Dec. 8 Column: Buzz back for Big 5

By AARON BRACY

December 8, 2023

Big5Hoops.Com

There is a buzz about the Big 5 again.

After one of the worst collective campaigns in Big 5 history last season, change was needed. In 2023, none of the city’s schools made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977. A Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra drew few fans and little interest.

Goodbye to only five schools; hello Drexel.

Goodbye round-robin; hello three-team pods.

Goodbye on-paper champ; hello playing for a title.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

That was just the buildup. Then came the games. Oh, the games!

The goosebumps now are a reminder of what you witnessed last Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in the first-ever Big 5 Classic tripleheader, a memorable day of amazing hoops in a charged atmosphere.

Drexel: An upset of No. 18 Villanova for its first-ever Big 5 win

La Salle: Khalil Brantley’s incredible half-court overtime buzzer-beater

St. Joe’s: A 100% earned championship and banner raised to the rafters

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

“The overall opinion from everyone involved was there was more discussion around Big 5 basketball than there has been in a long time,” Ash Puri, La Salle’s athletic director, told Big5Hoops.com. “There was more excitement from our fan bases across the board. I just think it was awesome.”

People were talking again about the Big 5. Even Philly sports radio during Eagles season got involved.

“The publicity and just the amount of talk about the Big 5 leading up, during and after the Big 5 Classic was absolutely incredible,” Wells Fargo Center general manager Mike Sulkes told Big5Hoops.com. “I think that was probably the biggest win. I think that was the No. 1 success and that was what we were looking for, to get the Big 5 back to relevance and back to the top of the food chain when it comes to what people are thinking about when it comes to sports.”

Buzz.

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So, what stood out to us?

Nothing can top the games. The third-place contest between La Salle and Penn was an instant Big 5 Classic, with Brantley’s game-winning, 40-foot heave immediately going down in the annals of greatest City Series shots ever when it perfectly banked into the hoop. And the opener and closer, while not as thrilling, were enticing.

What else?

The atmosphere was awesome. From PA announcer Matt Cord, to the big-screen graphics, to the in-arena hype man, the WFC used many of its 76ers tricks to treat fans. Kudos to Villanova’s students for their strong turnout, bringing surprising energy considering the Wildcats’ lot in the fifth-place game. People were into it, the building was loud, the entire day had an exciting feel.

What else?

The banner. To raise a banner in sports is one of the more special and unique achievements a team can share. Sulkes, a former hockey player at Penn State, saw a banner raised at the Beanpot, a college hockey tournament in Boston, and thought it would be a good idea for the Big 5 Classic.

Great move.

“I saw some St. Joe’s folks in tears seeing their banner go up,” Sulkes said.

Yeah, it was special for the Hawks.

“That took me by surprise,” St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange told Big5Hoops.com of the banner. “ I was like, ‘Yo, this is amazing!’ I’ve been in that building for some pretty cool moments. That was the best. I did not expect that. It was just amazing.”

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So, what can improve?

Ticket sales. The announced attendance of 15,215 was a good start. Some knocked the fan turnout, though it wasn’t realistic to expect much more, especially without Villanova – and its strong fan base – in the title game. However, the $150 price for fans to sit in their respective school’s lower-level section proved to be too high. Among the options going forward are to lower the price and/or include the Big 5 Classic ticket as part of schools’ season-ticket packages.

“We’re happy with the attendance, but 15,000 is a starting point for how we’re viewing it,” Sulkes said. “We want more and more people down here. (Fans) had a great experience, I believe. We’re hoping they come back and they tell their fellow students, their fellow alumni that they have to be there next year.”

What else?

The format. We loved the pod system. The two Wednesday virtual semifinal games between St. Joe’s-Villanova and La Salle-Temple only added to the format’s success.

But there was too little time between those Wednesday games and Saturday’s tripleheader. And what about the Palestra? Sadly, there was just one Big 5 game at the Cathedral of College Basketball this season. It was a memorable one and particularly meaningful for us, as Penn’s Nov. 13 upset of Villanova not only added juice to the event but spurred us to return to covering the Big 5.

So, here is the perfect idea for going forward.

Keep the Big 5 Classic tripleheader at the Wells Fargo Center next season (and going forward) but move it to the second Saturday in December.

The first Saturday in December will be reserved for … drumroll, please … a Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra!

There are four candidates to host at the Palestra: Drexel; La Salle; Penn, of course; and St. Joe’s. Drexel, La Salle and St. Joe’s all will make as much or more money by playing at the Palestra as on campus. I have seen enough upsets at the Palestra to know that those schools will not be giving up a home-court advantage by playing there.

