By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Sports Desk
NEW YORK – At one point in 2023, this column took a deep dive into a lifetime of memories created within New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It’s worthwhile to take a look back at that column and soak in the many experience from such a magical world.
This week, writing from a press room we used to call “The Rotunda” but now renamed “The Expo,” it’s time to recall the rise of the Big East Conference, which began in 1979-80 but didn’t make “The Garden” its post-season HQ until 1983 after fiddling around with a moving post season home that included:
- 1980 – Providence Civic Center (Georgetown 87-81 over Syracuse)
- 1981 – Carrier Dome (Syracuse 83-80 over Villanova)
- 1982 – Hartford Civic Center (Georgetown 72-54 over Villanova)
In ‘83, the tournament moved to The Garden, and the BIG EAST never looked back, finding the perfect meeting place for a bevy of teams taking the subway, the Tubes, Amtrak or an easy flight into town. When the conferences played square-dancing do-si-do and Val Ackerman was named Commissioner, she and the “Catholic 7” school presidents made sure they kept the rights to play at MSG. Then Ackerman re-upped to the point where this year marks the 43rd consecutive season the BIG EAST champion has been crowned at The Garden.
Just last season, Ackerman and Garden event guru Joel Fisher announced the tournament will continue to be held at The Garden through 2032, ensuring “The World’s Most Famous Arena” will host 50 consecutive BIG EAST men’s basketball tournaments.
Ackerman and the Big East are not just about men’s hoops, as Ackerman was formerly the President of the WNBA (1996-2005) and represents women’s sports about as strongly as anyone in the USA. All totaled, sponsored athletic programs of the Big East institutions provides big time college participation opportunities for more than 3,800 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports.
The memories of the past run deep (as the link to column above connects), but what’s most important is that new memories are being created each and every year. The future is quite bright, as long as Ackerman is in the Commissioner’s chair and the game officials continue to excel by allowing the players, ahem, student-athletes to determine the outcomes with a “let them play” style. That works, as long as the teams are evenly matched and there’s no B.S. or malicious intent on the physical nature of the game.
At this tournament, the game officials just might be the MVPs.
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While the topic is NCAA college basketball, here’s to sharing my United States Basketball Writers’ annual choices for men’s and women’s All-Americans, and the Wayman Tisdale Rookie award, along with the Hank IbaCoach of the Year award:
Men’s All American Vote (Ranked)
Men’s All-America 1 – Johni Broome, Auburn
Men’s All-America 2 – Cooper Flagg, Duke
Men’s All-America 3 – RJ Davis, North Carolina
Men’s All-America 4 – Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Men’s All-America 5 – Kam Jones, Marquette
Men’s All-America 6 – Mark Sears, Alabama
Men’s All-America 7 – RJ Luis, St. John’s
Men’s All-America 8 – Hunter Dickenson, Kansas
Men’s All-America 9 – Caleb Love, Arizona
Men’s All-America 10 – Alex Karaban, U Conn
Men’s All-America 11 – Kadary Richmond, St. John’s
Men’s All-America 12 – Ace Bailey, Rutgers
Men’s All-America 13 – Eric Dixon, Villanova
Men’s All-America 14 – Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Men’s All-America 15 – Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest
Men’s Most Outstanding Player Vote (Ranked)
Oscar Robertson Trophy 1 – Cooper Flagg, Duke
Oscar Robertson Trophy 2 – Johni Broome, Auburn
Oscar Robertson Trophy 3 – Cam Jones, Marquette
Wayman Tisdale Rookie (First Year) Player of the Season Vote (Ranked)
Tisdale Award 1 – Cooper Flagg, Duke
Tisdale Award 2 – Liam McNeeley, U Conn
Tisdale Award 3 – Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn
Hank Iba Award for National Coach of the Year Vote (Ranked)
Henry Iba Award 1 – Bruce Pearl, Auburn
Henry Iba Award 2 – Tom Izzo, Michigan State
Henry Iba Award 3 – Rick Pitino, St. John’s
On the women’s side, here is my All-American ballot:
Women’s All-America 1 – Paige Bueckers, U Conn
Women’s All-America 2 – JuJu Watkins, USC
Women’s All-America 3 – Lauren Betts, UCLA
Women’s All-America 4- Madison Booker, Texas
Women’s All-America 5 – Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State
Women’s All-America 6 – Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Women’s All-America 7- Hailey Van Lith, TCU
Women’s All-America 8 – Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Women’s All-America 9 – Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Women’s All-America 10 – Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
Women’s All-America 11 – Kiki Rice, UCLA
Women’s All-America 12 – Mikaylah Williams, LSU
Women’s All-America 13 – Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas
Women’s All-America 14 – Grace Larkins, South Dakota
Women’s All-America 15 – Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
HAVERBACK: Also, of importance, the USBWA recognized the long service to the game of women’s basketball by Rose DiPaula, Director of Strategic Communications and Content Development at the University of Maryland, who was honored with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award winner for 2025. … The award is presented annually to recognize those in women’s college basketball who have rendered a special service to the USBWA and sportswriters who cover college basketball. It is named after the late Mary Jo Haverbeck, the longtime women’s sports communications director at Penn State who passed away in January 2014. The award pays tribute to Haverbeck for her pioneering and visionary work as one of the first women to work in the sports communication profession.
