The Big East: Inside the Most Entertaining and Influential Conference in College Basketball History

by Dana O'Neil

"The compulsively readable, definitive account of the greatest era of the most influential league in college basketball history, infused with the raucous spirit and roaring voices of the league's legendary coaches and players. There has never been, nor will there ever be, another league quite like the Big East. Five Big East schools have won national college basketball titles, and five coaches are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Eight players have been named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. But the magic and mastery of the league cannot be quantified by trophies or plaques. During its golden era, the league's heart beat in its moments and personalities. Syracuse versus Georgetown, Patrick versus Chris, Allen versus Allen, the Pearl, Billy the Kid, P.J and six overtimes. Combustible, competitive, and, at times, maybe even a little crazy, they turned the Big East into must-watch TV just as cable television took off. The players, many products of the Northeast playgrounds, competed fiercely and physically, their talent mixing with their fire to produce unforgettable games and court battles. The coaches were each more of a caricature than the next-the wild mania of Rollie Massimino versus the stoic intimidation of John Thompson, Jr. Or sweet, lovable Looie Carnesecca going toe-to-toe against perpetually whiny Jim Boeheim. The rivalries were real, the Catholic tradition ran deep, and the loyalties went beyond fan fervor. These titans of athletic prowess and power fought over every recruit, every gameday advantage, every basket, and every conference title. On the court, down back hallways, in meeting rooms, and on golf courses, they bickered and postured, not willing to cede a competitive inch. From the formation of the league to the backstories of the people who shaped it, to inside the epic games and players that sealed its relevance and laid the groundwork for its eventual rebirth, The Big East tells the tale of the most powerful and entertaining league in college basketball history"--

Genres: Sports, Basketball, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Audiobook

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2021

Reviews

[Megan Ambuske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up as a Syracuse fan and then going to Seton Hall and transitioning to a Pirate fan, this book was everything I hoped for and more. If you love college basketball, especially the Big East, you will enjoy this book. So many great, sometimes laugh out loud, behind the scenes stories. As a bonus, there was tons of Raf content, which made me so happy.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sport what a conference

[Rocco Pallotto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timed it just right. Started at the beginning of this year's Big East Tournament and finished at its end. This book would have been fun to read in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals. Excellent work done here.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in Syracuse and went to many games in person and watched a ton on TV. The Big East changed college basketball forever and I’m glad I was there to witness it. Great teams, great players and the biggest cast of coaching characters ever.

Now college hoops is bland and homogeneous. NIL money (and college football which makes teams move conferences and is incredibly boring to watch) killed the game I used to love. I hate living in the past, but The Big East is one of those things where I do.

Also, eff Georgetown.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every single part of this book. The in depth look at every team, the stories of the games (even the ones that ended in heartbreak), and the memories it brought up:
- growing up legitimately thinking Georgetown was a bad school academically because I'd been raised with Syracuse Orange in my blood
- watching SU win the National Championship with my dad in the Dome the weekend I was making my decision about where to go to college (easy choice)
- trudging to the Dome in the middle of winter, just to pack in with my best friends and cheer on GMac and team
- sprinting to a mid term because I couldn't fathom missing the end of the first round 2006 Big East Tourney
- convincing a professor to let us watch SU take down UConn in that same Big East Tournament
- closing down the bar watching the 6 overtime game
- feeling all of the emotions when SU left the Big East....still not over it (Georgetown is the rival, not Duke)

Just a must-read. It even left me feeling good feelings about some of those rival schools...so, it's a good book.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter what loyalties a college basketball fan may have to a school or conference, chances are that the fan will have at least a few great memories of watching Big East basketball. It might be the thrilling six-overtime game between Syracuse and Connecticut in 2009, the 1985 NCAA championship game in which Villanova shocked favored Georgetown or when Providence made an improbable run to the Final Four in 1987 under Rick Pitino. These are just a few of the highlights of the conference’s many accomplishments in this excellent book about the Big East by Dana O’Neil.

The book isn’t all about the action on the court. No book on the Big East would be complete without the story of how the conference’s first commissioner, Dave Gavitt, took an idea to bring eastern schools together to form a conference to make east coast basketball improve on its dismal record of only producing three NCAA championships in 40 years. But thanks to some shrewd talking, handshake deals and a new all-sports network called ESPN that was looking for programming to fill its airwaves, Gavitt brought together seven schools to form the Big East conference and from there, it almost immediately became a basketball powerhouse.

