Whitey23
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In the final rendition of the Big East Tournament as we knew it, Georgetown has emerged as the unquestioned headliner. The Hoyas have the top seed, best player in Otto Porter, and coach John Thompson III has done the best coaching job in the league this year.
The Hoyas also delivered the matchup everyone wants to see, clawing past Cincinnati on Thursday to set up a fitting final Big East game with storied rival Syracuse in the semifinals on Friday night.
Off the court, the Hoyas are taking a victory lap, too. This has not been as well received. The actions of Georgetown president Jack DeGoia have peeved officials in both Georgetown's new and old leagues and raised questions of whether the Hoyas are wielding too much power in the formation of the "new" Big East.
DeGoia has emerged as the most powerful leader in the new league. He's also been a divisive one, as it took months of lobbying to convince DeGoia to break away from the Big East and join the Catholic Seven. Officials around the league were flabbergasted when he broke the league's media ban to take credit for leadership in a league he was reluctant to join. The tension resurfaced recently after a profile of DeGoia appeared in the Washington Post with the headline, "Georgetown takes lead in preserving basketball tradition of Catholic 7."
"Not only are they doing a victory lap, they're not doing the work to earn it," said one school official. "At the time they want all the dealings to be clandestine; for them to go out front and take credit is beyond reprehensible."
Added another: "There were a lot of eye rolls."
DeGoia couldn't be reached for comment.
In the final rendition of the Big East Tournament as we knew it, Georgetown has emerged as the unquestioned headliner. The Hoyas have the top seed, best player in Otto Porter, and coach John Thompson III has done the best coaching job in the league this year.
The Hoyas also delivered the matchup everyone wants to see, clawing past Cincinnati on Thursday to set up a fitting final Big East game with storied rival Syracuse in the semifinals on Friday night.
Off the court, the Hoyas are taking a victory lap, too. This has not been as well received. The actions of Georgetown president Jack DeGoia have peeved officials in both Georgetown's new and old leagues and raised questions of whether the Hoyas are wielding too much power in the formation of the "new" Big East.
DeGoia has emerged as the most powerful leader in the new league. He's also been a divisive one, as it took months of lobbying to convince DeGoia to break away from the Big East and join the Catholic Seven. Officials around the league were flabbergasted when he broke the league's media ban to take credit for leadership in a league he was reluctant to join. The tension resurfaced recently after a profile of DeGoia appeared in the Washington Post with the headline, "Georgetown takes lead in preserving basketball tradition of Catholic 7."
"Not only are they doing a victory lap, they're not doing the work to earn it," said one school official. "At the time they want all the dealings to be clandestine; for them to go out front and take credit is beyond reprehensible."
Added another: "There were a lot of eye rolls."
DeGoia couldn't be reached for comment.
