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The Breakfast Buffet: St. John’s has hope, Providence-Georgetown, Providence is on the clock

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, the morning column on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

St. John’s has hope
And that’s something that this program hasn’t had much of over the last few decades. There are certain hires that change the entire complexion of an organization. It happened when the Knicks hired Pat Riley in 1991. It happened when the Jets hired Bill Parcells in 1996. It happened on Monday when St. John’s hired Pitino. Rebuilding the Red Storm program won’t be easy, but nothing has been easy for St. John’s, who hasn’t won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2000. With immediate eligibility via the transfer portal, Pitino, and the selling point of New York City, this program can be nationally relevant as early as next season. There is truly a new dawn in Queens. Pitino will be introduced at a press conference later today at Madison Square Garden.

Providence-Georgetown is the Big East’s newest rivalry
Ed Cooley’s decision on Monday to leave his hometown for Washington D.C. immediately means that there will plenty of vitriol whenever these two teams play moving forward. That will especially be true when Cooley returns to Providence next season as the head coach of the Hoyas. Never before has a sitting Big East head coach left for another job within the conference, but that all changed on Monday. This is the new rivalry to watch in the Big East.

Providence is on the clock
Fans of the Friars’ program may be disgusted with Cooley for leaving to take the Georgetown job, but they can’t ignore what he did during his tenure. Under Cooley’s stewardship, Providence advanced to seven of the last nine NCAA Tournaments. Prior to that, it advanced to seven NCAA Tournaments in the previous 27 years. That’s a credit to Cooley, who made the Friars a national brand. Whoever replaces him is going to have some awfully big shoes to fill. Providence’s administration has an incredibly important hire to make in the upcoming days and weeks.

On The Side

  • Arkansas is just 6-26 from three-point range in its first two NCAA Tournament games. It’s going to be awfully tough for the Razorbacks to go “over the top” of UConn’s interior defense in the Sweet 16 with their outside shooting.
  • Gonzaga has won four of its last five meetings against UCLA, including the last two.
  • One good sign for Xavier: Souley Boum is just 8-26 from the field and 2-12 from three-point range in two NCAA Tournament games and this squad was still able to advance to the Sweet 16.
  • Jim Larranaga has led Miami to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament four times since 2013. Remember when this used to be a football school?
  • Nae’Qwan Tomlin continues to be an X-Factor for Kansas State. In the Wildcats’ first two NCAA Tournament games, the 6-10 Tomlin is averaging 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and three blocks.

Leftovers