The 2002–03 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 24th in conference history, and involved its 14 full-time member schools.
Boston College and Connecticut were the regular-season co-champions of the East Division with identical records of , and Pittsburgh and Syracuse were co-champions of the West Division with identical records of . Pittsburgh won the Big East tournament championship.
Syracuse won the national championship, and St. John's won the 2003 National Invitation Tournament.
Season summary & highlights For the third and final season, the Big East used a divisional structure with an East Division and a West Division, each composed of seven teams. The conference scrapped its divisions and moved to a unitary structure the following season. Boston College and Connecticut were the East Division regular-season co-champions with identical records of . It was Boston College's fifth regular-season championship or co-championship and third division championship or co-championship.Under an earlier Big East divisional structure Boston College won a Big East 6 Division co-championship in the 1996–97 season, and it also won the East Division title outright in the 2000–01 season. It was Connecticut's eighth regular-season championship or co-championship and fourth division championship or co-championship.Under an earlier Big East divisional structure Connecticut won two outright Big East 6 Division championships, in the 1995–96 and 1997–98 season, and it also won the East Division title outright in the 2001–02 season. Pittsburgh and Syracuse were the regular-season co-champions of the West Division. It was Pittsburgh's fourth conference championship or co-championship and second division championship or co-championship. It was Syracuse's eighth conference championship or co-championship and second division championship or co-championship.Under an earlier Big East divisional structure Syracuse won an outright Big East 7 Division championship in the 1997–98 season. Pittsburgh won its first Big East tournament championship. Syracuse won its first national championship. Syracuse freshman forward Carmelo Anthony was both the top scorer and Most Outstanding Player of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. St. John's won the 2003 National Invitation Tournament, defeating Georgetown in the final. The following season, however, St. John's vacated 20 victories this season and its NIT championship due to sanctions imposed on the program because of the use of an ineligible player. St. John's senior guard Marcus Hatten was named Most Valuable Player of the 2003 NIT, but Hatten's award also was vacated the following season.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Al Skinner 6th Connecticut Jim Calhoun 17th Georgetown Craig Esherick 5th Miami Perry Clark 3rd Notre Dame Mike Brey 3rd Pittsburgh Ben Howland 4th Resigned April 3, 2003 Providence Tim Welsh 5th Rutgers Gary Waters 2nd St. John's Mike Jarvis 5th Seton Hall Louis Orr 2nd Big East Coach of the Year Syracuse Jim Boeheim 27th Villanova Jay Wright 2nd Virginia Tech Ricky Stokes 4th Fired March 10, 2003 West Virginia John Beilein 1st
Rankings Pittsburgh was ranked in the Associated Press poll Top 10 all season, reaching as high as No. 2 and finishing the season as No. 4. Connecticut, Notre Dame, and Syracuse also spent time in the AP Top 25 and were ranked in it at the end of the season.
+ 2002–03 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/18 11/25 12/2 12/9 12/16 12/23 12/30 1/6 1/13 1/20 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/17 2/24 3/3 3/10 FinalBoston College Connecticut 15 14 12 11 9 8 6 5 3 6 11 14 18 23 23 Georgetown Miami Notre Dame 10 9 8 6 5 10 16 11 10 10 12 9 16 17 22 Pittsburgh 5 5 5 5 4 4 2 2 6 3 2 2 4 7 9 8 7 5 4 Providence Rutgers St. John's Seton Hall Syracuse 25 24 19 17 15 15 12 11 13 Villanova Virginia Tech West Virginia
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Troy Bell BC 25.2 Michael Sweetney GU 22.8 Marcus Hatten SJU 22.2 Carmelo Anthony Syr 22.2 Drew Schifino WVU 20.1
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Emeka Okafor Conn 11.2 Michael Sweetney GU 10.4 Carmelo Anthony Syr 10.0 Ryan Gomes Prov 9.7 Hakim Warrick Syr 8.5
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Chris Thomas ND 6.9 Brandin Knight Pitt 6.3 Andre Barrett SHU 5.3 Taliek Brown Conn 4.8 Ben Gordon Conn 4.7
StealsNameSchoolSPG Marcus Hatten SJU 2.9 Troy Bell BC 2.3 Gerry McNamara Syr 2.2 Brandin Knight Pitt 2.1 Jerome Coleman RU 1.9
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Emeka Okafor Conn 4.7 Michael Sweetney GU 3.2 Marcus Douthit Prov 3.0 Herve Lamizana RU 3.0 Jeremy McNeil Syr 2.9
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Craig Smith BC .603 Emeka Okafor Conn .580 GU .547 Hakim Warrick Syr .541 Ryan Gomes Prov .537
3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG% Gary Buchanan Vill .409 Matt Carroll ND .407 Troy Bell BC .402 RU .295 No other qualifiers
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Gerry McNamara Syr .909 Chris Thomas ND .871 Troy Bell BC .847 Matt Carroll ND .844 Gerald Riley GU .843
Postseason
Big East tournament
Seeding Two teams — the seventh-place finishers in each division based on conference record, after the application of tiebreakers as necessary — did not qualify for the Big East Tournament. The remaining six teams in each division were seeded No. 1 through No. 6 by division based on conference record, again applying tiebreakers as necessary. Four teams — the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each division — received a bye into the quarterfinal round. Eight teams — the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds in each division — played in the first round. In the first round the No. 3 East seed played the No. 6 West seed, the No. 4 East seed played the No. 5 West seed, the No. 5 East seed played the No. 4 West seed, and the No. 6 East seed played the No. 3 West seed.
