The Igloo

UConn is back in the Big East, baby! As of midnight July 1, UConn is back as a member of the Big East after seven miserable years in the AAC where their men's basketball team qualified for the NCAA Tournament just twice, their women's team simply steamrolled everyone and didn't lose a single game in conference play as well as the conference tournament, and football continued to turn to shit. With all that said, I'll explain why this move had to be made and how this will only help elevate the status of the Big East moving forward and why Big East fans everywhere should be excited about this news. Also, I've got a great interview with former Marquette big man and long-time fan favorite Matt Heldt as we talked about his four years playing for Coach Wojo, the mess that was the second semifinal at last year's Big East Tournament between Heldt's Golden Eagles and Seton Hall, and how his music taste expanded from classical music because of his history with the cello to using Rage Against the Machine to get him fired up before games. You'll really enjoy this, I promise!

In my first official episode of summer vacation, the first interview in my summer vacation series features former Seton Hall post player Mike Nzei, who came all the way from Nigeria as a teenager to accomplish great things both on and off the court during his time at The Hall. I'll also fill you in on the latest news from around the Big East, including the league becoming the first conference to have its teams wear Black Lives Matter patches on their jerseys next season.

Since this weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, I have a special message to the Big East Class of 2020. Also in this episode are my thoughts on the departures of Brendan Bailey from Marquette and Jordan Tucker from Butler, Georgetown star Mac McClung stunning everyone by entering the transfer portal, and an interview with 2016 Big East champion Braeden Anderson, who did the unthinkable when he played high-level college basketball while attending law school simultaneously. Enjoy this episode, stay safe out there, and enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day Weekend!

Over the past two years or so, there's been plenty of debate amongst Villanova fans as to which recent national championship team was better. This past Monday through a simulation on NBA 2K20, that debate was settled once and for all and for a great cause too. Joining me to talk about it are the organizer and host of this event, Kevin Rafferty and Darryl Reynolds! I've also got my thoughts on Marquette's newest acquisition and the rumors about Mac McClung possibly not returning to Georgetown for his junior year.

On this episode, I've got an exclusive interview with DePaul star Paul Reed, who's projected to be the first Blue Demon to be taken in the NBA Draft in 13 years. We discussed his DePaul career, what he's heard about the current draft process amidst this global pandemic, and his favorite DePaul memories.

Sorry it took me so long to post this new content, but I promise this is gonna be worth the wait! I've got an exclusive interview with Big East Executive Associate Commissioner Stu Jackson as we talked about what led to the Big East cancelling its conference tournament at MSG, how the league measured up with the other power conferences in college hoops, and his thoughts on UConn's return to the Big East beginning with the 2020-21 season. I hope you enjoy this episode and that you stay safe, wherever you are.

I can't believe I actually made it to my 50th episode of The Igloo, wow. Now I know I'm late to the party with making a March Madness bracket for the tournament that never was, but who really cares at this point? Monty Moss joins me to break down the bracket that yours truly made and make our predictions on it before the simulator takes over. Enjoy it and thank you again to everyone listening out there wherever you may be for all of your continued support of this podcast. It truly does mean the world to me.

It's about time I broke my silence on this pandemic and March Sadness. I also talked about what we all saw just over two weeks ago in what turned out to be the final game of the 2019-20 college hoops season. The major piece of this episode though is an in-depth interview with Saint Peter's assistant coach Ryan Whalen, who was Seton Hall's Director of Basketball Operations under Kevin Willard from 2010-16.

Yesterday was simply an insane day in the world of sports, especially within the basketball community as the NBA has suspended its season indefinitely due to the Coronavirus. The Big East also announced that they would be limiting attendance for the rest of their tournament, which will make watching the rest inside of an empty MSG really weird. On this fourth installment of the March Marathon, I've got my complete analysis on last night's first round games and predictions for a loaded day of basketball inside an empty Madison Square Garden.

It's official, Seton Hall's Myles Powell is your Big East Player of the Year while Greg McDermott of Creighton is your Big East Coach of the Year. I've got my thoughts on all of that plus my keys to and predictions for tonight's first round games at MSG.