BIG EAST LEGEND: After the press conferences were completed on Friday night, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino presented John Paquette, the retiring BIG EAST head of communications (since Day 1), with an “official” No. 35 St. John’s uniform/jersey to commemorate Paquette’s 35 years of service to the BIG EAST conference. A classy move by Pitino and St. John’s players/athletic staff as Paquette had only announced his decision to retire (at the end of the school year) this week. “While it’s impossible to imagine a BIG EAST world without John Paquette in it, we join in the chorus of congratulations that we know will come his way with this announcement,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “The BIG EAST will be eternally grateful to John for countless late nights, unrelenting travel, his unmatched knowledge about our proud history, and the extraordinary relationships he’s developed with media members across the country. Simply put, few have done more for the BIG EAST than John. We wish him, Debbie, Phil, Charlotte, Terry, and his family nothing but the best as they begin this new family chapter.” Paquette has been active in College Sports Communicators (CSC) – (formerly the SIDs), the national trade organization of college athletics communicators. He has served terms on the CSC Executive Board and Board of Directors and was CSC President for the 2023-24 academic year. Paquette is a member of the CSC Hall of Fame. He’s also mentored countless communications staffers and interns who have gone on to enjoy productive careers in the sports industry.
TIDBITS: Red Sox Slugger Rafael Devers made his 2025 spring training debut on Saturday. He batted second, ahead of INF Alex Bregman and INF Trevor Story. … San Francisco Giants right fielder Jerar Encarnacion is tied for the MLB spring training lead in RBI with 13. … Throughout spring training, the New York Mets pitching staff has raved about teammate Clay Holmes’ “stuff,” saying it’s been “nasty” which is the ultimate compliment. On Friday, Holmes was named as the starter for the Mets’ March 27 in Houston. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, is converting a career reliever to a starter over the past few months and like what he’s seen. … It’s Selection Sunday, and the Southeast Conference might get a load of invites to the Big Dance. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes it would be “justified” (his word not ours) for his conference to receive as many as 14 bids to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. “It’s a unicorn league right now. We’re not going to change our name, but we stand alone historically. And I think that’ll be rewarded,” said Sankey as noted in D-1 ticker. “We went 30-4 against the ACC,” he added. … St. John’s went (0-1) against the SEC, dropping a November 24 game to Georgia (66-63). … Villanova relieved head coach Kyle Neptune of his duties after three years at the help. Neptune was an assistant to the NCAA chmpionship coach Jay Wright and went to Fordham for a year or so, turning around the Rams’ fortunes before returning to ‘Nova. The Villanova job is one of the gems of college basketball coaching. They’ll be lining up for interviews in Philly.
THIS JEST IN: Red Sox spring training signee Trayce Thompson leads the Majors in spring training Home Runs with six. He also leads the Grapefruit League in OPS (1.585) and has hit .357 (10-for-28) with 13 RBI in 14 games. At the moment, there’s no clarity on whether the 33-year old veteran MLB outfielder with a career .212 batting average will make the big league club or not. There’s a decent chance he’ll get picked up by another club if the Sox part ways when camp breaks or he might become a fill-in for Wilyer Abreu, who may or may not be ready for Opening Day after a gastrointestinal virus caused him to lost a significant amount of weight this spring. Abreau, however, was in the Red Sox starting lineup on Saturday, batting eighth.
YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: There were multiple reports this week on the upcoming fate of the MSG Network and its counterpart in the amazing Sphere venue – the combination being Sphere Entertainment. According to reports in Front Office Sportsa month ago and many financial reports this week, Sphere reported financial results for the three months ending Dec. 31. Revenue declined 2% to $308 million with a net loss of $126 million for the fourth quarter. The company also warned that bankruptcy is an option for the regional sports network if it cannot refinance its $804 million in debt that originally came due last October 11. The RSN’s debt sits within the MSG arm, and creditors can’t make a claim on Sphere. The company and its lenders have entered into several forbearance agreements to extend the deadline, with the current expiration date on March 26. … In other words, “It could be trouble for MSG Net.” … Now, why is that such a “You Can’t Make It Up” item? It seems New York Knicks franchise owner James Dolan – who has been on a two-year rant on this topic – called for a financial resolution to be voted on at this month’s NBA Board of Governors meeting as he’s asking for clearer accounting of the league’s finances, according to a letter received this week by the league office and the NBA Board of Governors. Back in September, Dolan said he wouldn’t be voting on the league’s 2024-25 budget or voting for a chairman of the board. … What’s his beef? … Last year, Dolan sent another letter criticizing the league for its new television deal, which he said would render regional sports networks as “unviable” moving forward. … “The NBA has made the move to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market,” Dolan wrote in the letter, which was obtained by ESPN. “Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure.
“Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal,” wrote Dolan and his attorney. … The NBA signed a new 11-year media rights deal worth $76 billion, granting broadcast rights on behalf of the league to ESPN/ABC, NBCUniversal, and Amazon Prime Video, starting in the 2025-26 season. This agreement will significantly increase the number of nationally televised games and thus limited individual team “home broadcasts.” … In summary, a guy who is bankrupting a regional sports network, complete with linear and streaming rights in the No.1 major market in the USA, is now peering into the line-by-line operation of the league office which has helped increase franchise values from some $32.5 million (expansion of 1998-99) to $125m (expansion of 1995) to some $4 or $5 or even $6 billion in 2025, according to recent reports of the proposed sale of Boston Celtics. He’s seeking minutia from a league office that took the national TV deal from $88m in 1982-83 to its current $76 billion?
C’mon now.
Interestingly, New York Mets club owner Steve Cohen recently added more than 400,000 shares to his position in Sphere Entertainment through his Point72 Asset Management hedge fund, according to a Feb. 14 SEC filing. It pushed the billionaire’s stake in Sphere to 7.3%, according to a report this week in Sportico.
What do the Mets see that MSG/Knicks/Rangers do not?