Villanova is different. The Wildcats would lose money by moving a home game to the Palestra. Of course, we’d love it if they did. But it makes more sense – and, uh-um, cents – for them to stay on campus at the Pavilion. Temple also likely would be hesitant to leave the Liacouras, an arena with a larger capacity than the Palestra. And that’s OK.

Playing a Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra on the first Saturday would do two things: 1) It would connect this event and the new format to its past, which is important; and 2) It would give schools and the WFC more time to promote the tripleheader matchups the following Saturday.

Under our proposal, the 2024 Big 5 Classic would look in part like this:

Saturday, Dec. 7

Temple at La Salle, 3 pm, Palestra

Villanova at Saint Joseph’s, 8 pm, Palestra

Saturday, Dec. 14

Big 5 Classic Tripleheader, Wells Fargo Center

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We made the Palestra doubleheader a split-admission doubleheader so each school can collect its own revenue in its entirety. However, of course, we would consent to a true doubleheader like days of old if the host schools so choose.

Whether the schools take our suggestion or not, we’d advise them to move quickly to finalize next year’s commitment to the Wells Fargo Center. There is talk of a similar event for the city’s women’s basketball programs. That adds to the complexity of the conversations; however, the schools would benefit from moving swiftly in order to start building up interest for next season as early as possible.

WFC is committed to the event.

“We’re very, very hopeful and very optimistic,” Sulkes said of a deal getting done.

Good. Get it done.

Because we can’t wait to go back.

And feel that buzz again.

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St. Joe’s story: Lange reflects on inaugural Big 5 Classic title

St. Joe’s (l-r) Rasheer Fleming, Erik Reynolds II, coach Billy Lange and Lynn Greer III speak to reporters after winning the Big 5 Classic title. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)

After winning the first-ever Big 5 Classic title, St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange celebrated … by reviewing game situations in the final five minutes against Temple and watching tape of American. That is how Lange spent much of his Sunday.

Lange realized that he needed to spend some time to appreciate the Hawks’ accomplishment when he woke up on Monday, so he took 30 minutes of his morning to reflect.

“I just wanted to take a breath and say, ‘This is cool,’” he told Big5Hoops.com.

And what was he thinking?

“Any given year, winning any championship is very challenging because everybody is trying to get it,” he said. “To win the Big 5 inaugural actual championship game, thinking about what the shared experience will mean to our guys when they think about sitting on that floor after and even what it means to our University, even for myself as a kid who grew up on Big 5 basketball. I was like, ‘This is good.’”

The Hawks had little time to celebrate, as they returned to action against American on Wednesday. This was a proverbial trap game for St. Joe’s, coming off Saturday’s win with undefeated Princeton up next. But St. Joe’s impressed Lange with their play against the Eagles.

“We had our moments,” Lange said, “but our intensity, our respect for the opportunity…We were very present, which is not easy to do with young people given the last week. We can all feel what the projection for this weekend will be. I told them afterward, ‘I’m impressed with us tonight.’”

Erik Reynolds II filled up the stat sheet for the Hawks, with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers. Xzayvier Brown led St. Joe’s with 20 points, and Rasheer Fleming had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Now, St. Joe’s turns its attention to a 9-0 Princeton squad that is off to its best start since 1920. The Tigers never have opened a season 10-0. (Big5Hoops.com will be providing LIVE coverage of the St. Joe’s-Princeton game.)

“To date, they’re the best college basketball team we’ve played thus far and we’ve played some good teams,” Lange said. “Their talent and ability to go one-on-one and make plays is really the separating factor from the other guys we’ve played. They are extremely skilled at every spot. And they play tough.”

The Tigers showed all of that in Wednesday’s 81-70 win over Drexel at Jadwin. Xaivian Lee scored 23 points, Caden Pierce had 19 and the Tigers finished at the rim with one backdoor cut after another.

“We’re going to have to play better than we’ve played all season,” Lange said.

Next up for St. Joe’s: Princeton, 1 p.m., Sunday.

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Drexel story: Win over Villanova program-affirming for Dragons

Drexel and Villanova tip off at the Big 5 Classic. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)

For so many years, Drexel was like the friend who everyone liked but never got the invite to the big party.

Finally, the Big 5 welcomed the Dragons into the fold this season. After close losses to Temple and La Salle in the opening games of the three-team pod, Drexel shocked No. 18 Villanova 57-55 in the fifth-place game of the Big 5 Classic on Saturday.

