BIG EAST Chosen To Represent USA Basketball in Pan-Am Games

[BEhomer]

He's gotta have his buddy Greg McDermott in his staff I think.

as far as players, why not go 1st team 2nd team big east?

[gtmoBlue]

Providence as a team will represent the conference/USA. Cooley's team, staff, managers, towel/waterboys, etc.

Then again, in the past PanAm teams were selected...along IOC/USOC (Olympics teams) lines. Having said that, are we looking at a BE "Dream Team" configuration? Odd? Rather see Providence represent as a team.

US hasn't won in a while.
Last Gold - 1983
Last Silver - 1999
Won Bronze in 2011 and 2015

Way to go Prov & Big East.

[MullinMayhem]

Great exposure and public PR for the conference. Val has been unbelievable honestly with what she's done. We went from being very nervous at the very real possibility that we may become essentially a mid major conference just 5 years ago to remaining as a power conference that just didn't happen to play football. 2 championships thanks to Nova, several 1 seeds, and getting 50-70% of the conference in the tournament most of the time is a great success. Partnerships with B1G, B12, locking up MSG for the BET, and now having us represent Team USA overseas. She has done more than I ever could have hoped to this point honestly. If we actually perform well too, can you imagine the publicity? The announcement itself was a top headline on the ESPN Men's Basketball page.

[gtmoBlue]

As a power conference, ahem; we can't have years like this. All due respect to the Johnnies, Marquette, and DePaul...but imo they need to, but can't sustain their early successes.

The conference cannot have all of its' power teams (Nova, Xavier, Providence, Seton Hall, Butler- as shown over the last 5 years) all having down seasons concurrently. Slumps need to be
staggered and spread out. Now, as we know, this was not a planned year nor event, but the fact that it is occurring simultaneously is the worst possible case. 1 or 2 teams slumping is acceptable,
but not all five.

Now if StJ and Marquette can somehow sustain their early success it will temper the effect of the top tiers' fading. C'mon Marquette and St Johns...hold back the tide, put your
fingers in the dike wall, shore up those levees. The conference needs you to excell. I'd like to blame recruiting...but we as a conference are doing well. It is the unexpected
departure of so many underclassmen that is the problem. Most BE teams recruit for 4 year guys and generally those guys stay the course. But the recent - last 2-3 years - flight of underclass players to the pros,
along with normal attrition, has left the conference in this mess. The resulting scenario has every pundit saying the "BE is down", including all of our internal experts (fans).

Could we be looking at a case where the rs champs have 5-6 conf losses? A 20-14 up to 22-9 BE Champion? Geez Louise, that's bad, but it is a distinct possibility. C'mon Marquette and St Johns...time to step up to the opportunity.
The conference needs you to excell (no pressure) to maintain our status quo!