Anali Okoloji likely to transfer at end of semester

It is becoming more and more likely that Okoloji will transfer at the end of the semester. That would leave Willard with 3 scholarships to give out for 2011. More info tonight on a couple of things.

Is the Big East over-rated?

We have been hearing a lot (most notably from Charles Barkley) about how the Big East is over-rated due to their lack of Final Four teams. However, I find this to be utterly false. Here are my reasons on why I feel the Big East can't produce Final Four teams

1. The grind of the regular season and the conference play: I believe this is the biggest reason why the Big East fails to produce final four teams. No other conference in the country plays an 18 game schedule. No other conference in the country has only one or two teams each year that are considered "cupcakes". What I am going to do now is look at how many NCAA tournament teams each of the 11 teams in the conference that made the tournament played:
Pittsburgh: Texas, Tennessee, Connecticut, Marquette, Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Villanova, St. Johns, West Virginia, Louisville, Villanova, and Conncecticut (15)
Notre Dame: Georgia, Wisconsin, Indiana State, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Syracuse, Connecticut, St. Johns, Marquette, St. Johns, Cincinnati, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia, Villanova, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Louisville (20)
Syracuse: Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, St. Johns, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Marquette, Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, West Virginia, Villanova, Georgetown, St. Johns, Connecticut (16)
Connecticut: Michigan State, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Texas, Villanova, Tennessee, Marquette, Louisville, Syracuse, St. Johns, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Louisville (21)
Louisville: Butler, UNLV, Kentucky, Villanova, Marquette, St. Johns, West Virginia, Connecticut, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Marquette, Notre Dame, Connecticut (18)
West Virginia: Oakland, Vanderbilt, St. Johns, Marquette, Georgetown, Purdue, Louisville, Cincinnati, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette (16)
St. Johns: West Virginia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Syracuse (16)
Cincinnati: Xavier, Villanova, Syracuse, Notre Dame, St. Johns, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, St. Johns, Louisville, Georgetown, Connecticut, Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame (14)
Georgetown: Old Dominion, Wofford, UNC Asheville, Missouri, Utah State, Temple, Memphis, Notre Dame, St. Johns, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, St. Johns, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Connecticut (21)
Villanova: Bucknell, Boston University, UCLA, Tennessee, Temple, Cincinnati, Louisville, Connecticut, Syracuse, Georgetown, Marquette, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, St. Johns, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh (17)
Marquette: Bucknell, Duke, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, St. Johns, Connecticut, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Louisville (19)
*these don't include NCAA tournament games
Now, can you tell me who else in any other major conference played at least 14 and up to 21 teams that were in the tournament? I can't think of any.
This is my main argument. My other argument would be the following:
2. Lack of elite talent in the Big East: The Big East has a lot of good players but not many great players. The only great player this conference had this year was Kemba Walker. In fact, since Carmelo Anthony there has only been one all star from the Big East which is Rudy Gay. The reason for this is that usually out of the top 10 in ESPN top 150 go to non Big-East teams. The fact is, it takes elite talent to win in March and the Big East does not have elite talent.

These two things lead me to believe the following:
1. The Big East is the best conference in the nation
2. The Big East won't be very successful in March

I still believe that the Big East is the best conference because of their incredible depth and the fact that every team is playing double digit tournament teams every year. They won't be successful in March for that very same reason though. They beat each other up throughout the season which causes them to wear out by the time the Dance begins. So Charles Barkley, go to hell

