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Sales pitch: It's Villanova -- and then who? -- in attracting top Big East talent
Jeff Borzello talked to anonymous coaches about the Big East schools that have the most and fewest recruiting advantages.
www.espn.com
Tier 1
Villanova
"I think a lot of it is Jay Wright," one Big East coach said. "People identify with him, he's got an incredible track record and history. Villanova's been able to benefit from their success on the court, an incredibly fertile recruiting area, a city that's passionate about Villanova basketball, with players that like to stay home. They have a great campus, academics. They check every box if you're a high school basketball player. If you want to win, if you want to play for a Hall of Fame coach, if you want to go to a great school academically."
Tier 2
UConn
"They took a hit going to the American [Athletic Conference]. It lost a lot of cachet," one Big East coach said. "Danny Hurley is in the process of building that back. I think people forget just how dominant they were. When Calhoun retired, this was a national power, right there with the Kentuckys and Dukes and North Carolinas. It's not there now, but it'll be interesting to see if it can get back to that."
"They're locked in at second," another coach added. "Four national championships since 1999. They've had great pros. Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Kemba Walker. And I don't think kids care about location. You can recruit from Philly to New England, and kids aren't concerned it's not a major city or there's not a lot to do outside the campus. You're in your own surrounding city."
Georgetown
"Why can't they be just as successful as Villanova? It's a beautiful area and campus, an even better school academically," one coach said. "Stylistically, [the program] got hurt playing the Princeton offense, and they didn't have great relationships with the premier high school and AAU programs in D.C. Villanova capitalized on that. The Kris Jenkinses and Josh Harts went to Villanova. It became the hot school. Now Georgetown is in a fight for their life. They have a nicer facility, they just lost that momentum. There's an enormous amount of recruiting potential, but it's going to take an effort to grab that back from Villanova."
Marquette
"They're there with Villanova and Georgetown, in terms of great basketball tradition, essentially [a] football [level of] tradition ... Catholic school, great university in a big city, success with NBA players," one coach said. "Marquette games mean everything in that area. They might be more popular than the Bucks. I think they have a top-five budget in college basketball. It's a really invested program and university."
Tier 3
St. John's
"It's the best of the group because of Madison Square Garden," one coach said. "Mike Anderson has done a great job of getting relationships with guys in the city, high school programs. I'm sure he'll start to mix in a couple southern kids as well, based on his experiences. But the tradition of the place, playing in MSG, New York City -- that separates them."
Providence
"Their on-campus practice facility is one of the best," one coach said. "They have access to all the prep schools in the region. It's big-time. Ed's been there a minute, too. And he's an active recruiter. That's in the equation." "Providence's practice facility, it's almost like an all-inclusive destination you feel like when you walk there," another coach added. "It's like an SEC football money type of facility."
Xavier, Creighton
"Creighton has an incredibly passionate fan base," another coach said. "A lot of people in the Northeast don't realize it, but you have 18,000 people there every single night. Xavier is sold out every single night. The fan bases are really, really passionate about their programs. Both schools have had success in the NCAA tournament. There's a real investment level. Taking Creighton from the Missouri Valley to the Big East or in Xavier's case, taking them from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East, they've had to really invest. You talk to their athletic directors, and they're going to tell you their men's basketball program drives this university. That's different than St. John's and Providence."
Seton Hall
"They were able to ride that group even though the [assistant coaches that recruited them] were no longer there," one Big East coach said. "But the best players in New Jersey want to go to Villanova or a big national brand like Duke or Kentucky, so they're going to be fighting an uphill battle. It's not a great campus, the degree isn't like Villanova or Georgetown. They have to recruit tough kids that want to play hard."
Tier 4
Butler
"I think it's a hard place to recruit to," one coach said. "These kids like the shiny objects, the new stuff. I love Hinkle, but that's the reality of it. And there's a lot of competition. It's right in the middle of Big Ten country. Kids grow up wanting to go to Indiana or Purdue or Michigan State."
"They're fighting an uphill battle from a resources standpoint, the finances," a Big East coach said. "They had great success with Brad Stevens, the Final Fours. But if you're a kid from outside the state of Indiana, and it's down to Butler or anywhere else in the Big East, you're picking another school. The resources, the NBA players, Butler doesn't really have that."
DePaul
"Chicago is a really challenging recruiting landscape," one coach said. "There's a lot that factors into that. Chicago kids have left home for so long. Either for Illinois or a national school. Quentin Richardson might be the last big-time kid that stayed home. That's just not in the fabric of these kids right now. The excitement level isn't there. It's been too many years of losing. The fan base wasn't excited about going to Rosemont for games, 45 minutes away. Now it's closer, but still not on campus. So it's not the easiest thing for students. Chicago has so much going on in the winter. DePaul basketball has fallen down the rungs of importance."