O’Neil brings some great storytelling to chronicle not only Gavitt’s wheeling and dealing to get the conference together, but she also describes his insistence that all schools not only share the wealth that would be generated but also should share in the glory and build up a program worthy of championship contention. While even the most casual fan will remember some of the greatest Big East teams of the 1980’s such as Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown teams, nearly every school who was a member of the conference between its inception in 1979 and its near collapse when Syracuse and Pittsburgh left in 2013.

The influence of football schools joining, which started in 1993 with the addition of Miami among others, is when O’Neil argues the conference really started to lose its luster that Gavitt and company worked so hard to gain. It seemed almost painful to read about the conference succumbing to football interests after the story of Gavitt convincing everyone who would listen that the conference tourney should be held in Madison Square Garden.

The Big East conference changed the college basketball landscape forever and this book is a very worthy telling of that story. O’Neil has written about the conference for ESPN and her knowledge and connections to the most important people in Big East lore shows. Any fan of college basketball from the 1980’s and 1990’s should read this book.

I wish to thank Ballentine Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Zachary Cooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think an interesting thing about me is that I’m not a huge, die-hard sports fan like many people today. Why I say that is because some of the most interesting and beautifully written books I’ve read are sports books. Dana O’Neil brings the reader on a journey from the beginnings to the end of the golden era of the Big East Conference.

Being a graduate of Seton Hall and following the Pirates for close to 5 years since I transferred to SHU, I was happy to see we got a whole chapter on P.J. Carlesimo’s dream 1988-89 season which saw the Pirates in the Finals of March Madness.

Packed with a cast of characters fit for what became the Big East Conference, this book will make you laugh and you will feel the pain and triumphs of what each school has endured to become legendary. Hats off to O’Neil for capturing, perfectly, the story of a legendary sports league that swept the nation in the 20th century.

[Scott Manze · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best stories featuring some of the biggest characters the college basketball world has ever seen, all rolled up into one conference. The Big East certainly lived up to the name once it was founded, and O’Neil captures that perfect, telling the tale of the leagues rise, demise, and rebirth through the lens of those that made it stuff of legend. Boeheim, Carnessecca, Rollie, PJ, Calhoun, and of course, JT Jr were the perfect cast of characters to help make Dave Gavitt’s vision a resounding success. If I could be transported back in time to witness any point in college basketball history, it would undoubtedly be the 1980s so I could see the prime of the Big East in person.

[Omar Zahran · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who grew up on St John’s basketball and the Big East in the 90s, this was an absolute joy to read. This is a great retrospective on the entire history of the iconic basketball conference from its early formation all the way to the turmoil that realignment caused.

All the coaches are here in addition to tidbits on iconic players like Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and Allen Iverson. Most of the stuff I was already familiar with but there were quite a few behind the scenes stories that were super interesting. Highly recommend this book to any college basketball fan out there!

[Brian Keeping · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reading for college hoops junkies ( though thin on the Rollie Massimino years at Lex High School, which as we all know, was the real early inspiration for The Big East!)

[Bobby Froembling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dana absolutely crushed this book! I love the way she set up her chapters. I could feel the energy of the 1980s & 90s at Madison Square Garden through the pages.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dana O’Neil did an unbelievable job with this book. A perfect history of the best college basketball period we’ve ever had. So many great stories and personalities (there are quite a few!) shine through her writing.

[Matthew Grim · Rating 4 out of 5]

College athletics at its peak. Dave Gavitt was truly a revolutionary.

[Bill S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me back to the glory days. I was fortunate to have gone to UConn from 1986-1991 so I saw the Big East at its best and witnessed the rise of the Huskies. It really was perfect. The conference was committed to one mission - making basketball in the Northeast the best in the country. The size was just right as we played a balanced schedule of home and away games and rivalries flourished. The coaches were both outstanding tacticians and brought personality to the conference. We had the best players in the country. There was Big Monday and the tournament at Madison Square was always exciting. It is too bad that the lure of football money killed the original conference.

As for UConn, I think the most fun I ever had at a sporting event was when we won the NIT. We did not know it stood for the Not Important Tournament. My friends and I went to the Garden and celebrated like we never had before. I will not forget Murray Williams sinking those free throws to protect the lead and bring home the trophy or Kurt King and Phil Gamble climbing onto the top of the backboard.

I worked for the Athletic Department at the gates tearing tickets, so I remember the old Field House well. It was a dump, but what a home court advantage it was. The fans sat right next to the court. It was here that we got bounced from the NIT’s the next year by Alabama-Birmingham. There was a guy with a leg brace who absolutely killed us!

But then came the Dream Season. I was there when Gampel opened and my friends and I were at my apartment when the shot was made by Tate George. We jumped so high we brought down the ceiling tiles from the suspended ceiling.

