As Stu Jackson walked up the tunnel at the Crisler Center on Tuesday evening, he felt the vibration of his iPhone and went to pull it out of his pocket. The BIG EAST Executive Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball looked at his home screen and found a message in thee coaches’ group chat from UConn head coach Dan Hurley.
“Dan doesn’t message a whole lot in this group chat,” said Jackson, who then smiled. “This is really something.”
Hurley was messaging the rest of the league’s coaches congratulating Shaka Smart, Ed Cooley, Greg McDermott and Kevin Willard on their four wins to begin the 2021 Gavitt Games. Even though the Huskies are not involved in this year’s BIG EAST - Big Ten conference challenge, Hurley still sent something in the group chat.
It really begs the question: How many leagues around college sports would you see coaches be so supportive of teams they’re going to be out to beat the heck out of from December through March?
The same vibe could be felt Monday after Cooley’s Providence team edged Wisconsin, 63-58, snapping a Badgers’ 23-game winning streak at the Kohl Center in the process. Cooley entered the press conference room, and while talking to reporters on zoom, he found out Marquette had defeated No. 10 Illinois, 67-66.
“That just made my day even better,” said Cooley upon finding out the news of the upset victory. “Go Shaka! I love the BIG EAST, so good for us. Good for us!”
It was raw, and real.
Creighton and Seton Hall kept the momentum rolling on Tuesday evening, as the Bluejays won at Nebraska 77-69 while the Pirates rallied from 11 points down in the second half to beat No. 4 Michigan, 67-65. The victory for The Hall marked the program’s first win over a top-five non-conference opponent on the road in its 118-year history.
After the game, Willard was asked about the league’s pedigree early on in the season. He went big picture, putting things in perspective for the basketball-central conference and the coaches’ relationships with each other.
“I’ll tell you what’s really cool about this league, and I give Jay Wright all of the credit,” said Willard. “He stood up in our first coaches meeting nine years ago and said, ‘hey guys, if we’re going to make this work, we’ve all got to root for each other. We’ve got to stand by each other.”
“It really is a nice brotherhood,” he added. “We have some new guys. Shaka (Smart) is new and Stubbs (DePaul’s Tony Stubblefield) is new. The league is really good, which is scary, because I don’t want to play in December against these guys. But I’m proud of what all the kids are doing around the league. They’re playing their hearts out. Not only do we have great coaches, but we have great players too.”
It’s one thing to say all that, and it’s another to turn all those words into results. Thus far this week, that’s exactly what the BIG EAST has done, notching two top ten victories and seeing Providence and Seton Hall win at a pair of very difficult places to play.
Wednesday brings on a day of Gavitt Games matchups both coming from the home of the game, Indiana. Michigan State will play at Butler for the first time in 50 years, while two of college basketball’s top ten winningest programs will meet when Indiana hosts St. John’s.
“These games are a great thing for college basketball,” said NCAA Senior Vice President of the sport, Dan Gavitt. “It’s what college basketball fans want, and it’s really what I think players want too. Players that come to programs like these in the BIG EAST and Big Ten, they want to play in high level games.”
“My dad is sitting in front of the TV (up in heaven) with some former coaches watching these all play out. I’m sure he’s enjoying it.”
For the BIG EAST thus far, what’s there not to enjoy? It’s been a dream start against a conference that sent nine teams to the NCAA Tournament last year.