1982–83 Big East Conference men's basketball season

The 1982–83 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the fourth in conference history, and involved its nine full-time member schools.

Boston College, Villanova, and tied for the regular season championship with identical 12–4 records. St. John's was the champion of the Big East tournament.

Season summary & highlights The Big East expanded to nine teams, adding Pittsburgh as a member. The addition of Pittsburgh lengthened the conference's regular season from 14 to 16 games for each member school. In a game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, on December 11, 1982, Syracuse handed Houston's "Phi Slama Jama" team its first loss of the season, one of only three defeats Houston suffered all season. Rumors circulating since 1981 that Georgetown sophomore center Patrick Ewing lacked the intellect for the school and could not pass his classes led to opposing fans harassing him with taunts about his intelligence and race during Big East road games, carrying signs reading "EWING CAN'T READ THIS", "THINK EWING THINK", and "EWING IS AN APE", and throwing things such as banana peels at him on the court. During Georgetown's game at Syracuse before a sold-out crowd in the Carrier Dome on January 10, 1983, a fan threw an orange at Ewing while he was attempting a free throw, narrowly missing him and prompting Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim to grab a microphone and tell the crowd that he would pull his team off the court and forfeit the game to Georgetown if such behavior continued. Boston College, Villanova, and tied for the regular season championship with identical 12–4 records. It was the second regular season championship for all three schools. St. John's won its first Big East tournament championship. The Big East tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first time, beginning a long-running association between the tournament and Madison Square Garden.

Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Gary Williams 1st Connecticut Dom Perno 6th Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 11th Pittsburgh Roy Chipman 3rd Providence Joe Mullaney 16th St. John's Lou Carnesecca 15th Big East Coach of the Year Seton Hall P. J. Carlesimo 1st Syracuse Jim Boeheim 7th Villanova Rollie Massimino 10th

Rankings St. John's and Villanova were ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll for the entire season, and Georgetown was ranked in all but one weekly poll. Boston College and Syracuse also were ranked in the Top 20 during the season.

+ 1982–83 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/29 12/6 12/13 12/20 12/27 1/3 1/10 1/17 1/24 1/31 2/7 2/14 2/21 2/28 3/7 FinalBoston College 18 19 15 14 11 Connecticut Georgetown 2 2 3 5 11 10 17 19 15 14 14 14 18 16 15 20 Pittsburgh Providence St. John's 19 12 12 9 7 7 7 3 8 7 5 7 6 9 10 8 3 Seton Hall Syracuse 16 13 14 9 13 15 18 20 15 17 13 18 20 Villanova 5 4 10 19 18 16 14 15 13 11 11 12 8 7 4 13 13

Regular-season statistical leaders

ScoringNameSchoolPPG Clyde Vaughan Pitt 21.9 John Garris BC 19.7 Chris Mullin SJU 19.1 Ron Jackson Prov 18.1 Erich Santifer Syr 17.9

ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Patrick Ewing GU 10.2 Ed Pinckney Vill 9.7 Clyde Vaughan Pitt 9.2 Jay Murphy BC 8.1 Otis Thorpe Prov 8.0

AssistsNameSchoolAPG Leo Rautins Syr 6.2 Ricky Tucker Prov 6.1 Stewart Granger Vill 5.5 Michael Adams BC 5.3 Bill Culbertson Pitt 5.1

StealsNameSchoolSPG Michael Adams BC 2.8 Gene Smith GU 2.1 Gene Waldron Syr 1.9 Dominic Pressley BC 1.8 Karl Hobbs Conn 1.7

BlocksNameSchoolBPG Patrick Ewing GU 3.3 Ed Pinckney Vill 2.1 John Garris BC 1.9 Bill Wennington SJU 0.9 Bruce Kuczenski Conn 0.9

Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Otis Thorpe Prov .636 Chris Mullin SJU .577 John Garris BC .573 Patrick Ewing GU .570 Erich Santifer Syr .568

Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Chris Mullin SJU .878 John Pinone Vill .846 Michael Jackson GU .832 Karl Hobbs Conn .825 Michael Adams BC .809

Postseason

Big East tournament

Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The eighth- and ninth-seeded teams played a first-round game, and the other seven teams received a bye into the quarterfinals.

The tournament's seeding was as follows:

Bracket Bracket

NCAA tournament

Five Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament, with St. John's seeded No. 1 in the East Region. Georgetown and Syracuse both lost in the second round, Boston College and St. John's in the regional semifinals, and Villanova in the Midwest Region final.

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Villanova Midwest 3 Bye 11 Lamar, 7 Iowa, 1 Houston, St. John's East 1 Bye 9 Rutgers, 4 Georgia, Boston College West 4 Bye 12 Princeton, 1 Virginia, Georgetown Midwest 5 12 4 Syracuse East 6 11 Morehead State, 3 Ohio State,

National Invitation Tournament

No Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament.

Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, So. Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, So. Freshman of the Year: Earl Kelley, Connecticut, G Coach of the Year: Lou Carnesecca, St. John's (15th season)

All-Big East First Team Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, C, So., , , Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, So., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Erich Santifer, Syracuse, G, Sr., , , Ann Arbor, Mich. Ed Pinckney, Villanova, F, So., , , Bronx, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, Sr., , , Hartford, Conn.

All-Big East Second Team: Jay Murphy, St. John's, F, Jr., , , Meriden, Conn. John Garris, St. John's, F, Sr., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Michael Adams, Boston College, G, So., , , Hartford, Conn. David Russell, St. John's, F, Sr., , , New York, N.Y. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, Sr., , , Montreal, Quebec, Canada

All-Big East Third Team: Clyde Vaughan, Pittsburgh, F, Jr., , , Mount Vernon, N.Y. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, Jr., , , Boynton Beach, Fla. Ron Jackson, Providence, G, Sr., , , West Roxbury, Mass. Billy Goodwin, St. John's, F, Sr., , , New York, N.Y. Leo Rautins, Syracuse, F, Sr., , , Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Big East All-Freshman Team: Earl Kelley, Connecticut, G, Fr., , , New Haven, Conn. David Wingate, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , Baltimore, Md. Michael Jackson, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , Fairfax, Va. Andre McCloud, Seton Hall, F, Fr., , , Washington, D.C. Rafael Addison, Syracuse, F, Fr., , , Jersey City, N.J.

All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1983 Associated Press All-America teams.

Consensus All-America team: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, Key Stats: 17.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.2 bpg, 57.0 FG%, 565 points

First Team All-America: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown, Key Stats: 17.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.2 bpg, 57.0 FG%, 565 points

AP Honorable Mention Michael Adams, Boston College John Garris, Boston College Billy Goodwin, St. John's Stewart Granger, Villanova Earl Kelley, Connecticut Chris Mullin, St. John's Jay Murphy, Boston College Ed Pinckney, Villanova Leo Rautins, Syracuse David Russell, St. John's Erich Santifer, Syracuse Otis Thorpe, Providence Clyde Vaughan, Pittsburgh

See also 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1982–83 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 1982–83 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1982–83 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1982–83 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 1982–83 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1982–83 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1982–83 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

References