Greg Monroe News

There has been an indisputable truth that dates back to the dawn of the Big East: Teams with toughness and experience prevail.

To avoid a repeat of last season's disappointing finish, Georgetown probably needs a traditional second-year leap from its frontcourt tandem of Julian Vaughn and Henry Sims.

On what otherwise might have been a smug, self-satisfied train ride back to Philadelphia after his team was picked to win this season's Big East title, Villanova Coach Jay Wright spoke to his players about toughness and leadership.

Not the toughness and leadership the squad boasted, but the toughness and leadership they had yet to demonstrate.

'We're going to take that [coaches' vote at Big East media day] today as a great honor,' Wright told them, 'and then we're going to go back to practice, because we've got a lot to prove. Nobody's going to go through this league on talent.'

Leading into the college basketball season openers, Sporting News will preview each of the top 25, counting backward from our preseason power poll.

There was a time when Greg Monroe was clearly the No. 1 player in the 2008 recruiting class, although that was before he signed with Georgetown and then concluded his high school career.

Greg Monroe was the perfect candidate to leave school early for the NBA draft. He was a big man with exceptional passing reads who had lived up to his high school hype.

KG's excited to be back Kevin Garnett says it wasn't fun being a cheerleader during the playoffs last year but he says he is excited to be back.

The UConn men's basketball team was predicted to finish third in the Big East in a preseason poll of coaches, it was announced Wednesday during the conference's annual media day at Madison Square Garden.

Kyrie Irving put on a blue ball cap and announced that he is committing to Duke on ESPN-U on Thursday evening.

Notre Dame senior forward Luke Harangody joined Georgetown great Patrick Ewing as the only players to be chosen Big East preseason player of the year more than once.

Coach: John Thompson III . Last season's record: 16-15 overall, 7-11 in Big East Postseason: Lost in first round of NIT to Baylor.

Duke announced the release of its 2009-10 mena s basketball schedule just over two months ago.

Our first look at the prospects in the always interesting Big East features Georgetown's Greg Monroe , West Virgiana's Devin Ebanks , Louisville's Terrence Williams , and Stanley Robinson and Kemba Walker from Connecticut.

We're on a one-year winning streak when it comes to predicting the eventual NCAA champion.

Key Returners: Greg Monroe , Chris Wright , Austin Freeman A Strengths With three McDonalda TMs All-Americans returning, therea TMs no reason why the Hoyas shouldna TMt be expected to have a drastic improvement over last season.

Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy ranks the best players at each position heading into the 2009-10 season.

Perhaps no player in his program's history has accomplished more in his first two seasons than USF guard Dominique Jones .

January 30, 2010. Circle your calendars, Georgetown fans. Thata TMs when the Duke Blue Devils return to the Verizon Center.

Tulane released its men's basketball schedule Tuesday, and one needs to look no further than the opener and see Georgetown to get a taste of what the season holds.

When I look ahead to the 2009-10 campaign, I see three programs that will step up big time and quiet their critics -- Georgia Tech, Illinois and Georgetown.