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Here and There in Friartown

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It has been another very busy week in Friartown with the release of  the 2014-2015 schedule on Tuesday and the annual season ticket holder appreciation outing on Thursday. Here are some opinions and thoughts on the latest happenings in Friartown.

  • It was great to see Stu Jackson back on campus during the annual season ticket holder outing. He is going to be a fantastic addition to the Big East Conference office.
  • One of the things Jackson said during the taping of the Ed Cooley radio show was that the Big East is in no hurry to expand to 12 or more teams and that it may be very beneficial to wait and see what the fallout is from the football realignment. His thinking is that there could be some colleges with big time basketball programs that may be looking to get out of the football business or at least downgrade their football programs. I can see his point. Going forward it will be much easier for a conference like the Big East with their current TV revenues to match whatever additional benefits the power five conferences give to their basketball players than it would be for a conference like the American or Mountain West to to match these new additional benefits for their football players. These conferences would have to supply these benefits to 85 football players without the large dollars coming from TV revenues. Schools like Connecticut and Memphis may be looking to downgrade their football programs and find a new basketball home in a couple of years if they are not picked up by a power five football conference.
  • I had a very nice time at the season ticket holder’s outing. There is an unbelievably positive buzz in the air surrounding this program that is very refreshing. The event keeps growing with this year’s attendance topping 1,200. In a few years they may have to rent out the Dunk for the season ticket holder event.
  • Don’t look now, but with the commitment of ESPN Top 100 power forward Alex Owens to PC this is the fourth straight year that at least one ESPN Top 100 player has committed to the Friars. I would say the recruiting tide has definitely turned for the program.
  • Each year Dave Maron and his crew do an outstanding job of hosting the National Prep School Invitational at Rhode Island College. This year’s tournament will be extra special as the consensus number one player in high school basketball, Thon Maker, will be playing in three games during the tournament with his new team, Athlete’s Institute (Canada). The Prep School Invitational takes place the first week in February and you can take a sneak peak at the schedule here.
  • Overall, I love this year’s PC basketball schedule from both a competitive standpoint and a balance standpoint. However, the one really bad thing about this schedule is having 9:00 pm Monday night starts for both the Brown and Binghamton games. Talk about an attendance killer. I guess with all the good Fox Sports does for the Big East schools you have to take a little of the bad.
  • Speaking of the schedule, I think it is huge that Fox will be televising nine Big East games during the season, including a January 31st matchup between PC and St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. This should provide big time exposure for the Big East schools.
  • I have probably said it before, but I am thrilled that PC has two seven footers on the team. Paschal Chukwu has spent the past couple of years playing against much smaller opponents and it is going to be extremely beneficial for him to go up against someone close to his own size every day in practice. Chukwu and Carson Desrosiers are going to make each other better players this year.
  • Don’t look for the Friars to be harping on their Big East Championship once the season starts. Ed Cooley emphasized at the season ticket holder outing that this is a new team and they will not be looking back at the past at all.
  • The word circulating around during the season ticket holder outing is that both Rodney Bullock and Ben Bentil are going to wind up being big time players and that the NBA may one day be in their future. The future is bright in Friartown.
  • Speaking of Rodney Bullock, don’t be surprised if he spends some time at shooting guard. The Friars are going to be playing some VERY tall lineups this year.

 

Email Craig at Craig.Leighton@friarbasketball.com

Follow Craig: @CraigL78

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