101 days out from CBB. 4th biggest storyline is UCONN vs SJU...
With college basketball's return a mere 101 days away, here are 101 nuggets, including the best offenses, defenses, cotenders (and pretenders), newcomers and way more.
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4. The snippy UConn-St. John's rivalry takes center stage in frenzied Big East race
The caliber of rosters that
UConn and
St. John's have put together just looks a little different than the rest of their Big East brethren.
Dan Hurley didn't seem to take kindly to ceding the Big East crown to St. John's, and he's done something about it. UConn crushed it in retention (
Alex Karaban,
Solo Ball,
Jaylin Stewart and
Jayden Ross are all back). It looks to have nailed its portal class with
Silas Demary Jr. and
Malachi Smith solving the point guard woes. Oh, and it reeled in the
No. 7-rated recruiting class, headlined by five-star Braylon Mullins who shreds nets for a living.
Meanwhile in Jamaica, Rick Pitino will cycle in six new faces surrounding big man Zuby Ejiofor, the best defensive player in the league. Ejiofor and forward
Dillon Mitchell are as good of defenders as you'll find at their respective positions. St. John's hopes to have fixed its shooting issues by landing Ian Jackson,
Oziyah Sellers, Joson Sanon and
Dylan Darling. But the X-Factor is
Bryce Hopkins. For the second offseason in a row, Pitino has snatched a talented transfer from a fellow Big East program. Last year, it was
Seton Hall's Kadary Richmond. This year, it's
Providence's Hopkins who, when healthy, is a menacing pass-dribble-shoot forward. The catch is that Hopkins has played just four games since New Year's Day … in 2024.
The mutual respect between Hurley and Pitino is obvious, but these two hyper-competitive coaches have their sights set on a championship. The two tangles in Big East play will be tremendous. Maybe they will meet at Madison Square Garden in the pure Big East Tournament. If the basketball Gods have some spunk, we'll receive a fourth matchup in the Big Dance.
UConn-St. John's. We
need it.