College basketball in the Garden State is under construction and has been detoured to the dreaded Tuesday night opener of the Big East Tournament.
Rutgers, which opened league play at 3-2 and had many in New Jersey believing a miracle was possible, lost 11 of its last 13 games. Leading scorer Eli Carter suffered a broken leg, but some felt his loss was addition by subtraction. When not hitting his shot, Carter provided little else except a surly attitude.
Seton Hall really never had a chance to get out of the gate. Injuries decimated Kevin Willard’s roster, which had to be overhauled after the tumultuous leadership of former coach Bobby Gonzalez.
The Pirates (14-17, 3-15 Big East) face South Florida (12-18, 3-15) tonight (7:00, ESPNU) in the Garden. Rutgers (14-15, 5-13) takes on DePaul (11-20, 2-16) in the late game. All four teams face the same fate — lose and the season is over.
Surprisingly, both Jersey coaches will be back next season. Willard needed to change the culture. Many prep programs in the metropolitan area were reluctant to send their players to South Orange.
Mike Rice was in grave danger of losing his job after the university suspended him three games and fined him $50,000 for violations of athletic-department policy. Essentially, he needed to tone down his act, which he did.
It’s stunning the two Big East schools in a prep basketball-rich state — think St. Anthony, St. Benedict’s, Christian Brothers Academy — can’t field competitive teams. The two games between the schools drew less than an average of 7,000 fans. There will be a lot of empty seats tonight in the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Rutgers at least has a legitimate Big East-caliber point guard in Myles Mack. Seton Hall has a commitment from point guard Sterling Gibbs.
The Hall, the intimate Catholic school, will remain in the Big East. Rutgers, the large state university, is headed to the Big Ten. It is hoped the two will continue to play each other — home and home. This should be a rivalry like Cincinnati-Xavier or Wisconsin-Marquette.
They might finish the construction on the Pulaski Skyway before the Pirates and Scarlet Knights aren’t playing on the first night of their respective conference tournaments. For now, college basketball in Jersey is detoured.