NCAA men’s basketball is always a hot sport because of the talented young players and exciting action on the court. However, history and tradition also play huge roles in the sport’s popularity. Basketball in the Big East Conference takes a closer look at the great teams, players, and coaches in the powerhouse Big East conference, as well as the heated rivalries and longstanding traditions that make the Big East conference among the best in college hoops.

The definitive, compulsively readable story of the greatest era of the most iconic league in college basketball history—the Big East “This book, full of long-standing rivalries, unmatched moments in the lives of coaches and players, and juicy insider gossip, is, like the game of basketball, a ton of fun.”—Philadelphia magazine The names need no introduction: Thompson and Patrick, Boeheim and the Pearl, and of course Gavitt. And the moments are part of college basketball lore: the Sweater Game, Villanova Beats Georgetown, and Six Overtimes. But this is the story of the Big East Conference that you haven’t heard before—of how the Northeast, once an afterthought, became the epicenter of college basketball. Before the league’s founding, East Coast basketball had crowned just three national champions in forty years, and none since 1954. But in the Big East’s first ten years, five of its teams played for a national championship. The league didn’t merely inherit good teams; it created them. But how did this unlikely group of schools come to dominate college basketball so quickly and completely? Including interviews with more than sixty of the key figures in the conference’s history, The Big East charts the league’s daring beginnings and its incredible rise. It transports fans inside packed arenas to epic wars fought between transcendent players, and behind locker-room doors where combustible coaches battled even more fiercely for a leg up. Started on a handshake and a prayer, the Big East carved an improbable arc in sports history, an ensemble of Catholic schools banding together to not only improve their own stations but rewrite the geographic boundaries of basketball. As former UConn coach Jim Calhoun eloquently put it, “It was Camelot. Camelot with bad language.”

Provides a comprehensive listing, including biographical information and statistics, of each athlete inducted into one of the major sports halls of fame.

Profiles the history and individual teams of the Big East football conference.

Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, and Gary Williams played no small role in the making of modern college basketball. Collectively, they've won more than 2,300 games and six national championships and reached thirteen Final Fours. All three have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Pitino, Calhoun, and Williams each spent more than two decades on the national stage, becoming celebrities in their own right as college basketball and March Madness became a multi-billion-dollar industry. Before Pitino became the face of the Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville programs, before Calhoun turned UConn into a national power, and before Williams brought Maryland to its first national championship, all three of these coaches cut their teeth in front of modest-sized crowds in the crumbling college gymnasiums of Boston during the 1970s and early 1980s. Boston Ball charts how this trio of coaches, seemingly out of nowhere, started a basketball revolution: Pitino at Boston University, Calhoun at Northeastern University, and Williams at Boston College. Toiling in relative obscurity, they ignited a renaissance of the "city game," a style of play built on fast-breaking up-tempo offense, pressure defense, and board crashing. Part of a fraternity of great coaches--including Mike Jarvis, Kevin Mackey, and Tom Davis--they unknowingly invented Boston Ball, a simultaneously old and new path to the top of college basketball. Pitino, Calhoun, and Williams took advantage of the ample coaching opportunities in "America's College Town" to craft their respective blueprints for building a winning program and turn their schools into regional powers, and these early coaching years served as their respective springboards to big-time college basketball. Boston Ball is the story of how three ambitious young coaches learned their trade in the shadow of the dynastic Celtics, as well as the story of how the young players--in their recruitment, relationships, and basketball lives--made these teams into winners.

