2001–02 Big East Conference men's basketball season

The 2001–02 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 23rd in conference history, and involved its 14 full-time member schools.

Connecticut was the regular-season champion of the East Division with a record of , and Pittsburgh won the West Division, also with a record of . Connecticut won the Big East tournament championship.

Season summary & highlights For the second season, the Big East used a divisional structure, with an East Division and a West Division, each composed of seven teams. The divisional structure lasted through the 2002–03 season. Connecticut won the East Division regular-season championship with a record of . It was Connecticut's seventh regular-season championship or co-championship. It also was Connecticut's third division championship or co-championship and second outright division title.Under an earlier Big East divisional structure Connectiut won two outright Big East 6 Division championships, in the 1995–96 and 1997–98 season. Pittsburgh won the West Division regular-season championship with a record of . It was Pittsburgh's third conference championship or co-championship and first division title. Connecticut won its fifth Big East tournament championship. St. John's later had 14 of its regular-season wins this season vacated due to sanctions imposed on the program for the use of an ineligible player.

Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Al Skinner 5th Connecticut Jim Calhoun 16th Georgetown Craig Esherick 4th Miami Perry Clark 2nd Notre Dame Mike Brey 2nd Pittsburgh Ben Howland 3rd Big East Coach of the Year Providence Tim Welsh 4th Rutgers Gary Waters 1st St. John's Mike Jarvis 4th Seton Hall Louis Orr 1st Syracuse Jim Boeheim 26th Villanova Jay Wright 1st Virginia Tech Ricky Stokes 3rd West Virginia Gale Catlett 24th Retired March 2, 2002

Rankings Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse spent time in the Associated Press poll Top 25 during the season. Pittsburgh finished at No. 9, Connecticut at No. 10, and Miami at No. 21.

+ 2001–02 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/19 11/26 12/3 12/10 12/17 12/24 12/31 1/7 1/14 1/21 1/28 2/4 2/11 2/18 2/25 3/4 FinalBoston College 17 17 15 13 11 10 11 11 16 Connecticut 25 17 23 19 10 Georgetown 14 16 18 19 18 16 20 24 Miami 24 21 21 24 22 15 12 13 17 22 20 21 Notre Dame Pittsburgh 23 21 14 11 10 7 9 Providence Rutgers St. John's Seton Hall Syracuse 21 18 12 9 13 18 18 16 12 8 12 14 23 Villanova Virginia Tech West Virginia

Regular-season statistical leaders

ScoringNameSchoolPPG Troy Bell BC 21.6 Preston Shumpert Syr 20.7 Caron Butler Conn 20.3 Marcus Hatten SJU 20.1 Michael Sweetney GU 19.0

ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Ryan Humphrey ND 10.9 Rashod Kent RU 10.2 Michael Sweetney GU 10.0 Brooks Sales Vill 9.1 Emeka Okafor Conn 9.0

AssistsNameSchoolAPG Chris Thomas ND 7.6 Brandin Knight Pitt 7.2 John Salmons Mia 6.1 Kevin Braswell GU 5.8 Taliek Brown Conn 5.1

StealsNameSchoolSPG John Linehan Prov 4.5 Marcus Hatten SJU 3.3 James Thues SJU 2.8 Kevin Braswell GU 2.7 Darius Lane SHU 2.4

BlocksNameSchoolBPG Emeka Okafor Conn 4.1 Ryan Humphrey ND 2.8 James Jones Mia 2.4 Wesley Wilson GU 2.3 Rashod Kent RU 1.8

Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% GU .567 Ryan Gomes Prov .559 Chris Moss WVU .542 Ricky Wright Vill .528 Ryan Humphrey ND .489

3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG% Brian Chase VT .423 Gary Buchanan Vill .423 Darius Lane SHU .389 Brandon Knight Pitt .356 RU .346

Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Gary Buchanan Vill .911 Chris Thomas ND .889 Troy Bell BC .883 Jonathan Hargett WVU .881 John Salmons Mia .842

Postseason

Big East tournament

Seeding Two teams — the seventh-place finishers in each division based on conference record, after the application of tiebreakers as necessary — did not qualify for the Big East Tournament. The remaining six teams in each division were seeded No. 1 through No. 6 by division based on conference record, again applying tiebreakers as necessary. Four teams — the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each division — received a bye into the quarterfinal round. Eight teams — the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds in each division — played in the first round. In the first round the No. 3 East seed played the No. 6 West seed, the No. 4 East seed played the No. 5 West seed, the No. 5 East seed played the No. 4 West seed, and the No. 6 East seed played the No. 3 West seed.

