Just saw this story off of ESPN's website. All of their key players are back. The BE will be incredibly deep next season:


STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet plans to return to school for his junior season instead of entering the NBA draft.
UConn's Hasheem Thabeet averaged more than 10 points as a sophomore, and ranked third in the nation with 147 blocked shots.

The 7-foot-3 native of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was projected as a first-round pick in the draft.

Thabeet averaged more than 10 points and almost eight rebounds a game as a sophomore, and ranked third in the nation with 147 blocked shots. He was the Big East's defensive player of the year, helping UConn to a 24-9 record.

According to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, Thabeet would have been a first-round pick had he declared.

"As a team, we took a step in the right direction this year, but I look forward to us working together to win a Big East Championship and making a run at a national championship," Thabeet said in a statement released Sunday by UConn. "I really enjoy being here, getting a great education and spending time with my friends and teammates."

Thabeet, 21, has been playing organized basketball for fewer than six years.

"Hasheem has made as much progress as any player I have coached in my 36 years and if he continues that incredible progress, he will help us take the next step as a team and help himself become one of the best players in college basketball," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

The Huskies will good enough to finish 3rd in the BIG EAST next year behind The Ville and Pittsburgh. With Lawson, Green and Ellington going pro and with Earl Clark and Terrence Williams coming back along with the USA Today High School Player of the Year Samardo Samuels coming in we will be PRESEASON Number 1.

I like UConn better than UL next year assuming Price is good to go. Uconn is STRONG at every position. Price, Dyson, Robinson, Adrien and Thabeet. You won't find a stronger starting five than that in the entire country.

JFlight21 Wrote:I like UConn better than UL next year assuming Price is good to go. Uconn is STRONG at every position. Price, Dyson, Robinson, Adrien and Thabeet. You won't find a stronger starting five than that in the entire country.

Gotta disagree with ya there, this is Louisville Top 10 players.

F. Terrence Williams - Returning Starter All BIG EAST
F. Earl Clark - Surprise Returning Starter, most thought gone to NBA
C. Samardo Samuels - USA Today HS POY
G. Edgar Sosa - Returning Starter
G. Jerry Smith - Returning Starter

BENCH
Reggie Delk - Transfer Mississippi State, averaged double digits and was a starter for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
George Goode - Top 100 Rivals recruit in 2007, reshirted this year due to academics will be eligible in 2008.
Terrence Jennings Top 20 Rivals recruit 2008
Andre McGee
Preston Knowles

Lose Padgett but replace with like I said the HS POY in Samuels and also a team that has already finished 2nd in the BIG EAST in 2007 and 2008 and the one school that returns more starters from any team that made the Elite Eight.

As good as UConn will be in 2008 I would have to put them behind us and Pittsburgh. We are both return 4 starters and we finished ahead of UConn and Pitt won the BET.

BTW, expect 4 Top 10 BIG EAST Basketball teams in the following:

Louisville
UConn
Pittsburgh
Notre Dame

And I see as many as 4 more in the Top 25 in Georgetown, Marquette, Syracuse and West Virginia with Cincinnati and DePaul being much improved.

Looks like another 2006 for the Big East. Hopefully we get better results in the NCAAs.

Uconn, Pitt, Ville, ND will all be vying for 1 or 2 seeds.

These 4 should at least home and home against at least 2 others.

Also don't forget Uconn got some stud recruits coming too especially if they can get Majok.

We're going to have to wait for the non-conference schedule next year to play out before we proclaim the top teams. Heck, Cincinnati competed with the top spot for awhile last year and the only reason they slipped down was because they weren't deep enough, particularly offensively and upfront. In theory that should be improved, so it's possible that Cincinnati, or a team like Cincinnati, could shock the Big East.

Yancy Gates is a ABSOLUTE BEAST. I predict he will be UC version of DeJuan Blair for the Bearcats.

I see it this way:

Uconn
Pitt
Louisville
Syracuse
Georgetown
ND
WV
Marquette
Cincy

I would put Pitt and Uconn ahead of everybody. I see numbers 3-7 as a jumbled mess being to close to call either way.

I see it this way:

1. Louisville - Finished 6th in the nation with 4 starters coming back with the addition of 6-10 F/C Terrence Jennings Top 20 Rivals.com Player and 6-9 F/C USA Today HS POY Samardo Samuels.

