#TWITBE Ep. 9.3 - Guests Joel Soriano, Kyle Neptune and Jason Benetti

This Week In The BIG EAST Radio Show, distributed by Westwood
One, continues its ninth season with guests St. John’s senior
forward Joel Soriano, Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune and FOX
Sports play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti.


The third episode of TWITBE reviews the past week of BIG EAST
basketball, taking a deep dive into how home teams continue to
prevail in conference play boasting a 31-15 mark.


The BIG EAST Spotlight is on St. John’s forward Joel Soriano, who
discusses his growth from being a role player for the Red Storm a
season ago, to now being placed in the national spotlight. Most
recently named Naismith National Player of the Week. After a 2-0
week with wins over Butler and Connecticut, Soriano and the
Johnnies return to action against Villanova Friday at Madison
Square Garden. Individually, Soriano leads the nation with 16
double-doubles, while averaging 16.5 points and a BIG EAST
leading 12.1 rebounds per game.


The BIG EAST Focus shines on Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune,
ahead of the Wildcats showdown with St. John’s at MSG. Just the
sixth coach to lead Villanova since 1936, Neptune’s Wildcats are
poised to blaze their own trail through the BIG EAST. Neptune
takes some time to talk about freshman sensation Cam Whitmore,
returnees Caleb Daniels, Eric Dixon and Brandon Slater, as well
as the recovery stage for Justin Moore.


FOX Sports play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti gives a view on
the national perspective. Benetti has a front row seat to the BIG
EAST as well as many of the nation’s top conferences as he calls
games across the country for FOX Sports. He breaks down the
different tiers of the BIG EAST and discusses where the league
stacks up nationally.  


The episode’s “Who’s Hot” segment features the return of “Blast
from the Past”, rewinding the tape to 1994. On Jan. 25, Michael
Smith of Providence pulled down a BIG EAST single-game record 26
rebounds against Syracuse. Overall, Smith set the BIG EAST record
for career rebounding average at 11.67 rebounds per game in his
three seasons as a Friar and was named the BIG EAST Conference
most outstanding player in 1994, taking home the Dave Gavitt
Trophy. “Who’s Got Next?” takes a look at the upcoming schedule,
highlighting the big matchups. 


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. 21 at 11 a.m. ET on Sirius 133 XM
201 Online 964 leading into the Xavier broadcast of Georgetown @
Xavier.