Seeding in the East Division was and Seeding in the West Division was and The two seventh-place finishers that did not qualify for the tournament were Virginia Tech in the East Division and West Virginia in the West Division.

Bracket

NCAA tournament

Six Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Boston College, Miami, and St. John's lost in the first round and Notre Dame in the second round. Pittsburgh lost in the South Region semifinals an Connecticut in the East Region final.

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Connecticut East 2 Pittsburgh South 3 Notre Dame South 8 Miami West 5 St. John's East 9 Boston College Midwest 11

National Invitation Tournament

Four Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Three teams accepted their bids and played in three of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Rutgers lost in the first round and Villanova in the quarterfinals. Syracuse was defeated in the semifinals.

Georgetown declined its NIT bid. Head coach Craig Esherick explained his controversial decision by saying that Georgetowns home court, the MCI Center, was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the western United States for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule during the previous season in the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NCAA Tournament would have been worth it because of the chance to win a national championship, but that missing them to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetowns players.Horn, David, "Georgetown's Esherick the Class Act of March," The Michigan Daily, March 13, 2002. Georgetown became only the second team in history to turn down an NIT bid, and the first to do so since Louisville turned down an invitation to the 1987 NIT.

School Opening round Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Syracuse Bye Villanova Bye Rutgers Bye Georgetown Declined bid

Awards and honors Big East Conference Co-Players of the Year: Caron Butler, Connecticut, F, So. Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr. Defensive Player of the Year: John Linehan, Providence, G, Sr. Rookie of the Year: Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr. Most Improved Player: Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr. Coach of the Year: Ben Howland, Pittsburgh (3rd season)

All-Big East First Team Caron Butler, Connecticut, F, So., , , Racine, Wis. Preston Shumpert, Syracuse, F, Sr., , , Muncie, Ind. Marcus Hatten, St. John's, G, Jr., , , Baltimore, Md. Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G, Jr., , , East Orange, N.J. Ryan Humphrey, Notre Dame, F, Sr., , , Tulsa, Okla. Michael Sweetney, Georgetown, F, So., , , Oxon Hill, Md. Troy Bell, Boston College, G, Jr., , , Minneapolis, Minn.

All-Big East Second Team: Darius Rice, Miami, F, So., , , Jackson, Miss. John Salmons, Miami, G, Sr., , , Plymouth Meeting, Pa. John Linehan, Providence, G, Sr., , , Chester, Pa. Rashod Kent, Rutgers, F, Sr., , , Fairmont, W.Va. Ricky Wright, Villanova, F, Jr., , , East Chicago, Ind.

All-Big East Third Team: James Jones, Miami, F, Jr.., , , Miami, Fla. Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr., , , Indianapolis, Ind. Kevin Braswell, Georgetown, G, Sr., , , Baltimore, Md. Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, Fr., , , Houston, Tex. Deshaun Williams, Syracuse, G, Jr., , , Paterson, N.J. Chris Moss, West Virginia, F, Sr., , , Chesterfield, Va.

Big East All-Rookie Team: Ben Gordon, Connecticut, G, Fr., , , Mount Vernon, N.Y. Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, Fr., , , Houston, Tex. Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, Fr., , , Indianapolis, Ind. Ryan Gomes, Providence, F, Fr., , , Waterbury, Conn. John Allen, Seton Hall, F, Fr., , , Coatesville, Pa.

All-Americans The following players were selected to the 2002 Associated Press All-America teams.

Third Team All-America: Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 15.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 7.2 apg, 2.3 spg, 42.7 FG%, 35.6 3P%, 546 points

AP Honorable Mention Troy Bell, Boston College Caron Butler, Connecticut John Linehan, Providence Preston Shumpert, Syracuse

Notes

See also 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 2001–02 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 2001–02 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 2001–02 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 2001–02 Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team 2001–02 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team 2001–02 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 2001–02 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team 2001–02 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

References