Don’t get me wrong - winning 5 championships since that time has been special. But, I am glad I was there for the rise. Any victory then in the Big East was seen as an enormous accomplishment, now it is expected. We did not have the talented shooters we have today so Calhoun had to use the full-court press to create opportunities. It made for an up-tempo and unpredictable game.

It is good to be back home in the Big East, but it is not the same. The conference geography has been blurred and I miss playing Syracuse twice per year. But, this it is so much more exciting seeing the old rivals than when we were playing schools from Texas in the American.

NOTES:

Dave Gavitt had the idea and the driving force in getting it off the ground. Wanted a league to rival the ACC based in urban media markets. Northeast had not won a title in 33 years. Wanted us to be center of the sport. Keep NYC kids home. Since the point shaving scandal which involved NY teams, most went away to the blue bloods.

THE ORIGINAL 7 - To Gavitt, 4 schools were essential - Providence (his own), St. John’s, Georgetown and Syracuse. All successful and fit the profile. B.C. was taken because he wanted Boston market and Holy Cross had said ‘no.” UConn was the big risk. Nobody wanted them. A regional power in Yankee Conf. but not a big draw and not a private school in the heart of a city. But Gavitt was friends with Dee Rowe and saw them as a “Sleeping Giant.” Seton Hall was to get one more NY area school. Had not had a lot of success but had played others for some time.
Villanova came a year after to get Philadelphia in. Gavitt knew from the start that the football issue had to be addressed. Syracuse and BC needed teams to play. Thus, he invited Pitt. Paterno at the time was trying to put together a “big east” type league for football. To counter, Gavitt desperately wanted PENN STATE in to solve the football problem. THE BIG EAST COULD NOT GET THE 6 VOTES REQUIRED TO EXTEND AND ACCEPT PENN STATE. THEY WERE NOT A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. Always got 5 votes. AUTHOR BELIEVES THAT THIS WAS THE MOST CRITICAL MOMENT IN WHAT WAS TO BECOME OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS. Penn State’s rejection and then joining Big 10 began the process of conference realignments that continue. She believes that if Penn State had joined the Big East that it would have survived largely in tact.

ESPN founded at same time and the two grew up together. Big Monday Games vs. Big 8 earned big bucks. Made recruiting players easy as they were all familiar with the Big East.

The game that started the rivalry: 1980 - #2 Syracuse was playing its last game at the Manley Field House before Carrier Dome opened. Georgetown came back and spoiled the party. Thompson said “Manley Field House is officially closed.” to the outrage of Syracuse. It intensified in the BIg East Tournament final when Syracuse felt a Georgetown player had taken a swing at one of their players. Officials id not think so and gave a foul but not a technical. A short time after this the guy who was allegedly hit fouled out. Syracuse lost in overtime. Boeheim threw a chair he was so upset.

Ewing - Jamaican native who came to Boston and started the sport late. Parents put education first. 7 footer, ferocious defender and in High School scored with dunks. Clear #1 in country. His signing marked arrival of Big East. UCLA was too far; it just so happened that there was a KKK rally near NC when he visited; had already felt the racism of Boston area playing there. Having a Black coach who had experienced the same key factor. Ewing’s arrival was second only to Gavitt as the most important people who led to rise of Big East. THIS IS WHEN GAVITT ARGUED AND GOT THE CONFERENCE TO DO THE TOURNAMENT AT MADISON SQUARE. Prior to this had been in Boston, Providence, and Hartford.

Madison Square Garden - this is actually the fourth version of it. Been around since 1968 but people still think that all of the history happened here! Everyone feels it when they enter.


Georgetown - Made me reconsider Thompson. He protected his players and felt if everyone hated him they would not hate them (did not work). He was stoic and confrontational on one hand, but on other hand this is the guy who wore the Carnesecca Sweater t-shirt under his suit jacket and flashed it at Carnesecca for a laugh. Racism was at work and he was not afraid to call it out. On the one hand he opposed tightening academic standards by the NCAA. on the other hand he pushed his players to graduate and when they came spent more time talking about academics than basketball. HE HAD A DEFLATED BALL ON HIS DESK TO SHOW THAT BASKETBALL WILL END FOR YOU AT SOME POINT SO PREPARE FOR IT. THat ball is still on the Georgetown coach’s desk. Told them, you don’t have to love me, only respect. They lost to NC and Micheal Jordan on a last second shot when Ewing was a freshman. Made the finals twice more in next three years, winning one. They were aggressive on the court, but wore suits off of it. Thompson was so protective that he once summoned a drug dealer to see him so he could tell him to not let his players hang with him. The guy was indicted for several murders and Thompson went looking for him! This was the team gear to have if you were a young black male.

