it’s Patrick Ewing. 
 
“He plays with a level of effort and energy that’s special,” said the Georgetown head coach earlier this season. “He’s just a great player.” 
 
Jones’ career was filled with achievements from the get-go, as he started all four NCAA Tournament games as a freshman on the Musketeers’ Elite Eight run in 2016. 
 
Entering this final season, Travis Steele laid it out to the Bloomfield, Connecticut, native in a one-on-one chat.
 
“I told him he could be the best rebounder in the country if he wanted to be,” said Steele. 
 
Jones took those words and turned them into results. 
 
The common thread for these five seniors. Their success goes beyond “individual” achievements. It bred team success, with all five coming from programs that won 18 or more games this season and were in line for an NCAA Tournament ticket. 
 
Their journeys didn’t end the way anyone would wish for them to, but that does not mean the BIG EAST seniors should be remembered any less. Powell may have put it best. 
 
“Coming back as a senior, I set out to make the most of it and achieve everything possible. I don’t think you can do much more than what was done up until our season being cut short.”
 
That can be said of the group. 
 
Here’s to the seniors, who all left their marks.