The 1998–99 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 20th in conference history, and involved its 13 full-time member schools.
Connecticut was the regular-season champion with a record of . Connecticut also won the Big East tournament championship.
Season summary & highlights After using a two-division structure the three previous seasons, the Big East returned to a unitary structure this season. Connecticut was the regular-season champion with a record of . It was Connecticut's sixth regular-season championship or co-championship and third outright championship. Connecticut won its fourth Big East tournament championship. Connecticut made the first Final Four appearance in school history. Connecticut won its first national championship. Connecticut junior guard Richard Hamilton was both the top scorer and the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Al Skinner 2nd Connecticut Jim Calhoun 13th Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 27th Resigned and retired January 8, 1999 Craig Esherick 1st Replaced Thompson January 8, 1999 Miami Leonard Hamilton 9th Big East Coach of the Year (2nd award) Notre Dame John MacLeod 8th Resigned March 9, 1999 Pittsburgh Ralph Willard 5th Resigned March 3, 1999 Providence Tim Welsh 1st Rutgers Kevin Bannon 2nd St. John's Mike Jarvis 1st Seton Hall Tommy Amaker 2nd Syracuse Jim Boeheim 23rd Villanova Steve Lappas 7th West Virginia Gale Catlett 21st
Rankings Connecticut was ranked No. 1 or No.2 in the Associated Press poll for most of the season, never ranking below No.4 and finishing at No. 3. St. John's and Syracuse were in the Top 25 for most of the season, and Miami and Pittsburgh also spent time in the Top 25.
+ 1998–99 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 11/16 11/23 11/30 12/7 12/14 12/21 12/28 1/4 1/11 1/18 1/25 2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 FinalBoston College Connecticut 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 3 3 Georgetown Miami 25 23 25 16 15 11 9 10 Notre Dame Pittsburgh 20 20 22 24 23 Providence Rutgers St. John's 23 25 18 15 14 12 10 11 8 9 9 11 10 8 10 9 Seton Hall Syracuse 20 22 19 12 13 21 22 22 20 18 20 17 16 18 21 24 Villanova West Virginia
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG Jamel Thomas Prov 22.0 Conn 21.5 Troy Murphy ND 19.2 Tim James Mia 18.6 Johnny Hemsley Mia 17.8
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Troy Murphy ND 9.9 Isaac Hawkins Pitt 8.9 Tyrone Grant SJU 8.6 Tim James Mia 8.2 Marcus Goree WVU 7.9
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Vernon Jennings Mia 5.6 SHU 5.0 Erick Barkley SJD 4.7 Kevin Braswell GU 4.5 Jarett Kearse WVU 4.4
StealsNameSchoolSPG John Linehan Pitt 3.5 Jason Hart Syr 3.1 Kellii Taylor Pitt 2.8 Elton Scott WVU 2.7 Kevin Braswell GU 2.7
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Etan Thomas Syr 4.0 GU 2.9 Malik Allen Vill 2.2 Tim James Mia 2.2 Jameel Watkins GU 1.9
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Troy Murphy ND .538 Marcus Goree WVU .506 SJU .500 Isaac Hawkins Pitt .482 Tim James Mia .477
3-Pt Field GoalsNameSchool3FG%(no qualifiers)
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Rimas Kaukenas SHU .843 Conn .833 Geoff Billet RU .818 Dahntay Jones RU .814 John Celestand Vill .798
Postseason
Big East tournament
Seeding Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. Teams seeded fourth through thirteenth played a first-round game, and the other three teams received a bye into the second round.
The tournament's seeding was as follows:
Bracket
NCAA tournament
Five Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse and Villanova lost in the first round, Miami in the second round, and St. John's in the regional finals. Connecticut won the national championship. Connecticut junior guard Richard Hamilton scored 145 points during the tournament and was both its top scorer and Most Outstanding Player.
Ohio State, which defeated St. John's and lost to Connecticut, vacated 34 games, including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1998–99 season, due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final Connecticut East 1 9 New Mexico, 5 Iowa, 10 Gonzaga, S4 , E1 Duke, St. John's South 3 14 Samford, 6 Indiana, 2 Maryland, 4 , Miami East 2 15 Lafayette, 10 Purdue, Syracuse South 8 9 Oklahoma State, Villanova Midwest 8 9 Ole Miss,
National Invitation Tournament
Four Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in two of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Georgetown, Providence, and Seton Hall all lost in the first round and Rutgers in the second round.
School Round 1 Round 2 Rutgers Georgetown Providence Seton Hall
Awards and honors Big East Conference Co-Players of the Year: Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, G Jr. Tim James, Miami, F Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: Etan Thomas, Syracuse, C Jr. Rookie of the Year: Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, Fr. Most Improved Player: Johnny Hemsley, Miami, G Jr. Coach of the Year: Leonard Hamilton, Miami (9th season)
All-Big East First Team Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, G Jr., , , Coatesville, Pa. Johnny Hemsley, Miami, G Jr., , , Baltimore, Md. Tim James, Miami, F Sr., , , Miami, Fla. Jamel Thomas, Providence, F Sr., , , Brooklyn, N.Y. Metta World Peace, St. John's, F, So., , , Queens, N.Y.
All-Big East Second Team: Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut, G, So., , , Minneapolis, Minn. Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, Fr., , , Morristown, N.J. Bootsy Thornton, St. John's, G Jr., , , Baltimore, Md. Etan Thomas, St. John's, G Jr., , , New York, N.Y. Marcus Goree, West Virginia, F Jr., , , Dallas, Tex.
All-Big East Third Team: Isaac Hawkins, Pittsburgh, F Jr., , , Baton Rouge, La. Vonteego Cummings, Pittsburgh, G Sr., , , Thomson, Ga. Rob Hodgson, Rutgers, F Sr., , , Mastic Beach, N.Y. Jason Hart, Syracuse, G Jr., , , Los Angeles, Calif. John Celestand, Syracuse, G Jr., , , Houston, Tex.
Big East All-Rookie Team: Anthony Perry, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , Jersey City, N.J. Kevin Braswell, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , Baltimore, Md. Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, Fr., , , Morristown, N.J. Dahntay Jones, Rutgers, F, Fr., , , Trenton, N.J. Erick Barkley, St. John's, G, Fr., , , Queens, N.Y.
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1999 Associated Press All-America teams.
Consensus All-America First Team: Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, Key Stats: 21.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, 44.3 FG%, 34.7 3P%, 732 points
First Team All-America: Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, Key Stats: 21.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, 44.3 FG%, 34.7 3P%, 732 points
Third Team All-America: Tim James, Miami, Key Stats: 18.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.3 spg, 2.2 bpg, 47.7 FG%, 29.3 3P%, 557 points
AP Honorable Mention Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut
See also 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1998–99 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1998–99 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1998–99 Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team 1998–99 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team 1998–99 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team 1998–99 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team 1998–99 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1998–99 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
References