{
  "id": 11267417,
  "title": "Two Big East coaches didn't vote for UConn to win league. One of them was Rick Pitino.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/two-big-east-coaches-didnt-vote-for-uconn-to-win-league-one-of-them",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-01T20:00:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/two-big-east-coaches-didnt-200030443.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Thursday, Rick Pitino, head coach of the St. John's Red Storm, revealed at the Big East Basketball Media Day that he did not vote for UConn to be the preseason favorites for the league title. Instead, he selected Marquette as his pick. Pitino was the only out of the 11 head coaches in the league who made this choice. While acknowledging UConn's formidable team, Pitino believed Marquette would be a strong contender and expressed their potential to be \"very hungry\" for success. Marquette also boasts a reigning Big East Freshman of the Year, Nigel James Jr., who returned as a preseason first-team all-Big East selection. Pitino's son, Richard, coaches Xavier and highlighted the parity among the league's top teams, including Connecticut, Marquette, and Xavier. UConn's Silas Demary Jr. was named the preseason Player of the Year, while Braylon Mullins earned first-team honors, and Na jai Hines was a second-team pick. Colben Landrew was named the preseason Freshman of the Year. UConn received eight first-place votes, while St. John's finished second with two first-place votes. Villanova was picked to finish third, and Marquette ranked fourth with Pitino's sole first-place vote.",
  "summary": "Pitino voted for Marquette to win Big East; every other coach picked either UConn or St. John's.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Dan Hurley says UConn won't schedule teams with G League players in non-conference",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/dan-hurley-says-uconn-wont-schedule-teams-with-g-league-players-in",
        "published": "2026-10-01T19:52:45.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}