St John’s - a remarkable run - won or played in tournament final 2 of first 7; NCAA 12 of first 14 years; 4 sweet sixteens; 3 elite eights; 1 final four. Mullins was from Brooklyn. Did not look or move like an athlete but due to hard work was a marvel on the court - a great sharpshooter. Carneseca full of tall tales, humor, and was beloved by all. Because he grew up in a tough NYC neighborhood he could relate to and recruit New York players to stay home and come to St. John’s. His teams were largely made up of New Yorkers.

Syracuse - has regularly led the nation in attendance and considered to have the best home court advantage in the country. Earl the Pearl Washington was their guy! Not fast and could not jump particularly high, but he was shifty. A NYC playground legend. Told other players they did not have to set screens for him, he would get by his man. Attracted enormous crowds. 1987 was the Keith Smart game. Washington had left and General Douglas was in. 1996 - a team of overachievers came up short against a loaded Kentucky in finals. Would finally get it in 2003 with Carmelo Anthony.

Villanova - Massimino was a defensive guru. He used 55 different defensive sets during their run to the national championship in 1985. He would show you zone and then switch to man in a blink once you attacked what you thought was a zone. Without a shot clock they slowed everything down on offense and took the highest percentage shot they could. Played the perfect game to beat Georgetown. Massimino was confrontational and ran brutal practices but considered the team to be his family. Celebrities, players and coaches went to his house for pasta dinners and wine.

1985 was the height. NO CONFERENCE HAS EVER PUT 3 teams in final 4. BC almost became the fourth were it not for a buzzer beater in round of 8!!! Mullins, Ewing, Pinckney were the stars.

Providence - struggled until Pitino came along. He started the year the 3 point shot was introduced. (Most coaches were opposed but rules committee wanted to get guards into play again) Pitino Embraced it. We will use it and keep other team from using it. Billy Donovon became a star and a team with limited talent made final 4. Barnes replaced Pitino when he left for Knicks.

Seton Hall - The ultimate cinderella. They had poor facilities, were in a dangerous neighborhood, little support from administration, and had won one NIT before Big East. But Gavitt believed that Big East would pull them up. Did not happen under Bill Raferty who left for TV. Carlisimo was well-liked and recruited with pitch - you’ll get plenty of playing time. Continued to lose until an improbable run to a title game in 1989 where they beat Duke in an incredible comeback and then lost to Michigan by 1 in OT who were coached by then interim Fischer and also a surprise. Hall fans still angry over the call with 3 seconds left that led to their defeat but PJ made no mention of it in press conference. On that team Andrew Gaze was seen as a mercenary. He squeezed the college season in-between his commitments to basketball in Australia and school set up a 25,000 trust fund somehow avoiding sanctions. Had a tremendous shooters touch to go along with rugged defense of existing team.

UConn - had done somewhat better than Seton Hall in early years but many thought they were the “Northwestern of the Big East.” Losing Earl Kelly in 1986 due to grades sunk them to bottom. Well-liked Dom Perno resigned and a scathing report of athletic department came out. Calhoun took job that few others wanted. Chances of success were seen as slim. Field House leaked and could sit only 4,000 forcing them to stop using it for Big East games in 1986. But had advantages - besides Whalers only game in town; rabid fan base; huge media contingent followed them - “The horde.” Biggest advantage was Calhoun who could not abide failure which fit fan base perfectly. Connecticut’s inferiority complex to Boston and NY loved that he gave us swagger. His pitch to recruits - have you heard from St. Johns or Georgetown? No? Well, how would you like to beat them?” Since elite Big East programs grabbed best players in east, he went outside of the region to get players. Effort was required. You had to earn your uniform. You got faded gray t-shirts and shorts on day one.
My years coincided with the turnaround and predated the football expansion:
To Calhoun, Chris Smith was most important player ever. CT players had always gone to elite Big East teams, but Chris’s Mom wanted to be able to see him play close to home.
Strategy - could not match up offensively with others, so needed disruptive defense. Met with John Wooden and learned the 2-2-1 press which he used at Northeastern. HAD ONLY ONE LOSING SEASON.
1988 NIT - 20-13 that year, 4 Big East wins but beat Syracuse on the road and Georgetown in Civic Center with largest crowd ever in New England watching.
88-89 another NIT was seen as a letdown. Beaten by Alabama-Brimingham at Field House - last game there. I was there working the gate.
89-90 - THE DREAM SEASON - 30 wins, Big East Tournament Title which led to biggest celebration remembered. #1 seed in East. The Tate George shot beat Clemson in the Sweet 16 round. Then came Christian laetner’s buzzer beater which kept them from the final 4. Gampel opened in 1990.
ALLEN v. ALLEN - The opposites.
Iverson - went to prison for taking part in a riot between blacks and whites at a bowling ally. He eventually won on appeal. Mom begged Thompson to take him and straighten him out. Georgetown had weak guard play and was not as dominant as the past. Iverson an instinctual player with disregard for own well-being. Small, but tough and fast.
Ray Allen - military brat who travelled world. A black kid who spoke with a British accent when he settled in SC. Disciplined, hard working and a reader and a thoughtful conversationalist.
Unlike Iverson he was a purist. Did everything the right way and had the perfect shot.
1996 Big East Tournament - UConn wins on Ray Allen jumper; Ricky Moore smothered Iverson, and Kirk King scored 20.