Coach Zach Spiker implored the Dragons not to be in awe of their Big East foe, and Drexel’s players took heed. Amari Williams (12 points, six rebounds) and Luke House (11 points) led the way for Drexel.

“For starters, it validates our process,” Spiker told Big5Hoops.com. “It resonates with recruits. It was an awesome experience for everyone connected to our program, whether it was our fans, our alumni, our coaching staff, our players.”

After being on the outside looking in for so long, Spiker is glad to be part of Philadelphia’s great basketball tradition.

“It connects us to the brand of Philadelphia basketball that we’ve unofficially been connected to for a long time,” he said. “But now it’s a done deal. It’s a part of our program. You walk down the hallway, we have a Big 5 logo. I think we belong as a basketball team.”

Spiker fielded countless phone calls, texts and emails from happy former players, alumni, fans and others congratulating the Dragons on their first-ever Big 5 victory.

“It was overwhelming the number of people that reached out,” he said. “It was a great feeling to know it meant so much to so many people.”

The Dragons weren’t able to follow up the performance against Villanova on Wednesday at Princeton, losing 81-70 at Jadwin.

Spiker said the result was part Drexel and part Princeton.

“We did some things well, but Princeton is a very multidimensional team that can hurt you in a lot of different ways,” he said. “You take away one thing and they exploit the other. Maybe our guys had tough nights because of what Princeton was doing. We’re all trying to chase the same thing and that is consistency. We knew that was going to be a hard game. They’re really good.”

Next up for Drexel: At West Virginia, 4 p.m., Saturday.

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Drexel announced its NIL initiative in a press release this week.

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La Salle story: Marrero magic saves Explorers

La Salle’s Khalil Brantley and coach Fran Dunphy address reporters following the Explorers’ OT win over Penn on Saturday. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)

It looked as if much of La Salle’s early-season momentum and the good feelings from Saturday’s thrilling OT win over Penn in the Big 5 Classic third-place game were going to evaporate with a home loss to Loyola (Md.) on Wednesday night.

Enter Andrés Marrero.

The sophomore guard scored a career-high 19 points, none more important than the perfect 3-pointer he swished with 10.6 seconds left that was the final point in the Explorers’ 62-61 win.

Exhale, La Salle.

Shockingly, the Explorers trailed 60-49 with 4:44 left. Loyola entered 1-7.

It’s all in the past now, as the Explorers improved to 7-2. They are off to the best start since 2012-13. You remember that year, right? Ty Garland, the Southwest Philly Floater, Ramon Galloway, Tyreek Duren (Congrats on Big 5 Hall of Fame, by the way!) and the NCAA Sweet 16.

Prior to Wednesday’s game, Puri talked about the Explorers’ showing in the Big 5, with a win over Drexel, the gut-wrenching but exciting triple-OT loss at Temple and, of course, Brantley’s heroics at the WFC.

“I’m just thrilled for what it means for us at La Salle,” Puri said. “Participating in three really close games and winning two of them, one in incredibly dramatic fashion, I think is phenomenal.”

Next up for La Salle: At Lafayette, 1 p.m., Saturday.

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Tip-ins: Penn, Villanova back at WFC against big-time programs

Penn coach Steve Donahue addresses reporters following the Quakers’ loss to La Salle in the Big 5 Classic. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)

Penn and Villanova are back at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, with both hoping for a better result than last Saturday.

The Quakers host Kentucky at noon, with the Wildcats taking on UCLA at 7 p.m. (Big5Hoops.com will be providing LIVE coverage of the Kentucky-Penn game.)

Penn tuned up for John Calipari’s squad by nearly doubling up Division III FDU-Florham, 111-57 on Wednesday night at the Palestra. Clark Slajchert, the Quakers’ terrific guard, led the way with 18 points. Saturday afternoon’s matchup is also sort of a homecoming for several Wildcats, including assistant coaches Bruiser Flint and Chuck Martin, formerly the head and assistant coach, respectively, at Drexel; Imhotep’s Justin Edwards; Camden High’s D.J. Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw; and Kingsway High’s Kareem Watkins, who is from Camden.

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Meantime, Villanova is looking to recover from its third straight defeat, a 72-71 loss at Kansas State on Tuesday. The Wildcats (6-4) have not looked like the same team since manhandling Memphis in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game on Nov. 24, capping a 3-0 run in the Bahamas that also featured wins over Texas Tech and No. 14 North Carolina.

