The 2010–11 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 32nd season of competitive basketball played by the Big East Conference, since its inception in 1979, and involved its 16 full-time member schools. The season officially opened on December 27, 2010, when Pittsburgh defeated Connecticut, 78–63, and ended on March 5, 2011, with a 72–56 victory for St. John's over South Florida.
Pittsburgh captured the regular season title for the fourth time, and third outright, with a conference win–loss record of 15–3. The Panthers also received the no. 1 seed in the Big East tournament, and a bye into the quarterfinals, along with 2nd-seed Notre Dame, 3rd-seed Louisville, and 4th-seed Syracuse. St. John's, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Georgetown rounded out the top eight, and all received a bye into the tournament's second round. Play began at noon on Tuesday, March 8 in Madison Square Garden, when 9th-seed Connecticut defeated 16th-seed DePaul, 97–71. Play ended on Saturday, March 12, when Connecticut won their fifth game in five days, defeating Louisville, 69–66, for their seventh Big East Championship.
At the finish of the regular season, prior to seeding for the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, it was widely speculated that the Big East would eclipse its NCAA record 8 bids, sending as many as 11 teams to the tournament. The official tournament selection process took place on Sunday, March 13, and the predictions were accurate, as the following 11 Big East teams received bids into the tournament."2011 NCAA tournament selections". ESPN.com. Published 2011-03-13. Retrieved 2011-03-13. Connecticut won the national title, its third-ever national championship.
Preseason
Coaching changes
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, four Big East programs hired new coaches, following the dismissal or resignation of their former coaches:
DePaul: Jerry Wainwright was fired in the middle of the 2009–10 season, after a 7–8 start, and a 22-game Big East losing streak. Wainwright, who compiled a 59–80 record, and a 20–51 conference record, in five seasons at the school, was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Tracy Webster, who remained with the team until a new head coach was hired.DePaul fires Wainwright in fifth season, ESPN. Retrieved 2010-01-12. On April 6, 2010, Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell was named the 13th head coach of the Blue Demons."DePaul Names Oliver Purnell Men's Basketball Coach" . DePaulBlueDemons.com. Published 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2011-03-07. Rutgers: After a lackluster performance by the Scarlet Knights during his four-year tenure, and a postseason incident at a Pittsburgh—Rutgers baseball game, in which he got into a shouting match with several of the Pittsburgh coaches, Fred Hill resigned his position as head coach on April 19, 2010."Source: Rutgers, Hill settle for $850K". ESPN.com. Published 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2011-03-07. It was reported that Hill had been asked to return for the 2010–11 season, however the shouting incident prompted Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti to ask for Hill's resignation, settling for an $850,000 contract buyout in exchange. On May 6, 2010, Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice Jr. was announced as the 17th head coach of the Scarlet Knights."Mike Rice Named Rutgers University Head Men's Basketball Coach" . ScarletKnights.com. Published 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2011-03-07. Rice came to Rutgers after a successful three-year tenure at Robert Morris, achieving a 73–31 (.702) record, a 46–8 (.852) conference record, and two consecutive Northeast Conference tournament championships, leading to automatic bids into both the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Tournaments. Seton Hall: Bobby Gonzalez was fired on March 17, 2010 after four tumultuous seasons with the Pirates, in which both his on and off court actions were heavily scrutinized."Seton Hall fires embattled Gonzalez". ESPN.com. Published 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2011-03-07. The decision followed Seton Hall's 87–69 loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the 2010 National Invitation Tournament, in which then-sophomore forward Herb Pope was ejected from the game for punching Texas Tech player Darko Cohadarevic in the groin, and Gonzalez himself received his seventh technical foul of the season."Seton Hall ousted from NIT by Texas Tech after Herb Pope's early ejection" . NorthJersey.com. Published 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2011-03-07. In a statement, Seton Hall University president Monsignor Robert Sheeran said he told Gonzalez that he had "lost [his] confidence in [Gonzalez's] ability to coach and lead this program," and had made the decision to fire Gonzalez on his own after consulting members of the campus community. On March 29, 2010, former assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville and Iona head coach Kevin Willard was named the 19th head coach of the Pirates."**KEVIN WILLARD NAMED MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH**" . SHUPirates.com. Published 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-03-07. St. John's: Norm Roberts was fired as head coach on March 19, 2010, after losing its first round NIT game against Memphis, 73–71."St. John's fires Roberts after NIT ouster". ESPN.com. Published 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2011-03-07. Roberts left the team after six seasons, compiling an 81–101 (.445) record, a 32–70 (.314) conference record, and only one winning season. He was replaced on March 31, 2010 by former UCLA head coach (1996–2003) and then-ESPN analyst Steve Lavin."Lavin succeeds Roberts at St. John's". ESPN.com. Published 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
Conference predictions
At Big East media day in October, the conference released their predictions for standings and All-Big East teams."Freeman Selected BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year" . Bigeast.org. Published 10-20-2010. Retrieved 10-21-2010
