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The Big East’s annual media day was held Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Commissioner Val Ackerman, conference personnel, players and coaches from the men’s and women’s teams met with reporters.
Here are the highlights from The Garden:
• The event opened with the announcements of the 2015-16 Men’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll where Villanova was unanimously picked to finish the conference in first place. Seton Hall came in at seventh place, ahead of DePaul, Creighton and St. John’s.
• Providence guard Kris Dunn was selected as the men’s Big East Preseason Player of the Year while Jalen Brunson of Villanova was named the Preseason Rookie of the Year.
• Seton Hall’s Isaiah Whitehead and Angel Delgado were selected to the Preseason All-Big East Second team.
• Ackerman said that viewership of Big East basketball games was up 50 percent last year as from the previous season.
• After that, Ackerman said that the Big East Championship game will air on Fox’s flagship network this season, rather than Fox Sports 1.
• Seton Hall’s men’s team was represented by Whitehead, Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and head coach Kevin Willard at media day.
• Whitehead said that come Opening Day, he and his teammates will cease use of social media for the season.
• Willard said the team has been practicing with a 24-second shot clock to better acclimate to the NCAA’s new 30-second shot clock, which is effective this season.
• On the women’s side, DePaul was picked to finish first in the preseason poll while Seton hall was picked to finish fifth. Seton Hall finished ahead of Xavier, Georgetown, Butler, Marquette, and Providence.
• St. John’s Aliyyah Handford was selected as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year while Butler’s Brittany Ward won Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year.
• Seton Hall head coach Tony Bozzella on being ranked fifth: “We’re going to be better than fifth. We better be.”
• The Pirates were represented by Bozzella, Tabatha Richardson-Smith, Shakena Richardson and Tiffany Jones.
Olivia Mulvihill can be reached at olivia.mulvihill@student.shu.edu or on twitter @OliviaMulvihill
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