Who is the Big East’s 2nd best coach?

Happy Monday Nova Nation! Yours truly is back from a relaxing week on the beach and ready to hit the ground running! Unfortunately, the news wasn’t so ready, so it’s slim pickings with the links this morning.

One article I did find interesting is on the whirlwind summer that Ed Cooley is having. Cooley is my 2nd favorite coach in the conference after Jay Wright, but it got me wondering if he’s 2nd best? So let’s take a quick look at the resume’s of the Big East Coaches:

Mike Anderson gets a pass for now as he has yet to coach a game as the head of a Big East program. Let’s just say he has his work cut out for him. Leito at DePaul may have 4 years under his belt, but he’s the only Big East coach with a losing record so he’s out.

Next up is the “future” group of Jordan, Ewing, and Steele. These guys have shown promise in limited time with their teams, and should all be in for a better year this season than last. Ewing seems to be at the forefront of this group, but he’ll have to win something before he can take a step up to the next tier.

Here we have the four main contenders for the #2 spot in the Big East. Woj is the first one we can knock off. His team completely collapsed last year, he only has 2 NCAA tournament appearances in his 5 years at Marquette, and he’s yet to win any Big East Titles.

Greg McDermott is certainly in consideration as the program with the next best winning % next to Jay’s and he’s made the NCAA Tournament in 3 of his 6 years as a BE coach. But again, no BE titles is going to be a factor that knocks him down a peg.

That leaves us with the two choices we all knew we’d get to: Ed Cooley at Providence and Kevin Willard at Seton Hall. Both coaches flirted with leaving the conference this offseason, but at the end of the day they both stayed put. Both coaches have a Big East Tournament Title to their name, the only active BE two coaches outside of Wright that have won any BE titles.

But when it comes to who’s the conferences’ #2 Cooley has the edge in two key areas. First, he’s got a slightly better win% at 59.6%. But the big one is that in just 8 seasons he’s been to 5 NCAA Tournaments. Willard’s been to just 4 in his 9 Big East seasons. Call me biased, but I’m giving the league’s 2nd best coach to Ed Cooley.

And no, he didn’t bribe me when I met him in a Boston bar at the 2019 NCAA Regional Finals where he was totally awesome to talk to.

In other “news” Dante Cunningham is one of the best free agents on the market, an update from the recruiting trail, and Villanova is teaching students how to play with space dirt. Enjoy!

Villanova Basketball

RANKED: The 25 Best NCAA Tournament Games Of All-Time | New Arena
In one of the more dominating performances by an underdog in tournament history, the No. 11 seed and emotionally-charged Lions pounded the defending champions. Special thanks to Holy Massimino for bringing this one to our attention!

Recruiting

Look: 10 names on Tennessee basketball's 2021 recruiting board | Go Vols 247
Trey Patterson has already been on an unofficial visit to Villanova, and the #1 ranked Small Forward in New Jersey also holds an offer from the Wildcats.

Big East

NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Biggest winners and losers from 2019 classes | Busting Brackets
With the NCAA Basketball recruiting classes up but filled for the upcoming season, which programs made out best - and who didn't?

PC Basketball: Busy summer for Cooley as Pan Am Games are set to start | providencejournal.com
PROVIDENCE — Ed Cooley may be the busiest college basketball coach in the country these days. Instead of kicking back at his favorite beach (Narragansett) or fine-tuning his golf game, Cooley is juggling all sorts of hoop duties. With his players on campus, recruiting trips to check off and the start of training camp for the Pan Am Games team up this weekend, the Providence College coach owns a full plate.

NBA Wildcats

An Updated List Of The Best NBA Free Agents Still Available On The Open Market
A breakdown of the best free agents that remain unsigned this offseason. Dante Cunningham makes the list.

New Orleans Pelicans JJ Redick, Josh Hart Host Must-Listen Podcasts | Pelican Debrief
The New Orleans Pelicans roster is now filed with approachable, media-savvy talents. JJ Redick and Josh Hart both have their own podcasts.

Mavs news: Jalen Brunson admits his first and only season with Dirk Nowitzki was 'special' | Clutch Points
Mavs point guard Jalen Brunson may have been a rookie this past year, but he was around long enough to appreciate the kind of impact that Dirk Nowitzki had.

Villanova Football

Who are New Jersey’s top uncommitted, underrated high school football seniors, and where will they go? | nj.com
Find out the latest on New Jersey's top football talent as the players embark upon their final high school campaigns. The Wildcats are "in touch" with DE Josh Johnson.

Villanova University

Villanova astronomer says he drew inspiration from Apollo 11 | KYW
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As a veteran Villanova University astronomer looks back on 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon, he reveals he gave serious thought to applying to NASA to become an astronaut. But he quickly concluded he didn't have "the

Villanova Students Use Mock Martian Soil So Humans Are Ready | NBC 10
Students at Villanova University are trading moon rocks for "Martian" soil to see what it would be like to try and grow crops on Mars.