If March Madness is college basketball Christmas, then Big East Media Day is college basketball Thanksgiving. Media day brings the Big East conference’s 11 member institutions together under one roof to (sometimes awkwardly) discuss the summer and plans for the upcoming winter. Every attendee praises one another — regardless of how good their teams may actually be.
And of course, there are the in-laws — in this case, the mobs of reporters and camera crews that seem to be there only for the St. John’s University and the University of Connecticut (UConn) men’s basketball teams.
The Big East conference hosted its annual media day for men’s and women’s basketball at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 21, where coaches and players sat down with members of the media to talk about their teams, expectations and ongoing structural changes in college athletics.
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman opened the event with a speech touching on the conference’s role in the changing landscape of college sports. This summer, the House settlement allowed universities to pay players directly for the first time, and a series of antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA has erased college athletics’ eligibility rules bit by bit.
Ackerman said she supported the SCORE Act, a bill pending before the House of Representatives which would provide conferences more power to regulate student-athletes, and expanding the NCAA men’s basketball tournament if it would not reduce the amount of money a team receives for winning a game.
“We ask a great deal of the players who represent our schools on the basketball court, and we believe the system that now allows them to share in our sport’s commercial rewards is appropriate and fair,” Ackerman said in her opening remarks. “We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us where college sports will be in one year, three years or a decade from now. What is clear is that we need a national rules framework that heads off incessant lawsuits.”
The SCORE Act would standardize regulations at the federal level, legally prevent student-athletes from being recognized as employees and grant the NCAA and its members immunity from antitrust lawsuits.
Georgetown Athletic Director Lee Reed, an NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee member, said he agreed with Ackerman.
“It’s not to take away any of the benefits that our student-athletes deserve. It’s more to create a level playing field for everyone,” Reed told The Hoya in an interview on the sidelines of media day. “We need to have a framework in place.”
Reed added that tournament expansion would benefit the Big East, but he understands it remains a controversial topic.
“One of the things for us is that 80% of those new opportunities would go to conferences like ours, so there’s some opportunity for us to grow in terms of bids,” Reed said. “It’s a great tournament. Some people, most people are saying leave well enough alone, so we’ll see.”
Georgetown men’s basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley and four players — junior guards Malik Mack, DeShawn Harris-Smith and KJ Lewis, and sophomore forward Caleb Williams — represented the Hoyas on the men’s side.
Early in the morning, the Big East announced Lewis was named to the all-conference second team and Mack was named to the all-conference third team.
Both players said they appreciated the recognition, but that it did not affect their focus or motivation approaching the season.
“We still got a lot to prove to ourselves and to the conference, but it definitely feels good to be recognized by all the coaches in this prestigious conference,” Lewis said at media day.
Mack echoed his teammate, saying he appreciated “knowing that the coaches think highly of us with respect to our games, but we still have much more to prove.”
Cooley said the Hoyas’ roster was developing on track and he expected them to continue to grow.
“I like the tenacity of our group,” Cooley said. “I think defensively we have an opportunity to be elite. Offensively, we’re still trying to figure it out, but I really like the men that we have.”
Cooley was also effusive towards St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins, whom Cooley coached at Providence College. When Hopkins entered the transfer portal after last season, Georgetown heavily recruited him, but lost out to the Red Storm.
“I think he’s going to be one of the better players in the country,” Cooley told a group of reporters. “He’s a really good player. He’s a very versatile player. I hope he’s awful when he plays Georgetown.”
Kevin Willard is entering his first season as head coach for Villanova University men’s basketball after three seasons as the University of Maryland’s head coach. His leaving, immediately after Maryland’s best season in a decade, left a sour taste in the mouths of some Terrapin fans. A group of Maryland fans have been organizing an effort to sit behind the Villanova bench when the Wildcats visit the Hoyas on Feb. 7, 2026.
Willard, who has a close friendship with Cooley, said he was unbothered by the possibly adverse environment.
“I think it’s great. I’m trying to help Ed’s budget — the more ticket sales I can get for Ed,” Willard told The Hoya. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to seeing the Maryland fans.”
When the reporters after the Red Storm or Huskies were unable to break through the rings of people surrounding the two universities’ coaches and players, they made their way over to other teams.
One such reporter asked Cooley which team he believed was going to win the Big East: “St. John’s or UConn?”
“Georgetown,” Cooley said.
“I can’t give two shits about St. John’s and UConn,” Cooley added. “I’m at the Georgetown table.”