But… no final fours for UConn from 89-98 despite all the winning. Calhoun decided to scale back his hours and have more fun nights for the team - perhaps he was wearing them out. Rip Hamilton and El-Amin. UConn and Duke kept trading who was #1 all season. Duke 37-1 and had 2 national titles and would have 4 drafted in first round that year. UConn third national champion for league - Georgetown, Villanova previous to them. Second championship was loaded with future NBA stars.
3 National Championships most by any Big East Coach.


1990 was the beginning of the end - Gavitt leaves to work for the Celtics. Tranghese his assistant takes over. He knew the 3 football schools were ripe for the picking by others. Felt they could not lose Syracuse.
Miami - took Big East over SEC and ACC. Had nothing on basketball table. VT, West Virginia, Rutgers started as football only but became basketball members. Not a part of the mission, this was about self-preservation. Swelled to 16 teams.
Most of the original coaches moved on and players took center state. 33 first round draft picks in 90’s.
Perhaps the turning point was when PItt urged other schools to reject a billion dollar contract from ESPN. Thought better deal could be made. Conference did so. But with conference realignment happening and Syracuse and Pittsburgh considering leaving ESPN actually decided to reduce offer. This only increased incentives to leave. Boheim never happy with move.


League was envy of the country. While coaches fought one another they never let anyone bad mouth anyone from the outside and needs of conference came before your own needs. Calhoun: “It was camelot with bad language.” Gavitt would invite coaches on vacations. They would meet yell at each other but then Gavitt would pair those most angry with each other on the golf course and they would usually return friends again. I had no idea how powerful the coaches were. They were more powerful than the AD’s.

National Championships: UConn 5, Villanova 3, Syracuse, Georgetown.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. Always happy to learn more about college basketball and this was a particularly interesting piece of it. Liked learning of all the big personalities of the Big East. Didn’t realize just how many big name players came from the conference. Sad that football-driven realignment ruined it (the more things change… etc). Book wasn’t the most well-written book I’ve ever read but the stories were interesting and it held my attention and I learned more about sports. Always a win

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable trip down memory lane. As a 32 year season ticket holder in the Dome, I witnessed much of this first hand. The Big East was truly a beast with the best players of its time. Winters have never been the same since the move to the ACC.

[Matt Zar-Lieberman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In April of 2008 I had a somewhat uncomfortable phone call with my Jewish grandmother explaining why I had ultimately decided to go to college at Pitt rather than Brandeis. I justified this choice to her by blathering on about the strength of their economics program for a few minutes while assiduously hiding that the true driver was the fact that I had become enamored with the Pitt Panthers’ basketball squad. And in my defense the team was coming off a riveting Big East Tournament championship and played a beguilingly tough and scrappy brand of basketball that embodied “the old Big East” of the 80’s. I was only a few weeks removed from seeing Pitt top Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinals at Madison Square Garden and from that point on it was clear that Brandeis had no shot with me. Dana O’Neil’s new book The Big East is an engaging love letter to the glory days of the league and the colorful players and coaches who transformed it from a ragtag group of eastern colleges to a collegiate basketball powerhouse.



The Big East is still operational and is not involved kind of “Ship of Theseus” situation: key members from the league’s heyday such as Georgetown, UConn, Villanova, and St. John’s still play in the conference and Madison Square Garden remains the site of their annual tournament. However, the Big East was still decimated by conference realignment musical chairs and lost behemoths such as Syracuse and Louisville and the league is now far less relevant than it was in its heyday. O’Neil’s book covers the beginnings of the league through the realignment in the early 2010’s, putting particular emphasis on the league in the late 80s and early 90s when the Big East boasted the biggest players and coaches and their teams were mainstays in the national championship game.

