A Look Around the Big East

A quick look at recent happenings around the Big East Conference:

• At Marquette, Travis Diener will work out for MU grad Lawrence Frank and the New Jersey Nets. Meanwhile, point guard Rob Hanley blew out his knee, and center Mike Kinsella's feet remain a problem. At least promising recruit Jonathan Mitchell offers a positive take on his recent visit.
• Cincinnati has decided not to renew the contract of successful yet controversial head coach Bob Huggins. Huggins has two more years left on his contract. Time for a beer, Bob.
• Per the guys at the Pitt Sports Blather, the Big East Conference is having trouble maintaining its BCS bowl tie-ins.
• Georgetown is losing two players via the well-worn transfer route. Freshman Cornelio Guibunda and sophomore Ray Reed. Reed played in 31 of 32 games last season for the Hoyas.
• The rebuilding continues at St. Johns. Head coach Norm Roberts secured a verbal commitment from Qa-rraan Calhoun, one of the top PFs from the class of 2007. Calhoun hails from Raritan, NJ.
• Seton Hall is enduring a rough off-season, with three players leaving the program. Sophomore Jamar Nutter is the latest to walk the plank, joining JR Morris and Justin Cerasoli. Cerasoli was a high school teammate of Dameon Mason's.
• Jim Boeheim signed a contract extension at Syracuse.
• UConn recruit Andrew Bynum will test the NBA waters in the coming weeks, but will not hire an agent.
• Dennis Latimore ended his disappointing run at Notre Dame one year early.
• Wilson Chandler will honor his commitment and enroll at DePaul this fall.
• Louisville could lose three players. Louisville's top recruit, Amir Johnson, will go to the NBA if he does not meet NCAA eligibility requirements. Lorenzo Wade is already gone -- he transferred to the University of Washington. Meanwhile, incoming big man Clarence Holloway will go to a prep school if he fails to make the grade.

That's enough for one near-roundup of the expanded Big East!