Its a long road back

People that thought Kevin Willard would come in and get instant results were wrong in expecting that. It just doesn't happen. Unless you are a John Calipari and can get a #1 recruiting class, you are not going to be able to come to a program and instantly be successful. Just look at Mick Cronin and the University of Cincinatti as an example. Cronin took over a team that was in tatters and was entering the Big East. His 1st year he went 11-19. His 2nd year he went 13-17. His 3rd year he went 18-12. None of those years did they make the post-season. His 4th season they went 19-16 and won an NIT game. This year, an incredible 26-8 and took his team to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournamnet. His teams improved every season. He was dicisplined and installed a system and stuck with it. He kept preaching defense and being smart. He kept working on recruiting. He established a recruiting bed in a location full of talent and stuck with it. He recruited New Jersey. He got assistants that believed what he believed and he had a school that cared more about its image than instant success. All these things lead to this incredbile season. Coach Kevin Willard is essentially in the same spot as Mick Cronin was 5 years ago. He took over a program, that while it was filled with talent, it was undisicplined talent that were all me 1st players. He has already began the rebuilding image. It started with the benching of Herb Pope for the 1st half of the Arkansas game. It continued with the dismissal of Keon Lawrence and Jamel Jackson. It is happening right now by recruiting high character and hard working kids. Seton Hall won 13 games this year. Expecting 15 for next year is realistic. If Willard keeps sticking to his system and keeps coaching hard, Seton Hall will continue to improve. If Patrick Hobbs sticks with Willard for 5 to 6 years before expecting great things, Seton Hall can be the next Cincinatti. However, it is not going to happen overnight. It will take days, months, and years to get Seton Hall's image to where it needs to be. It will take years to get Seton Hall into a NCAA tournament staple that we can expect tournament results every year. However, for the next 2 to 4 years just enjoy the ride and hope that Seton Hall sticks with Kevin Willard for as long as it takes.

How Herb Pope, Fuquan Edwin, and Jordan Theodroe can improve to make next year's team competitive

We all know that losing Jeremy Hazell and wing defender Eniel Polynice is going to be hard to replace. I think we can replace JROB with a combo of Auda and Okoloji. But replacing Hazell and Polynice will take a trio of players to step up. Those 3 players are Herb Pope, Fuquan Edwin, and Jordan Theodore. Here is how those three players need to improve to carry Seton Hall next year:
Herb Pope:
Pope needs to improve a couple things. Offensively, he needs to work on a consistent back to the basket game along with a mid range jumper. If he can get a consistent 18 foot jumper and a consistent go to move when backing down, he can become a star big-man in the Big East. Defensively, he needs to avoid fouls. It seemed that at least 1 time a game he would either commit a reach or an over the back foul. He is too valuable to the team to be picking up stupid fouls. If he can improve these three things I think he can average somewhere in the neighborhood of 16ppg and 10rpg. 
Fuquan Edwin:
Edwin has a bunch of things he can improve to become a star. The 1st is his 3pt shooting. He was decent this year in the low 30's %, but to become a star he needs to be able to shoot 38 to 40 percent from 3. This will come with more practice. If he works on his form then he can continue to improve. The next thing he needs to improve is his ball handling ability. This year he did not do much if any ball handling. But next year, he will probably be asked to play a lot of 2guard so he needs to get better at dribbling the basketball. Like his shooting, it will just take hard work. The 3rd and last thing that he needs to improve offensively is his finishing in the lane. Countless times this year, we saw him grab an offensive board and blow the putback. If he works on finishing, along with the other 2 things, he can become a star offensive weapon. Defensively, he just needs to work on positioning. He had a few freshman lapses that I think will go away with experience. If he improves these things he could average somewhere near 13ppg, 5rpg, and 1.8spg.
Jordan Theodore:
I think the player most vital to our success next year is JT. When Jordan was on this year, he was incredible. When he wasn't, he was terrible. Jordan's biggest problem is consistency. If he becomes consistently good, like if he performs like he did in the Georgetown game, we will be a fairley good team. If he plays like he did in the West Virginia game, we will be terrible. If Theodore gets consistent, he can average 15ppg and 5apg.

If these three players raise their games to levels they are more than capable of, Seton Hall can have a decent season. I don't think they will make the NCAA tourney, but a 16 or 17 win season would definitely be possible.