1982–83 Big East Conference men's basketball season

American college basketball season March 2025 1982–83 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season #072E67 #EFE3BB NCAA Division I Basketball Big East Conference primary logo 1979-1998.png 250px November 20, 1982through March 12, 1983 9 ESPN Regular Season Boston College, Villanova, and St. John's (12–4) Champion Chris Mullin – St. John's Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year Tournament 1983 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament St. John's Chris Mullin – St. John's Most Valuable Player Basketball 1981–82 1983–84 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 St. John's 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.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 1. Patrick Ewing 2014-02-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064113/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/p_ewing.htm 2018-07-23 dead Boston College, Villanova, and St. John's 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 Pollhttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/men/1983.html 1982-83 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary March 26, 2025 sports-reference.com 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 18em start 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 18em break 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 18em break 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 18em break 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 18em break 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 18em break Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Otis Thorpe Prov .636 Chris Mullin SJU .577 John Garris BC .573 Patrick Ewing GU .570 Erich Santifer Syr .568 18em break Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Chris Mullin SJU .878 John Pinone Vill .846 Michael Jackson GU .832 Karl Hobbs Conn .825 Michael Adams BC .809 end Postseason Big East tournament 1983 Big East men's basketball 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: (1) Boston College, (2) Villanova, (3) St. John's, (4) Georgetown, (5) Syracuse, (6) Pittsburgh, (7) Connecticut, (8) Providence, (9) Seton Hall. Bracket Bracket First roundMarch 9, 1983 QuarterfinalsMarch 10, 1983 SemifinalsMarch 11, 1983 Championship GameMarch 12, 1983 8 Providence 64 9 Seton Hall 73 1 #14 Boston College 79 9 Seton Hall 56 4 #15 Georgetown 72 5 #20 Syracuse 79 2 #13 Villanova 69 7 Connecticut 68 3 #8 St. John's 64 6 Pittsburgh 53 1 #14 Boston College 80 5 #20 Syracuse 74 2 #13 Villanova 80 3 #8 St. John's 91 1 #14 Boston College 77 3 #8 St. John's 85 NCAA tournament 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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, W 60–58 7 Iowa, W 55–54 1 Houston, L 89–71 St. John's East 1 Bye 9 Rutgers, W 66–55 4 Georgia, L 70–67 Boston College West 4 Bye 12 Princeton, W 51–42 1 Virginia, L 95–92 Georgetown Midwest 5 12 Alcorn State, W 68–63 4 Memphis State, L 66–57 Syracuse East 6 11 Morehead State, W 74–59 3 Ohio State, L 79–74 National Invitation Tournament 1983 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., 7 ft 0 in cm 0, 240 lb 0, Cambridge, Mass. Chris Mullin, St. John's, F, So., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Brooklyn, N.Y. Erich Santifer, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Ann Arbor, Mich. Ed Pinckney, Villanova, F, So., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Bronx, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 230 lb 0, Hartford, Conn. All-Big East Second Team: Jay Murphy, St. John's, F, Jr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 220 lb 0, Meriden, Conn. John Garris, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Michael Adams, Boston College, G, So., 5 ft 10 in cm 0, 165 lb 0, Hartford, Conn. David Russell, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 7 in cm 0, 215 lb 0, New York, N.Y. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, Sr., 6 ft 3 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Montreal, Quebec, Canada All-Big East Third Team: Clyde Vaughan, Pittsburgh, F, Jr., 6 ft 4 in cm 0, 210 lb 0, Mount Vernon, N.Y. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, Jr., 6 ft 10 in cm 0, 248 lb 0, Boynton Beach, Fla. Ron Jackson, Providence, G, Sr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, West Roxbury, Mass. Billy Goodwin, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 220 lb 0, New York, N.Y. Leo Rautins, Syracuse, F, Sr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 215 lb 0, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Big East All-Freshman Team: Earl Kelley, Connecticut, G, Fr., 6 ft 1 in cm 0, 177 lb 0, New Haven, Conn. David Wingate, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, Baltimore, Md. Michael Jackson, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 2 in cm 0, 183 lb 0, Fairfax, Va. Andre McCloud, Seton Hall, F, Fr., 6 ft 6 in cm 0, 210 lb 0, Washington, D.C. Rafael Addison, Syracuse, F, Fr., 6 ft 7 in cm 0, 215 lb 0, Jersey City, N.J. All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1983 Associated Press All-America teams. 1983 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans 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