I oppose the formation of a "Catholic League" for basketball. However, I ranked the Catholic Universities who play D1 hoops in light of the tumult of realignment news surrounding Louisville leaving the heavily Catholic Big East, the Catholic flagship Notre Dame going back to the football championship, and the passing away of the great Rick Majerus who bookended his career at Jesuit schools Marquette and St. Louis.
Below I ranked the top 40 colleges and top 40 players on Catholic teams into eight "All-Catholic squads." Obviously by "All-Catholic" I mean players who play for Catholic schools, so if we did these for football Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o would be at the top of the "All-Catholic" football list for playing for Notre Dame, while a young Catholic Jim McMahon would not have been listed as a "All-Catholic" quarterback when he led Brigham Young. I based the team rating mainly on www.kenpom.com through today, but if a team was ranked then I averaged that with both the AP and ESPN poll. For players, I based it half on the average of their latest Value Add appearing as "2013 Act" and their projected Value Add based on all of last season ("2013 Proj") as they both appear on www.valueaddbasketball.com.
While Notre Dame had the huge upset of Kentucky, and I expect Georgetown to shoot to the top now that Otto Porter is back from his concussion, right now you have to look further west for the top two Catholic teams in the land.
Kevin Pangos (3.9 APG) and Elias Harris (15.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) both make the "2nd All-Catholic Team" (see all 8 teams below the team ratings) as two of the top 10 Catholic players in the country who are also expected to play in the NBA. They have led Gonzaga to lopsided wins over West Virginia, Oklahoma, Davidson and others en route to an 8-0 record and the top shooting team in the country (53.3% field goal percentages). Comments on other teams appear below the list of teams. Here are the top 40 - and by the way St. Francis of Pennsylvania is the only Catholic team that does not make the top 40 since there are 41 Catholics teams:
Below I ranked the top 40 colleges and top 40 players on Catholic teams into eight "All-Catholic squads." Obviously by "All-Catholic" I mean players who play for Catholic schools, so if we did these for football Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o would be at the top of the "All-Catholic" football list for playing for Notre Dame, while a young Catholic Jim McMahon would not have been listed as a "All-Catholic" quarterback when he led Brigham Young. I based the team rating mainly on www.kenpom.com through today, but if a team was ranked then I averaged that with both the AP and ESPN poll. For players, I based it half on the average of their latest Value Add appearing as "2013 Act" and their projected Value Add based on all of last season ("2013 Proj") as they both appear on www.valueaddbasketball.com.
While Notre Dame had the huge upset of Kentucky, and I expect Georgetown to shoot to the top now that Otto Porter is back from his concussion, right now you have to look further west for the top two Catholic teams in the land.
Kevin Pangos (3.9 APG) and Elias Harris (15.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) both make the "2nd All-Catholic Team" (see all 8 teams below the team ratings) as two of the top 10 Catholic players in the country who are also expected to play in the NBA. They have led Gonzaga to lopsided wins over West Virginia, Oklahoma, Davidson and others en route to an 8-0 record and the top shooting team in the country (53.3% field goal percentages). Comments on other teams appear below the list of teams. Here are the top 40 - and by the way St. Francis of Pennsylvania is the only Catholic team that does not make the top 40 since there are 41 Catholics teams:
| Catholic University | Conf | Pom | AP | ESPN | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | WCC | 3 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| 2 | Creighton | MVC | 32 | 16 | 13 | 20 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | BE | 20 | 22 | 25 | 22 |
| 4 | Georgetown | BE | 37 | 15 | 23 | 25 |
| 5 | Saint Joseph's | A10 | 27 | 27 | ||
| 6 | St. Louis | A10 | 46 | 46 | ||
| 7 | Marquette | BE | 50 | 43 | 47 | |