The league was initially formed in response to a change in the NCAA basketball tournament seeding policy in 1979 which required schools to play in a round robin format with regional schools. This provided a big incentive for regional powerhouses like Georgetown and Syracuse to group together to have more impressive schedules for the selection committee. Guided by their visionary commissioner Dave Gavitt, bolstered by a fortuitous television contract with an upstart network called ESPN, legendary coaches including John Thompson at Georgetown and Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, and a once-in-a-lifetime talent in Patrick Ewing, the Big East became the center of the college basketball universe in the 80’s, with half of the national championship games of the decade featuring at least one Big East team.

O’Neil profiles all of the key parties involved in the rise of the league, focusing mainly on coaches including Boeheim, Thompson, and UConn’s Jim Calhoun and officials such as commissioners Dave Gavitt and Mike Tranghese. O’Neil has covered college basketball for decades and is currently a Senior Writer for The Athletic and she was able to leverage her inevitably hefty rolodex for this project and conduct over 60 interviews with Big East luminaries, including John Thompson shortly before his death in 2020. There is more limited participation from former players, and while Patrick Ewing and a handful of others including Allen Iverson and Ray Allen get some attention it doesn’t seem like any of the three were interviewed for the book and O’Neil’s player interviews mainly come from role players. I didn’t have an issue with that, however, especially given that coaches were the only true constants over the years and legends such as Boeheim, Thompson, Calhoun, and Lou Carneseca at St. John’s played a tremendous role in catapulting their teams to national prominence and in general got there from stressing team basketball rather than riding a single transformative player.

The book proceeds in a mostly chronological fashion but each chapter centers around a given team. O’Neil checks all of the major Big East boxes, with substantial sections on all of the most successful teams and coaches of the period. I’d estimate that about three-quarters of the book covers the league’s history through the UConn 1996 championship team. After O’Neil chronicles the 2003 Syracuse national championship she largely runs through the remainder of the league’s history through realignment, though she does touch on the marathon six-overtime 2009 Big East tournament game between Syracuse and UConn.

While I grew up in the 2000s and would have appreciated more pages devoted to that period in the Big East’s history, the league was slightly less relevant during the period and I feel that books like The Big East that chronicle long time periods aren’t always great at recapping recent history. A lot of those memories are fresh in readers’ heads and there may not be much new material to mine there. Fans of some smaller schools may feel like they got short shrift due to O’Neil structuring chapters around teams rather than years (“Send it in Jerome!” only gets a passing mention and Pitt and the teams that joined the conference later such as Notre Dame barely get any attention) but I can’t fault that decision too much. The book flows well and didn’t feel too short or long. This was clearly a labor of love for O’Neil and it was an entertaining reflection on a remarkably tough (I found it amusing albeit not incredibly surprising that the Big East toyed with adding an extra foul before ejection) and special league and period in college basketball. Overall, The Big East is an enjoyable and nostalgic look at the Big East’s golden years and a worthwhile read for any college basketball fan wanting to remember or learn more about college basketball in the 80’s and 90’s.

8/10

[JP Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this might be my favorite book of all time (and wanting to yap about it is the entire reason I downloaded this app)
The book, much like the conference it covers, needs no introduction
The story is masterfully spun telling of the leagues concept and inception, its many triumphs on and off the hardwood, as well as the steps towards its eventual downfall before an epic rebirth.
Normally books about the big east almost seem like a memorial as they wax poetic about the glory days of Patrick Ewing and Chris Million never ceasing in their praise of the 1980s but Dana O’Neil recognizes that the big east was always so much more than a few players in a few games.
The stories in this book are truly unmatched compared to other sports stories such as this as the story winds through time you see the rise and fall of St. John’s, the dominance of Georgetown, the upstart Cinderella campaigns of Providence and Seton Hall to the ultimate rebuild of Jim Calhoun’s UConn.
There’s so many great anecdotes in this one that really highlight what a special conference this was and remains to be while also touching on the treachery and tragedy of the modern collegiate sports landscape at the hands of the pursuit of the all mighty dollar at the behest of ESPN.
Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is when it touches on things that have nothing to do with basketball be it Rick Pitino’s tragic loss of his son, Lou Carnesseca’s rough and tumble New York upbringing but most importantly of all John Thompson Jr and his Georgetown Hoyas. Lots of books about sports tend to shy away from its social impacts but not this one both good and bad. The struggles of Thompson as hebecame one of the pioneer African American faces in college sports as the head coach of a prestigious university in Washington DC of all places is a highlight.
Overall while selfishly I wish Mike Brey’s exploits with the fighting Irish were more prominent I cannot deny just how great of a comprehensive experience reading this book was
Long live the Big East

[Marty Monforte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Dana O’neil explains the development of the Big East, a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The humble beginnings of the Big East are detailed, and the personalities that helped the Big East to develop are highlighted. There is a lot of time spent in discussing David Gavitt ,the league’s founder and first commissioner and Mike Tranghese, the former sports director at Providence College and one of the conference’s founding members.

