#TWITBE Ep. 9.4 - Guests Tyrese Samuel, Shaka Smart and Dana O’Neil

This Week In The BIG EAST Radio Show, distributed by Westwood
One, continues its ninth season with guests Seton Hall senior
forward Tyrese Samuel, Marquette head coach Shaka Smart and The
Athletic senior writer and author Dana O’Neil.


 


The fourth episode of TWITBE reviews the past week of BIG EAST
basketball, taking a deep dive into the league at the halfway
point. As the league begins to stabilize, four teams have emerged
as title contenders with Xavier, Marquette, Providence and
Creighton all jockeying for the top position. The middle portion
of the league also has eyes on post-season play as NCAA
Tournament resumes begin to solidify themselves heading into
February.


 


The BIG EAST Spotlight is on Seton Hall forward Tyrese Samuel,
who reflects on his four-year career at Seton Hall. Despite the
rise of the transfer portal in college basketball and a new coach
at the helm for the Pirates, Samuel was excited to get to work
with head coach Shaheen Holloway. He also talks about the rugged
BIG EAST, in addition to Seton Hall’s recent good play and how
the team is starting to gel.


 


The BIG EAST Focus shines on Marquette head coach Shaka Smart,
ahead of the Golden Eagles’ showdown with DePaul at Wintrust
Arena Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Despite being picked ninth in the
BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Golden Eagles enter the
midway point of league play tied for second with a 16-5 overall
and 8-2 conference record. Winning seven of its last eight games,
Marquette ranks 16th in the nation, while boasting the reigning
BIG EAST Player of the Week, Kam Jones.


 


The Athletic senior writer and BIG EAST author Dana O’Neil gives
a view on the national perspective. Discussing the challenges
Villanova has faced at the midway point, O’Neil also touches on
Xavier and Marquette and how they continue to impress. She also
breaks down how the BIG EAST stacks up nationally, including how
the top half of the league has the ability to make a push into
the top echelon of the NCAA come March.


 


The episode’s “Who’s Hot” segment features the return of “Blast
from the Past”, rewinding the tape to 1989. On Jan. 28, Sherman
Douglas dazzled at point guard for Syracuse. “The General” set
the BIG EAST single-game record dishing out 22 assists in a
100-96 win over Providence.


 


The returning hosts for This Week In The BIG EAST (#TWITBE) are
John Rooke, a longtime BIG EAST play-by-play voice, and Kevin
McNamara, BIG EAST radio host, columnist and author. Rooke and
McNamara give a comprehensive look at the teams, coaches, players
and storied tradition of the top basketball conference in America
in each episode.


 


To join the conversation and send questions to Rooke
(@JRbroadcaster) and McNamara (@KevinMcNamara33), use #TWITBE on
Twitter. Fans may submit questions to be featured on the
show. 


 


Please subscribe, rate and review to keep #TWITBE top of the
podcast charts.


 


This will air Saturday, Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. ET on Sirius 134 XM
201 Online 964 leading into the Creighton broadcast of Xavier @
Creighton.