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Just five weeks ago, the Big East was on top of the college basketball world again following Villanova’s upset of North Carolina in Houston. This week in Chicago could determine if the new league will have another March breakthrough or take a step back in the fourth season since it was reconfigured amid nationwide realignment.
That’s because the NBA Draft Combine will begin Wednesday, and for the first time it will include prospects who could return to school under new rules that allow them until 10 days after the combine ends to pull out of the draft. In the past the cutoff date was late April. The Big East will be front and center, with what would arguably be the league’s three best players next year — Seton Hall’s Isaiah Whitehead, Villanova’s Josh Hart and Providence’s Ben Bentil — competing to see where they stand in this year’s draft class.
“There’s no doubt there’s a lot hanging in the balance for the Big East,” CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein said in a phone interview. “Out of those three players, I think all three are pretty much up in the air.”
The decisions of the three underclassmen, all first team All-Big East selections who played in the NCAA Tournament and are considered borderline firstround picks, could have seismic implications for the league.
If the well-rounded Hart returns, Villanova would be considered a legitimate contender to repeat as national champions, Rothstein believes. Seton Hall would likely be ranked in the top 15 with Whitehead, who some felt should’ve beaten out Providence’s Kris Dunn for Big East Player of the Year and led the Pirates to their first Big East Tournament crown since 1993. And Providence, despite losing Dunn, could remain in the top half of the conference with the multi-skilled 6foot-9 Bentil, who was arguably its best player a season ago, averaging a Big East-leading 21.1 points per game.
The new rules put coaches in a precarious position, waiting until the end of May to know their full rosters. It makes it difficult to recruit to replace a major player in limbo, because of the unknown.
“You’re in a tough situation, but at the same time, our goal is to make sure these kids leave us and they’re successful,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. “I’m going out there to support Isaiah and hope he plays his best.”