Predicted Big East results
Big East Coaches"Pittsburgh Chosen As BIG EAST Hoops Favorite" . Bigeast.org. Published 10-20-2010. Retrieved 10-21-2010Big East Writers"Pitt picked to win Big East, Syracuse picked to finish 3rd in Post-Standard's annual preseason writers poll". Syracuse.com. Published 10-19-2010. Retrieved 03-06-2011Rivals.com 1. Pittsburgh (12*) Pittsburgh (10) Pittsburgh 2. Villanova (1) Villanova (3) Villanova 3. Syracuse (2) Syracuse (2) Syracuse 4. Georgetown Georgetown West Virginia 5. West Virginia West Virginia (1) Georgetown 6. St. John's (1) Marquette Marquette 7. Notre Dame St. John's Seton Hall 8. Louisville (tie) Louisville St. John's 9. Marquette (tie) Notre Dame Connecticut 10. Connecticut Connecticut Notre Dame 11. Seton Hall Louisville 12. Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati 13. South Florida South Florida South Florida 14. Providence Rutgers (tie) DePaul 15. Providence (tie) Providence 16. DePaul Rutgers * first place votes
Preseason All-Big East teams
First Team Second Team Honorable MentionAustin Freeman, G., GTWNKemba Walker, G., CONNAshton Gibbs, G., PITTJeremy Hazell, G., HALLCorey Fisher, G., VILLKevin Jones, F., WVUChris Wright, G., GTWNJimmy Butler, F., MARQTim Abromaitis, F., NDD. J. Kennedy, G., SJKris Joseph, F., SYRYancy Gates, F., CINDarius Johnson-Odom, G., MARQRick Jackson, F., SYR
Big East Preseason Player of the Year: Austin Freeman, G., Georgetown Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year: Fab Melo, C., Syracuse
Preseason national polls
AP Coaches Athlon Lindy's Sporting NewsSounds crazy, but Duke must address some issues , Sporting News, retrieved October 26, 2010 Fox SportsPreseason Top 25: Duke a clear No. 1 , Fox Sports, retrieved October 26, 2010 CBS SportsFinal preseason Top 25 (and one): It's the work of the Devils, CBS Sports, retrieved October 30, 2010Rivals.com Blue Ribbon Yearbook Cincinnati Connecticut RV DePaul Georgetown 20 21 17 17 Louisville RV Marquette RV Notre Dame Pittsburgh 5 4 8 5 10 6 5 4 4 Providence Rutgers St. John's Seton Hall South Florida Syracuse 10 13 9 21 7 20 20 8 13 Villanova 6 6 6 13 11 7 9 7 6 West Virginia RV RV 19 23
Watchlists On October 4, the Wooden Award preseason watch list included seven Big East players. The watchlist was composed of 50 players who were not transfers, freshmen or medical redshirts. On October 29, the Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist of 50 players was announced, which included seven Big East names. WoodenNaismith Corey Fisher, VILL Austin Freeman, GTWN Ashton Gibbs, PITT Jeremy Hazell, HALL Kevin Jones, WVU Kris Joseph, SYR Brandon Triche, SYR Kemba Walker, CONN
Regular season
Season summary & highlights
Pittsburgh won the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, defeating Texas in the finals, 68–66.Ashton Gibbs helps Pitt hold off Texas for Coaches vs. Cancer title, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14 Georgetown won the Charleston Classic, defeating North Carolina State, 82–67.Georgetown pulls away from North Carolina State to win Charleston Classic, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14 Connecticut won the Maui Invitational Tournament, upsetting #2 Michigan State in the semifinals, 70–67, and #8 Kentucky in the finals, 84–67.Kemba Walker's 30 points power Huskies past second-ranked Spartans, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14Kemba Walker scores 29 points as UConn upsets Kentucky, wins Maui Invitational, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14 The wins propelled Connecticut from receiving votes in the AP Poll on November 22 to a #7 ranking on the next poll date, November 29. St. John's won the Great Alaska Shootout, defeating Arizona State, 67–58."St. John's wins crown at Great Alaska Shootout". ESPN.com. Published 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2010-12-14. Notre Dame won the Old Spice Classic, defeating Wisconsin, 58–51.Notre Dame rallies to beat Wisconsin for Old Spice Classic title, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14 Syracuse won the Legends Classic, defeating Georgia Tech, 80–76.Syracuse outlasts Georgia Tech to win Legends Classic in Atlantic City, ESPN, retrieved 2010-12-14 On February 23, Providence's Marshon Brooks scored 52 points in a loss to Notre Dame, breaking the Big East single-game record of 48 points set by Providence's Eric Murdock in 1991. In February, following the result of an investigation into recruiting violations, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was suspended by the NCAA for three Big East games during the 2011–12 season."Jim Calhoun to be suspended in 2011–12" ESPN.com. Published 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-03-06. The investigation began after a March 2009 Yahoo! Sports report that a former team manager and agent provided former recruit Nate Miles with housing, transportation, meals and representation, that members of Calhoun's staff were aware of this, and that staff members were in violation of NCAA limits on contacting Miles. Dennis Thomas, chairman of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, stated that Calhoun was cited for "not being on top of these issues with the agent, the booster." The team will also be required to forfeit one scholarship, from 13 to 12, and 40 recruiting days, from 130 to 90, for the three upcoming seasons, and will be on probation until February 21, 2014. On March 5, Providence's Marshon Brooks scored 28 points in a regular season-ending win over Rutgers, giving him 468 points for the Big East regular season, breaking the previous single-season record of 462 points set in 1994 by Donyell Marshall of Connecticut. On the same day, Syracuse beat DePaul by 48 points, 107–59, in the most lopsided victory in the history of Big East conference play."Syracuse clinches double-bye for Big East tournament". ESPN.com. Published 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-03-06. The Orange also had 12 players combine for 71.4 percent field goal shooting, as well as 77.8 percent from 3-point range and 90.9 percent at the foul line.
Midseason watchlists