| 8 | St. Mary's | WCC | 66 | 66 | ||
| 9 | Providence | BE | 70 | 70 | ||
| 10 | Seton Hall | BE | 73 | 73 | ||
| 11 | St. John's | BE | 79 | 79 | ||
| 12 | La Salle | A10 | 83 | 83 | ||
| 13 | Xavier | A10 | 89 | 89 | ||
| 14 | St. Bonaventure | A10 | 95 | 95 | ||
| 15 | Dayton | A10 | 96 | 96 | ||
| 16 | Villanova | BE | 98 | 98 | ||
| 17 | Iona | MAAC | 102 | 102 | ||
| 18 | Santa Clara | WCC | 113 | 113 | ||
| 19 | DePaul | BE | 117 | 117 | ||
| 20 | Loyola MD | MAAC | 118 | 118 | ||
| 21 | Detroit | Horz | 130 | 130 | ||
| 22 | San Francisco | WCC | 137 | 137 | ||
| 23 | Boston College | ACC | 151 | 151 | ||
| 24 | Fairfield | MAAC | 155 | 155 | ||
| 25 | Niagara | MAAC | 158 | 158 | ||
| 26 | Duquesne | A10 | 171 | 171 | ||
| 27 | Manhattan | MAAC | 177 | 177 | ||
| 28 | Loyola Marymount | WCC | 181 | 181 | ||
| 29 | San Diego | WCC | 191 | 191 | ||
| 30 | St. Francis NY | NEC | 202 | 202 | ||
| 31 | Canisius | MAAC | 210 | 210 | ||
| 32 | Holy Cross | Pat | 216 | 216 | ||
| 33 | Siena | MAAC | 218 | 218 | ||
| 34 | Portland | WCC | 223 | 223 | ||
| 35 | Sacred Heart | NEC | 232 | 232 | ||
| 36 | Mount St. Mary's | NEC | 237 | 237 | ||
| 37 | Loyola Chicago | Horz | 238 | 238 | ||
| 38 | St. Peter's | MAAC | 254 | 254 | ||
| 39 | Fordham | A10 | 257 | 257 | ||
| 40 | Seattle | WAC | 268 | 268 |
National Player of the Year candidate Doug McDermott has helped Creighton nudge out Notre Dame and Georgetown as the second best Catholic team. However, Otto Porter is my pick for Big East POY and would almost certainly rank 1st on this list if he had not missed the first several games with a concussion. Jack Cooley has been even better than advertised to help the Irish rank #3 just ahead of Georgetown. Stars Matthew Dellavedova (16.6 ppg, 5.4 apg) and Bryce Cooley (22.1 ppg, 4.4 apg) round out the 1st team and have run great offenses for St. Mary's and Providence to make them #8 and #9 respectively - the latter despite the Friars not having a couple of stars qualify.
| 1st team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Dellavedova | St. Mary's | 6' 4" | Sr | 9.11 | 7.03 | 8.07 |
| 2 | Doug McDermott | Creighton | 6' 8" | Jr | 5.30 | 10.23 | 7.77 |
| 3 | Bryce Cotton | Providence | 6' 1" | Jr | 9.90 | 5.42 | 7.66 |
| 4 | Jack Cooley | Notre Dame | 6' 9" | Sr | 7.12 | 7.82 | 7.47 |
| 5 | Otto Porter | Georgetown | 6' 8" | So | 5.62 | 9.08 | 7.35 |
In addition to the Gonzaga duo on the 2nd team, we've all seen how great Edwin (17.9 ppg) has been for Seton Hall (#10). Armand is only 2nd on Iona (behind Momo Jones) at 20.6 ppg, but put up 28 to crush Wake Forest 94-68 and has Iona 17th at 3-2. While St. Francis NY is only 30th as a team, Cannon's 16.0 ppg and 9.6 rpg included an 11-rebound performance at Illinois.
| 2nd team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Fuquan Edwin | Seton Hall | 6' 6" | Jr | 8.04 | 6.54 | 7.29 |
| 7 | Jalen Cannon | St. Francis NY | 6' 6" | So | 8.29 | 5.64 | 6.97 |
| 8 | Elias Harris | Gonzaga | 6' 8" | Sr | 8.49 | 5.12 | 6.81 |
| 9 | Kevin Pangos | Gonzaga | 6' 2" | So | 5.37 | 8.08 | 6.73 |
| 10 | Sean Armand | Iona | 6' 4" | Jr | 9.26 | 4.11 | 6.69 |
Pomeroy calculated St. Joseph's as the 5th best Catholic School, but Hawks fans will be quick to remind him of Galloway's 13 point, 3 assist performance in their upset of Notre Dame and his customary two steals in a route of Harvard. Harrison's 26 point, 6 rebound performance to lead a route of South Carolina has St. John's up to #11 and closing on Marquette.
| 3rd team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Ray McCallum | Detroit | 6' 3" | Jr | 7.00 | 6.19 | 6.60 |
| 12 | D'Angelo Harrison | St. John's | 6' 3" | So | 5.72 | 7.43 | 6.58 |
| 13 | Langston Galloway | Saint Joseph's | 6' 2" | Jr | 4.45 | 8.55 | 6.50 |
| 14 | Anthony Ireland | Loyola Marymount | 5' 10" | Jr | 7.52 | 4.60 | 6.06 |
| 15 | Marc Trasolini | Santa Clara | 6' 9" | Sr | 9.14 | 2.89 | 6.02 |
Evans 14.0 ppg and 6.9 rpg are fantastic numbers when you consider that the team that Majerus built at St. Louis is ranked 6th and one spot ahead of Marquette despite scoring only 64.4 ppg - the 247th best total in the US. Momo Jones is the second half of Iona's one-two punch, while Dillard has led Dayton to the 15th best spot among Catholic schools.
