Big East men's basketball coaching ladder ahead of postseason play
Scar said it best in The Lion King: life’s not fair.
It’s a truth that resonates with more than a few Big East basketball coaches at the dawn of postseason play, just ask Providence’s Kim English.
Or Ed Cooley.
But it’s fair for some, including Kevin Willard, Villanova’s record-setting first year head coach who has the Wildcats in position to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.
Below is the UConn Report’s Big East men’s basketball coaching ladder heading into postseason play:
As Advertised:
Dan Hurley, UConn (Preseason Rank: No. 1)
Rick Pitino, St. John’s (Preseason Rank: No. 2)
There aren’t too many things to say about these two.
Dan Hurley has piloted the fourth-ranked Huskies to a 27-3 regular season mark and is competing with No. 5 Florida (who UConn defeated at a neutral site in December, remember!) for the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. UConn opened the season as the No. 4 team in the nation and, Saturday’s inevitable chaos notwithstanding, is slated to end the regular season at the same spot.
Rick Pitino has shown his venerable chops as well, guiding St. John’s, the preseason No. 5 team in the nation, to a 17-2 record in Big East play and a 23-6 overall mark. The Red Storm have garnered nation-wide praise for their salty defensive identity, a hallmark of all Pitino-led teams. The Johnnies remain firmly in the NCAA Tournament field and can win the Big East Regular Season Championship with a win over Seton Hall Friday.
Greatly Exceeding Expectations:
Kevin Willard, Villanova (Preseason Rank: No. 5)
Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall (Preseason Rank: No. 6)
To say Willard has exceeded expectations at Villanova requires context considering the Wildcats are less than a decade removed from two national titles. Villanova failed to meet the 20-win mark all three years under much-maligned former coach Kyle Neptune, something Willard met by Valentine’s Day of his first season with the ‘Cats.
Shaheen Holloway’s 13-game (and counting) turnaround from last year’s 7-25 crater warrants the Coach of the Year hype he’s received. Built on Holloway’s usual defensive bedrock, Seton Hall clipped NC State in November and twice gave Connecticut a run for its money with a rejuvenated roster chock-full of talented transfers.
Considerably More with Less:
Chris Holtmann, DePaul (Preseason Rank: No. 7)
Richard Pitino, Xavier (Preseason Rank: No. 11)
DePaul’s ascension into the upper half of the Big East is due largely in part to Chris Holtmann’s revitalizing job in Chicago. The Blue Demons, who hadn’t finished a season with a winning record in seven years, are positioned to get a buy in the first round of the Big East Tournament next week and, on top of playing Connecticut close two times, swept Seton Hall for the first time since 2019.
It hasn’t exactly been pretty in Cincinnati considering the lofty standards left by Sean Miller, but Richard Pitino’s wiry Xavier Musketeers have been a thorn in the side of every team in the Big East not named UConn in his inaugural season. Plus, the former New Mexico coach got some brownie points after planting his blue and white flag of loyalty last week.
A Down Year:
Greg McDermott, Creighton (Preseason Rank: No. 3)
Shaka Smart, Marquette (Preseason Rank: No. 4)
Greg McDermott found out the hard way that replacing a four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is… well, difficult. Even so, Creighton’s off season transfer portal haul and preseason ranking in the AP Poll made it out to be a surefire tournament team come March. That hasn’t been the case for the Bluejays, who are straddling the .500 mark entering postseason play.
It was never going to be perfect considering the core pieces of Shaka Smart’s best two teams at Marquette were stripped away this off season. Even so, 2025-26 has been a disappointment for Smart and company: the Golden Eagles didn’t beat a high-major opponent until they upended Xavier by a point in early January. But don’t count out Smart just yet, who’s shown the ability to cultivate talent regardless of circumstances.
Spiraling:
Thad Matta, Butler (Preseason Rank: No. 9)
Ed Cooley, Georgetown (Preseason Rank: No. 8)
It may be time to admit that the Thad Matta experience hasn’t fully worked out in Indianapolis. After starting the season 10-3 – with impressive wins over both Virginia and Northwestern – the Bulldogs have belly flopped to a 6-13 mark in Big East play. Once firmly on the bubble, Butler will enter Saturday trying to avoid a 10th place finish in the conference standings.
And then there’s Georgetown. Tantalizingly bad Georgetown. Ed Cooley’s Hoyas have not been able to catch a break all season, marred by late-game inconsistencies and moribund losing streaks, and will be lucky not to finish last in the Big East. Cooley’s third team in D.C. has all but mirrored his first two; oh so close to a breakthrough yet still a stone’s (or in this case, a water bottle’s) throw away from contention.
Cannot Get Any Worse:
Kim English, Providence (Preseason Rank: No. 10)
News broke after the Friars’ blowout loss to Marquette Wednesday that Providence is firing Kim English after three turbulent seasons in Friartown… but that he’ll remain in the role until the end of the season. English is a literal dead man walking — one that’ll command the conference’s fastest sinking ship into the Big East Tournament next week. Yikes.
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