{"id":338644,"date":"2025-10-28T15:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/338644\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:30:25","slug":"big-east-laying-roots-in-new-york-city-as-st-johns-preps-for-new-golden-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/338644\/","title":{"rendered":"Big East laying roots in New York City as St. John\u2019s preps for new golden era"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Rick\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Rick Pitino (Dylan Christie\/AMNY)<\/p>\n

The Big East continues to secure its roots in the Big Apple.\n<\/p>\n

One of college basketball\u2019s premier conferences is locked in at Madison Square Garden through 2032, the league office is moving to the Empire State Building, and the preseason poll put St. John\u2019s at No. 1 with UConn next. Now it\u2019s about who proves it on 33rd St.\u00a0<\/p>\n

League commissioner Val Ackerman has made New York City a focal point of her vision. She said the Big East Tournament will remain at MSG for at least the next seven years, which will help mark the event\u2019s 50th anniversary in the building. \u201cWe believe the Big East<\/a> Tournament at Madison Square Garden is the best event of its kind in college basketball,\u201d she said, calling it \u201ca staple on the New York City sports calendar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also confirmed the conference will move its headquarters to the Empire State Building by year\u2019s end, keeping the league\u2019s biggest week and its day-to-day footprint in midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Ackerman\u2019s look back set up the local stakes. Last season, St. John\u2019s clinched its first outright regular-season men\u2019s title in 40 years and its first Big East Tournament crown since 2000. The city will expect to see that standard again in this building.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s team is No. 1<\/b><\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s is the local headliner and the league\u2019s early target. They\u2019re ranked No. 5 in the country in the AP poll and first in the Big East preseason poll with seven first-place votes and 97 points, both being their highest preseason rankings in program history. The awards match it: Senior forward Zuby Ejiofor is the Preseason Player of the Year, while new transfers Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, Dillon Mitchell, and Joson Sanon were recognized across All-Big East teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside MSG, St. John\u2019s message was about improving as a team, not headlines.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really think about preseason rankings or talk about it a lot. We have something to work towards,\u201d Ejiofor said. That tone fits what this market expects: a team that treats Madison Square Garden like a palace to defend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rick Pitino framed the Garden\u2019s impact in numbers.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSt. John\u2019s was playing six, seven games a year, and they were averaging 5,000 to 6,000 people. So they were bleeding financially,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we\u2019re getting 19,000 people and they\u2019re making money.\u201d <\/p>\n

That is relevance you can count on, and it changes everything from recruiting to how often the team becomes part of the city\u2019s week. The new Johnnies even feel the building differently. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis arena has crazy history. You just see it all over, you feel it when you step inside of here,\u201d guard Oziyah Sellers said. \u201cI\u2019m just excited to play home games in here.\u201d <\/p>\n

The real assignment for the No. 5-ranked team: turn the atmosphere and the attendance into habits and wins.\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nHuskies eye the Garden<\/b><\/p>\n

UConn opened at No. 2 in the Big East preseason poll with four first-place votes. The conversation kept circling around the brewing rivalry between the Huskies and St. John\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Head coach Dan Hurley took the long view. Rankings are noise in October. Rivalries, he said, are built on real stakes.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPreseason polls are pretty meaningless. I don\u2019t even do mine,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cIt\u2019s great for college basketball to have rivalries. You need programs that are legitimately top-five or top-ten caliber. It\u2019s the only way you can have a rivalry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guard Solo Ball leaned into what the last couple of seasons have felt like against St. John\u2019s.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been real competitive,\u201d he said, \u201cand seeing the rivalry grow into what it is now and what it can become is electric.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Rick Pitino answered from the other sideline with a coach\u2019s reset. One opponent, he said, does not define their schedule. \u201cI don\u2019t consider Connecticut any more of a rival than Villanova or Providence or Marquette or Creighton or any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Around the league \/ New faces<\/b><\/p>\n

Fresh voices are coming into the city this season. Villanova turns to Kevin Willard, who returns to the conference as head coach. Richard Pitino takes over at Xavier, with a family-reunion date circled in New York later this winter.<\/p>\n

Creighton offered the reminder that continuity still wins here. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in the top four in this league nine years in a row,\u201d coach Greg McDermott said. \u201cIf you\u2019re competing for conference titles into February and early March, the NCAA stuff takes care of itself. We play in a league that is strong enough that if you do well, you\u2019re going to be rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Preseason snapshot<\/b><\/p>\n

NYC dates to know<\/b>\n<\/p>\n