| 4th team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Kevin Dillard | Dayton | 6' 0 | Sr | 6.14 | 5.43 | 5.79 |
| 17 | George Beamon | Manhattan | 6' 4" | Sr | 5.83 | 4.90 | 5.37 |
| 18 | Eric Atkins | Notre Dame | 6' 2" | Jr | 6.06 | 4.59 | 5.33 |
| 19 | Dwayne Evans | St. Louis | 6' 5" | Jr | 6.78 | 3.83 | 5.31 |
| 20 | Lamont Jones | Iona | 6' 0 | Sr | 7.27 | 3.00 | 5.14 |
You see some of the additional stars on the power teams above in addition to Cormier leading Loyola-MD into the #20 spot and ahead of the other two Loyola schools.
| 5th team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Jerian Grant | Notre Dame | 6' 5" | Jr | 3.40 | 6.76 | 5.08 |
| 22 | C.J. Aiken | Saint Joseph's | 6' 9" | Jr | 3.98 | 6.15 | 5.07 |
| 23 | Stephen Holt | St. Mary's | 6' 4" | Jr | 4.42 | 5.39 | 4.91 |
| 24 | Dylon Cormier | Loyola MD | 6' 2" | Jr | 5.48 | 4.23 | 4.86 |
| 25 | Grant Gibbs | Creighton | 6' 5" | Sr | 5.69 | 3.89 | 4.79 |
While Marquette ranks #7 among Catholic schools and is still getting one vote for 25th from an AP writer, the strong stats of Davante Gardner and Jamil Wilson were mainly rolled up against terrible defenses prior to being shut down by Florida. Like St. Louis, MU right now is a bubble team, but certainly has the incredible depth on the roster to move way up. Despite the slaughter at Florida, Derrick Wilson and Vander Blue were the two players who improved their Value Add during the game.
| 6th team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Davante Gardner | Marquette | 6' 8" | Jr | 4.58 | 4.87 | 4.73 |
| 27 | Kevin Foster (SC) | Santa Clara | 6' 2" | Sr | 9.36 | 0.00 | 4.68 |
| 28 | Johnny Dee | San Diego | 6' 0 | So | 4.66 | 4.65 | 4.66 |
| 29 | Jamil Wilson | Marquette | 6' 7" | Jr | 5.50 | 3.56 | 4.53 |
| 30 | LaDontae Henton | Providence | 6' 6" | So | 2.22 | 6.80 | 4.51 |
DePaul hopes a new arena will revive their program, but it took 19 points and 5 assists from Young (16.7 ppg, 4.1 apg) to deliver a desperate road win at Auburn to get DePaul to 4-3.
| 7th team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Gregory Echenique | Creighton | 6' 9" | Sr | 5.10 | 3.52 | 4.31 |
| 32 | Carl Jones | Saint Joseph's | 5' 11" | Sr | 5.29 | 3.28 | 4.29 |
| 33 | Brandon Young | DePaul | 6' 4" | Jr | 4.47 | 4.08 | 4.28 |
| 34 | Ronald Roberts | Saint Joseph's | 6' 8" | Jr | 5.04 | 3.50 | 4.27 |
| 35 | Juan'ya Green | Niagara | 6' 3" | So | 5.33 | 3.04 | 4.19 |
LaSalle has actually had very balanced play from five players to become the 12th best Catholic school to date, but Duren and Wright are the returning 1-2 punch that both sneak into the top 40 Catholic players - or 8th team "All-Catholic."
| 8th team 'All Catholic' | School | Ht | Yr | 28-Nov | Proj | Ave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Tyreek Duren | La Salle | 6' 0 | Jr | 2.46 | 5.86 | 4.16 |
| 37 | Cody Doolin | San Francisco | 6' 2" | Jr | 5.07 | 3.16 | 4.12 |
| 38 | Ethan Wragge | Creighton | 6' 7" | Jr | 5.30 | 2.91 | 4.11 |
| 39 | Jerrell Wright | La Salle | 6' 8" | So | 2.35 | 5.67 | 4.01 |
| 40 | O.D. Anosike | Siena | 6' 8" | Sr | 4.44 | 3.43 | 3.94 |
Obviously Marquette has another chance to show the depth can produce Saturday when they host Wisconsin. Their three potential big games before this were cancelled (Ohio State), averted by a buzzer beater in the previous game (UNC) and a disaster (33-point loss at Florida). A loss Saturday would mean MU has no chances for a non-conference win against a current top 100 Pomeroy team, so this is a chance to show the potential.
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