The night falls on the internet.
Sit back, kick off your shoes - before you watch the US vs. Mexico soccer match of course (on ESPN2 if you get it). Settle in with a digestif. And catch up on the days St. John's and Big East related news from us at the Rumble.
Who loves ya, baby? We do.
1 - Big East/ SEC Challenge times have are released, with the Johnnies tipping off against Kentucky at 7.30 pm on December 1st, shown on ESPN2. Check out our take on the game and the schedule; and see Ricky's take on all of the matchups in the 12-game Big East/ SEC series.
St. John's targets on ESPN's top 100, a Chris Mullin piece, a Norm Roberts piece, and links on Georgetown, Villanova, and the World University Games, below the fold.
2 - ESPN has their post-summer new top 100 out. The St. John's targets:
- Kyle Anderson: 5 (Dan Martin points out this is the highest-ranked player in ESPN's list that the Johnnies have pursued)
- Amile Jefferson: 25
- Ricardo Gathers: 31
- Katin Reinhardt: 61
- Christopher Obekpa: 93
- Blaise Mbargorba: 100
3 - The San Jose Mercury News writes about Chris Mullin's hard journey to the Hall of Fame, covering how his game has "a 1950's feel", and his alcohol problems.
4 - A look at a possible starting lineup for St. John's.
5 - Norm Roberts continues to get pub in a Pete Thamel piece about how college basketball coaches can only reach hoops prospects over Facebook and Twitter.
Around the Big East
+ A player-by-player look at the World University Games roster from coach Matt Painter (who coaches Purdue in the regular season). The team features a number of Big East players, including Pitt's Ashton Gibbs, Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis, and Syracuse's Scoop Jardine.
+ Speaking of Abomaitis, he reminds us to not sleep on the Fighting Irish this season. I won't. They're not very pillow soft, and as mentioned in the Mind the Gap series, Mike Brey just plugs new players into his sweet-shooting, nicely-spaced, defense-optional scheme.
+ Georgetown is getting ready to go to China to play some hoops... with some injuries. Moses Ayegba is likely out for the season with an ACL tear. he was likely to be a spot starter and energetic backup in the post for a Hoya team that needs all the talent it can muster in this transitional year.
+ Villanova has already started their summer trip abroad, with a loss to the Senegalese national team, 69-64. They're ranked 34th in FIBA. That link is from Villanova by the Numbers; also see The Nova Blog's coverage and VU Hoops' take. WAIT. There's a rematch... and Villanova lost again, 79-65, as per VU Hoops and the Nova Blog. The quick takeaways I see are that newcomer Darrun Hilliard has some favor with the coaching staff and can shoot; Markus Kennedy and JayVaughn Pinkston contributed but didn't tear the roof off the sucker; and while starting on the bench, Dominic Cheek scored well. We're getting a sense of who will fill the gaps for Villanova basketball this season...
+ Pittsburgh's New Zealand commit Steven Adams is coming to America... TODAY! No, the possible one-and-done Kiwi big man is coming to the United States for his senior year of school in a few weeks. He'll suit up at Notre Dame Prep, where he will join guard Ricardo Ledo, New Jersey guard Myles Davis (committed to Xavier University) and Sam Cassell Jr., whose dad is, in fact, our favorite peanut-headed one-time New Jersey Net.
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