The Wildcats will meet a Bruins squad that also is unranked. Still, a win would do wonders for coach Kyle Neptune’s squad. The status of Villanova’s leader, Justin Moore, is unclear after he played just eight minutes versus KSU due to a sprained right knee.

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Temple returns to the court on Sunday at 7 p.m. playing Albany at the Barclays Center. The Owls are coming off an 85-55 victory over Division II Bloomsburg on Wednesday at the Liacouras. Jordan Riley (16 points) and Zion Stanford (14) led the way for the Owls.

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Jack Scheuer “VGH” Award Official Votes Tally

Aaron Bracy congratulates St. Joe’s Rasheer Fleming on winning the inaugural Jack Scheuer ‘VGH’ Award. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)

St. Joe’s Rasheer Fleming won the inaugural Jack Scheuer “VGH” Award after scoring a career-high 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the Hawks’ 74-65 win over Temple. We polled Big 5 media members covering the championship game. The intention was to select a player only from the championship game since all voting members would not have seen every game of the day. However, we could have done a better job of making that clear. So, as you will see below, some voters selected players from other games in their top three selections. Here are the final results.

Jack Scheuer VGH Award Voting Results

Big 5 Classic, Dec. 2, 2023

1. Rasheer Fleming, St. Joe’s, 93 points

2. Zion Stanford, Temple, 27 points

3. Khalil Brantley, La Salle, 26 points

T4. Xzayvier Brown, St. Joe’s; Lynn Greer III, St. Joe’s, 8 points

T6. Cameron Brown, St. Joe’s, Erik Reynolds II, St. Joe’s, Amari Williams, Drexel; Clark Slajchert, Penn, 4 points

T10. Jordan Riley, Temple; Luke House, Drexel, 3 points

Note: Five points were given to a first-place selection, three points for second and one point for third.

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We would like to thank the following Big 5 media members for their participation in the voting process.

Josh Abrams, Philadelphia Sports Digest

Aaron Bracy, Big5Hoops.Com

Matthew De George, Delaware County Times

John DiCarlo, OwlScoop.Com

Jordyn Erard-Coupé, PHLY Sports

Riley Frain, Mid-Major Madness

Mike Jensen, Retired (formerly Philadelphia Inquirer)

Ryan Mack, Temple News

David Malandra, SportsTalkPhilly.Com

Jeff Neiburg, Philadelphia Inquirer

Jason Nieves, Temple News

Glenn Papazian, PhillyCollegeSports.Com

Justin Procope, COBL

Joe Santoliquito, COBL

Mike Shute, PhillyMan Magazine

O.J. Spivey, Philadelphia Tribune

Jonathan Tannewald, Philadelphia Inquirer

Josh Verlin, COBL

Ryan Wallen, OwlsDaily.Com

Dan Wilson, 94.1 WIP

Johnny Zawislak, Temple News

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St. Joe’s tops Big 5 rankings

Rankings (through games 12/5): 

1. Saint Joseph’s (7-2)

2. Temple (5-3)

3. La Salle (7-2)

4. Penn (6-4)

5. Drexel (5-4)

6. Villanova (6-4)

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Penn’s Slajchert tops Big 5 scoring list

Big 5 scoring leaders (through games 12/5)

1. Clark Slajchert, Penn, 19.3

2. Hysier Miller, Temple, 18.7

3. Khalil Brantley, La Salle, 17.1

4. Erik Reynolds II, St. Joe’s, 16.2

5. Jhamir Brickus, La Salle, 15.8

6. Tyler Perkins, Penn, 15.7

7. Eric Dixon, Villanova, 14.4

8. Jahlil White, Temple, 14.0

9. Justin Moore, Villanova, 13.3

10. Anwar Gill, La Salle, 13.2

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Temple’s White tops Big 5 rebounding leaders

Big 5 rebounding leaders (through games 12/5)

1. Jahlil White, Temple, 8.0

2. Tyler Burton, Villanova, 7.4

3. Amari Williams, Drexel, 7.3

4. Rasheer Fleming, St. Joe’s 7.2

5. Steve Settle, Temple, 7.0

6. Eric Dixon, Villanova, 6.7

T7. Daeshon Shepherd, La Salle, 6.6

T7. Christ Essandoko, St. Joe’s, 6.6

9. Rokas Jocius, La Salle, 6.4

T10. Lamar Oden, Jr., Drexel, 6.3

T10. Sam Hofman, Temple, 6.3

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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.