2. Pittsburgh - BET Champs. Fields, Young and Blair return for Sweet Sixteen Team.

3. UConn/Notre Dame - Disappointing NCAA appearence

5. Georgetown/Syracuse - Greg Monroe makes them more athletic. For the Orange their injured guys return and that is huge for them.

7. West Virginia - Assuming Joe Alexander comes back.

8. Marquette/Cincinnati - The Warriors-(refuse to call them by their PC name) breaking in a new HC. Gates is going to be a monster for the Bearcats with Mike Williams.

I will almost guarantee you Louisville will be the highest ranked Preseason Team in the league to start the 2008-2009 season. Vitale had them 3rd even without Earl Clark and now Clark is back in the fold. Now will they end up that way remains to be seen but the pressure is on Pitino and his Cardinals to produce. Some here in Louisville feel that a Final Four in 2009 is not enough, some have a NCAA Title or Bust mentality with this coming team.

Pitt is the team to beat until further notice. Very well balanced, efficient. UConn has the talent but that's not always enough.

As for the next four, don't sell Syracuse short. Greene was a considerable underachiever and the return of Devendorf and Rautins should be a big plus for the fans of the Saltine Warrior. Louisvile is right there but I think the loss of Padgett will take some time to adjust to.

Numbers 5-8 are some mix of Villanova (Reynolds is capable of big things), Georgetown (a little thin in '09, but look out after that), West Virginia, and Notre Dame.

Numbers 9-16 get stuck with the new Tuesday format, so look for Cincinanti, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall squaring off against Providence, Rutgers, USF, and a potentially very bad St. John's team.

The top 10 in the league is very deep.

DFW HOYA Wrote:Pitt is the team to beat until further notice. Very well balanced, efficient. UConn has the talent but that's not always enough.

As for the next four, don't sell Syracuse short. Greene was a considerable underachiever and the return of Devendorf and Rautins should be a big plus for the fans of the Saltine Warrior. Louisvile is right there but I think the loss of Padgett will take some time to adjust to.

Numbers 5-8 are some mix of Villanova (Reynolds is capable of big things), Georgetown (a little thin in '09, but look out after that), West Virginia, and Notre Dame.

Numbers 9-16 get stuck with the new Tuesday format, so look for Cincinanti, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall squaring off against Providence, Rutgers, USF, and a potentially very bad St. John's team.

The top 10 in the league is very deep.

The top 10 in the BE has got to be the deepest ever for any league. I forgot about Nova in my post as I only posted 1-9. But you got to put Nova in there somewhere.

Also, I dont think that how a team finished a season is always an indication as to how they will finish the following season, unless they have all the starters returning. I have learned that you cant always rely on freshmen to pull all of their weight right off the bat, no matter how highly rated they are when coming in. SU had 2 highly rated MD's All Americans come in and they made some very freshmen mistakes. Uconn seems to me to be the team to beat.

UCONN should be the top team in the BE next year and will be a preseason top 5 in the country.

UCONN returns all players.

1. Thabeet is coming back. He will be huge. If he improves, he could be a top 5 pick next year.

2. UCONN just got a huge commit from a top 13 player in Ater Majok. He picked UCONN over Kansas, UCLA, Kentucky and Baylor. He is 6'10" F/C in the mold of Rudy Gay.

3. UCONN is bringing in a another top McD PG (#2 or #3 depending on whose ranking you use) in Kemba Walker. The kid will be a huge Finsurance for AJ Price. He looks like a stud already.

4. UCONN is bringing in another 4 star 7'1" center Charles Okwandu to backup Thabeet as if we don't have enough height already. Although he will be a project.

5. UCONN brought in another sharp shooter in the mold of Rashad Anderson in Scottie Haralson. He should help with 3 points shooting.

6. If UCONN bring their top 25 recruit Nate Miles into the fold, it will just be icing on the cake. He is supposed to be another stud 6'7" player in the mold of Rip Hamilton.

7. For 2009, UCONN already got commitment from 2 top players in the country coming in.

Future is bright for UCONN. I think this team is loaded. It is ready for its run. Calhoun gonna have one of his best teams in years. Next year should be our year after a decent 2007/2008. With UCONN women's team loaded with talent, next year could be another year we can try for both titles.

Think of a front line of 7'3" Thabeet, 6'10" Majok, 6'9" Stanley Robinson and with plenty of height off the bench. For guards, we got AJ Price, Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson with plenty of help off the bench as well. Team will be very deep.
Sorry Maize, UL gonna have to wait for a few more years before a shot at that BE title.