For more than forty seasons, Jim Boeheim has been one of college basketball’s most successful and compelling figures with the second-most victories of all time behind only Mike Krzyzewski. The Hall of Fame coach has led the Syracuse Orange to five Final Fours, including a memorable national championship in 2003. In Jim Boeheim and Syracuse Basketball: In the Zone, Donald Staffo examines the career of the storied SU basketball coach and the elite program that he built. Boeheim’s accomplishments as well as his considerable charitable work cannot be denied, nor can the sanctions that occurred under his watch. Both sides are covered in depth—the highs and lows that have made Boeheim a legend and Syracuse a basketball power. After taking over the program in 1977, a decade after his own playing career at the school, Boeheim transformed it into a national power behind such stars as Roosevelt Bouie, Pearl Washington, Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly, Derrick Coleman, Carmelo Anthony, and C. J. Fair. Staffo brings to life the wild environment in the old Manley Field House and a packed Carrier Dome. All the unforgettable moments are highlighted, including the 2003 championship win over Kansas, the epic six-overtime classic over UConn in the 2009 Big East Tournament, and the surprising run to the 2016 Final Four. It also analyzes Boeheim from a point-counterpoint standpoint as well as the image of the Syracuse basketball program compared to other hoop powers. Jim Boeheim and Syracuse Basketball is a revealing look at a basketball legend.

In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame was established to honor the legends of the sport. The first inductees were some of the greatest names of the dugout, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Less than ten years later, in 1945, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its first members. The Soccer Hall of Fame was established in 1950, followed by the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959, and the Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In all, more than 1,400 inductees—players, teams, and behind the scenes personnel—have been enshrined in these five halls of fame. The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia is a comprehensive listing of each inductee elected into one or more of these major sports halls of fame. From Hank Aaron to Fred Zollner, this book contains biographical information, sport and position(s) played, and career statistics (when applicable) of each of the more than 1,400 honorees. The book also includes specific appendixes for each shrine, in which inductees are listed alphabetically and by year of induction. Also included are appendixes briefly describing the history of each hall of fame.

Combining knowledge from sport management, marketing, media, leadership, governance, and consumer behavior in innovative ways, this book goes further than any other in surveying current theory and research on the business of women’s sport around the world, making it an unparalleled resource for all those who aspire to work in, or understand, women’s sport. Featuring international perspectives, with authors from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and insightful, in-depth profiles of real leaders within different sectors of women's sport in the global sport industry, the Routledge Handbook of the Business of Women's Sport offers an integrated understanding of the ways traditional media and social media impact both the understanding and advancement of women’s sport properties, businesses, teams, and athletes. Innovative case studies show how societal issues such as gender, power, and framing impact the business of women’s sports and those who work in women’s sport. An essential reference for any researcher or advanced student with an interest in women’s sport or women in business, and useful supplementary reading for researchers and advanced students working in sport business, sport management, mainstream business and management, or women’s studies.

The University of Pittsburgh first fielded an intercollegiate basketball team in 1905, but an entire generation of fans has only heard or read about a small number of these colorful and outstanding players. An invitation to join the prestigious Big East Conference in 1982 opened the eyes of the nation to Panther basketball. Continuing a tradition of growth and excellence, the 2001-2002 Panthers again put University of Pittsburgh basketball on the map. Picked by the league coaches to finish sixth in the seven-team Big East Conference's West Division, Ben Howland directed the team to an overall record of 29-6, earning the Panthers the West Division regular-season championship. The Panthers then advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in twenty-eight years. Panther Pride: University of Pittsburgh Men's Basketball is the pictorial history of Pittsburgh's basketball program, before and since the Big East Conference. Well before Dr. Roy Chipman, there was eccentric Doc Carlson. Long before All-American Charles Smith, there was Charley Hyatt. Twenty-eight years before Brandin Knight led his team to the Sweet Sixteen, Billy Knight led another remarkable Panther squad to the Elite Eight. From Motor Square Garden in East Liberty to the Pitt Stadium Pavilion and Fitzgerald Field House in Oakland, Pittsburgh basketball teams have provided their fans with exciting victories and heartbreaking defeats for close to a century.

Most Syracuse fans and alumni have seen a game at Carrier Dome, have seen highlights of a young Dwight Freeney and Carmelo Anthony, and know the story of the 2003 NCAA National Champion men’s basketball team. But only real fans know the history of Archbold Stadium, the words to “Down the Field,” or what Otto the Orange’s name could have been originally. 100 Things Syracuse Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of the Syracuse Orange and, whether you’re a die-hard booster from the days of Jim Brown or a current student at the university, these are the 100 things all fans needs to know and do in their lifetime. Author Scott Pitoniak has collected every essential piece of Orange knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.