Additionally, one learns about some of the coaches who guided the basketball programs at this time. There is a lot of information about Jim Boeheim; John Thompson; Louie Carnesecca; PJ Carlisimo; Rick Pitino; Rollie Massimino; and Jim Calhoun and other coaches as well.

Also, there is interesting information about players such as Patrick Ewing; Pearl Washington; Billy Donovan; Chris Mullin and other players. It was interesting to learn about Ewing’s impact on the Georgetown basketball program; the contribution that Washington made to the Syracuse program and the influence that Mullin had on St. John’s basketball program.It was also interesting to learn about how hard Sherman Douglass worked at Syracuse during the practices and the games.

O’Neil did a good job of collecting quotes from coaches and players which added to the reader’s understanding of the conference’s history. She also described some of the important games that the schools played against each other and in the NCAA tournament.

The rivalries between the different programs and some of the contentious disagreements between the coaches are also addressed and discussed.

This book is informative, interesting and educational. It provided a unique insight into the development of the Big East and some of the important games that the teams have played. It brought back a lot of memories for me, and it reminded me how popular the Big East once was.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in college basketball.

[Christopher Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled: Inside the Most Entertaining and Influential Conference in College Basketball History

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Big East conference was formed in 1979, just as I was graduating from high school and starting college. The conference quickly became the focus of the college basketball world, featuring the best talent and the most competitive teams, based in many of the biggest markets in the U.S. This book follows the conference from the time Dave Gavitt founded it to fill the void he perceived for a power conference based in the northeast until the point where several original members left due to the football-driven conference realignments of the previous decade.


There are a couple of chapters devoted to the Georgetown Hoyas of Patrick Ewing and coach John Thompson. For many basketball fans of that time, that was the definitive team of the Big East. Playing their intense and aggressive brand of defense, the Hoyas played in three NCAA tournament championship games over a four year period. Syracuse and St. Johns were also very successful during the early years of the conference. However, the conference was incredibly deep, and nearly every one of the original conference members made tournament runs over the next 10-15 years. Reading this book reminded me of many of the players, games, and controversies that made college basketball so great in the 1980s.

I gave The Big East five stars on Goodreads. It took me back to a time I remember fondly of watching basketball and drinking beer through most of the weekend with my friends.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

College sports conferences fascinate me, and while that doesn't make me unique, I'd like to think that my fascination stems from a more unique place. Rather than be interested in college conferences for the standings at the end of the season, I'm intrigued by the power dynamics, the history, and the geography of a conference. Those three factors, amongst others, give each conference it's own unique DNA, and that builds into the reputation that it holds. In "The Big East" by Dana O'Neil, we get into some of the juicy aspects of what it means to build a conference from scratch.

The book focuses on the sport that led to the conceiving of the Big East - basketball. Football is mentioned, as are a few other sports, but O'Neil gives a (mostly) season by season recap of the Big East's basketball successes. The book itself was pretty brief, and I often found myself wanting more details and more story. That isn't to say there isn't meat here, but it all feels brief, particularly at the end of the Big East's life. I wish there was more of the behind the scenes information about the rise and fall of the conference, but ultimately, "The Big East" provides an entertaining and engaging read about the conference.

[Ian Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was just an elementary school kid early in my sports fandom, but I remember the Big East teams and the culture of the conference that swept all across the country. The Big East games on TV not only introduced me to beg names like Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullen, but also exposed me to different colleges in a different geographic region from where I lived. I remember everyone in school rocking Georgetown gear and later in high school some UCONN and Syracuse stuff. When I cam across this book, I immediately time traveled back to that era and wanted to fill in some knowledge from an adult lens.

Author Dana O'Neil did a great job telling the history of the Big East from its founding until what it is today. She and the many interviewees painted wonderful images of the eras they played in and of course, "The Garden." She helped me relive some key historical moments and some incredible games. The most interesting look back for me was learning about the big personalities coaching and running the Big East in its early prime. It truly was a different time and a "golden era" that we may never truly get to have in college basketball.

[Art Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to make sure I finished this during the BET, and the ideal happened: I read the last 20 pages or so after a Seton Hall win. Dana O'Neil went into the right amount of depth with this book. It's a fast read, weighing in at just over 200 pages, and gives the appropriate amount of attention to the right teams. I'm a Hall fan so they appear in the early stages of the conference and then of course when they had the dream season in 1989. UConn is an afterthought until they became the UConn that so many know now, and Syracuse and Georgetown were a thread throughout punctuated by St. John's and Villanova. Pittsburgh and BC are barely mentioned, which is about right.