Seeding in the East Division was and Seeding in the West Division was and The two seventh-place finishers that did not qualify for the tournament were Virginia Tech in the East Division and Rutgers in the West Division.
Bracket
NCAA tournament
Four Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Connecticut, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh lost in the regional semifinals. Syracuse won the national championship. Syracuse freshman forward Carmelo Anthony scored 121 points during the tournament and was both its top scorer and Most Outstanding Player.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final Four Final Syracuse East 3 14 Manhattan, 6 Oklahoma State, 10 Auburn, 1 Oklahoma, S1 Texas, W2 Kansas, Pittsburgh Midwest 2 15 Wagner, 7 Indiana, 3 Marquette, Connecticut South 5 12 BYU, 4 Stanford, 1 Texas, Notre Dame West 5 12 Milwaukee, 4 Illinois, 1 Arizona,
National Invitation Tournament
Six Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in three of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Villanova lost in the opening round and Boston College and Seton Hall in the first round. Georgetown defeated Providence in a second-round game. St. John's won the tournament championship, defeating Georgetown in the final.
The following season, St. John's center Abe Keita revealed that a member of the team's staff had paid him nearly $300 a month for the past four seasons, making him ineligible to play. As a result, St. John's took various actions, including vacating 43 wins in which Keita participated, among them the team's victories and eventual championship in the 2003 NIT. St. John's became the third team in the history of the NIT to be forced to vacate its standing in the tournament. St. John's senior guard Marcus Hatten was named the 2003 NIT's tournament Most Valuable Player, but this award also was vacated.
School Opening round Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Bye Boston University, Virginia, UAB, Texas Tech, Georgetown, Georgetown Bye Tennessee, Providence, North Carolina, Minnesota, , Providence Richmond, College of Charleston, Georgetown, Seton Hall Bye Rhode Island, Boston College Fairfield, Temple, Villanova Siena,
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Troy Bell, Boston College, G Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, So. Rookie of the Year: Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, F, Fr. Most Improved Player: Hakim Warrick, Syracuse, F, So. Coach of the Year: Louis Orr, Seton Hall (2nd season)
All-Big East First Team Troy Bell, Boston College, G Sr., , , Minneapolis, Minn. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, F, Fr., , , New York, N.Y. Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, So., , , Houston, Tex. Michael Sweetney, Georgetown, F Jr., , , Oxon Hill, Md. Marcus Hatten, St. John's, G Sr., , , Baltimore, Md. Matt Carroll, Notre Dame, G Sr., , , Horsham, Pa.
All-Big East Second Team: Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh, G Sr., , , East Orange, N.J. Andre Barrett, Seton Hall, G Jr., , , The Bronx, N.Y. Ryan Gomes, Providence, F, So., , , Waterbury, Conn. Craig Smith, Boston College, F, Fr., , , Inglewood, Calif. Chris Thomas, Notre Dame, G, So., , , Indianapolis, Ind. Ben Gordon, Connecticut, G, So., , , Mount Vernon, N.Y.
All-Big East Third Team: Chevon Troutman, Pittsburgh, F, So., , , Williamsport, Pa. Julius Page, Pittsburgh, G Jr., , , Buffalo, N.Y. Darius Rice, Miami, F Jr., , , Jackson, Miss. Hakim Warrick, Syracuse, F, So., , , Philadelphia, Pa. Drew Schifino, West Virginia, F, So., , , Pittsburgh, Pa.
Big East All-Rookie Team: Craig Smith, Boston College, F, Fr., , , Inglewood, Calif. Torin Francis, Notre Dame, F, Fr., , , Boston, Mass. Donnie McGrath, Providence, G, Fr., , , Katonah, N.Y. Kelly Whitney, Seton Hall, F, Fr., , , Chicago, Ill. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, F, Fr., , , New York, N.Y. Gerry McNamara, Syracuse, G, Fr., , , Scranton, Pa. Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia, C, Fr., , , Martinsburg, W.Va.
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 2003 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America Second Team: Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, Key Stats: 22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 45.3 FG%, 33.7 3P%, 778 points Troy Bell, Boston College, Key Stats: 25.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.3 spg, 44.1 FG%, 40.2 3P%, 781 points
Second Team All-America: Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, Key Stats: 22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 45.3 FG%, 33.7 3P%, 778 points Troy Bell, Boston College, Key Stats: 25.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.3 spg, 44.1 FG%, 40.2 3P%, 781 points
AP Honorable Mention Matt Carroll, Notre Dame Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh Emeka Okafor, Connecticut Michael Sweetney, Georgetown Chris Thomas, Notre Dame
See also 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 2002–03 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 2002–03 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 2002–03 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team 2002–03 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 2002–03 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team 2002–03 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team
Notes
References