This covers the classic Big East, running from 1979 through the dissolution of the original league (which had admittedly become bloated but dominant). It brings back great memories, and the chapters around each era really feels like that era. It also makes me feel old after seeing some Hall Big East games at Walsh and going to mid-80s games not really thinking how young the league was. I was young too.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging and enjoyable read. Dana O'Neil was on the Big East beat and had access to most of the seminal movers and shakers of the league. The book is craftfully edited to produce a fine general overview and ride down memory lane, touching on all the most important backroom discussions and decisions, coaches, players, tournaments, championships, etc. It also conveys extremely well the provincial pride and love of the Big East among the individuals in the Big East community, and perhaps most importantly, by the fan bases of the true Big East teams. The league and its history are so long and wonderful that IMO the book could have easily been twice as long. It glosses over many seasons/eras, teams and players. I think this was by design and made for a more condensed and concise history. The focus throughout stays with the original and important Big East teams and their history, at the expense of the various defectors (Boston College) and football pretenders (Notre Dame, Miami, West Virginia, Louisville , etc.).

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a five star book only if you are a Big East Conference college basketball fan. If you're not a Big East fan or a college basketball fan, then I don't know why you'd even consider reading this! ;-)

O'Neil does an excellent job of describing how the Big east Conference was formed and all the colorful coaches and players who helped to make it at one time the most dominant college basketball conference in the country. As someone who was around when this conference was formed, she brings back fond memories through her interviews with players and coaches. She ends with the breakup of the original Big East due to college football, but she also describes how the new Big East has held it's own in the current college basketball environment.

Again, if you're a college basketball fan and especially a Big East fan, this history of the conference is a must read.

[Doug Drinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am old enough to remember all the Ewing/Mullin stuff, but not old enough to remember a time before the Big East existed. It's funny how, in your mind, everything that existed when you were 12 years old had always existed. I didn't really realize that the conference was a young upstart at the time. I just thought dominant Georgetown and Syracuse teams had always been there and were simply part of the natural order of things. Was fun to hear the story.

If you're a Pitt fan, you'll give this book -50 stars. I don't believe Jerome Lane's name was mentioned even once. I'm not saying he's Patrick Ewing or anything, but that Lane / Smith / Miller / Martin / Matthews team spent the entire year in the top 10. I'm sure there were some fun stories there.

BC fans will also find coverage of their team lacking. But, to be fair, ......

[Jacob Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

College basketball is a sport like no other. The crowds, the venues, the players and traditions. It all comes together to become sports perfection. Amid this perfect storm, seemingly out of nowhere, a group of school formed together to put basketball first. In today's football-first collegiate platform, this seems backwards, and would ultimately be the undoing of the original Big East. But when the conference was in its prime, there was no match nor comparison.

O'Neill has hit on a brilliant concept here and writes it perfectly. From its humble beginnings to its multiple National Championships, O'Neill really showcases the highs, lows, struggles, and successes of the league. This is an absolute must-read for any college basketball fan.

[Kristen Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much. I really started watching college ball around the time I went to college, which is when the Big East was taking off. I was a big fan of many of these schools, so reading the behind the scenes stories delighted me. I love that each school got a chapter dedicated to their best seasons and mentions of every school were scattered throughout. It was so sad reading about how the league ended and I'm glad the rebirth was covered. (And as a UL fan, glad their win didn't have an asterisk with it ;)). If you loved college ball in the late 80s - early 00's, this book will remind you of players and wins nestled in your memory (at one point I squawked, ooh, is this the Kemba Walker miracle
tourney??) and you will enjoy the ride.

[Ella Brockway · Rating 5 out of 5]

i so rarely read books about sports anymore because i spend so many of my waking hours Reading About Sports, but i was surprised how much i enjoyed the experience of reading this. college basketball was my second real love and i definitely have gotten away from it in recent years, but this pulled me back into it a bit. i have had so many people over the years, from parents to grandparents to middle-school coaches to teachers, talk about how fun it was to watch this conference in its glory days and this delivered on painting a picture of what it was like in those days. ending chapters felt a bit abrupt and seemed to skip a lot of the 2000s (and, as a professional editor, the inconsistency of numeral usage drove me insane) but i recommend this to any CBB Fan Who Misses How Things Used to Be

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books covers the forming and history of the Big East. It covers the rivalries that developed (i.e. – Syracuse vs. Georgetown), the teams that either won the national championship or played in the final game and concludes with its reformation after most of the major colleges left for other conferences. This is a must read for anybody interested in the history of the Big East or college basketball.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and my nonfiction book review blog.