By William Hathaway
The Big East Basketball Tournament is one of the famous tournaments in the tri-state area. Last year, COVID-19 put an end to the tournament and much of the sports world for months. This year, the tournament is back at Madison Square Garden, and will start March 10 before finishing up March 13.
In other college basketball news, the Rutgers program seems like it will be heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a long time. Rutgers now plays in the Big Ten Conference, and finished the season with a 14-10 record, 10-10 in the conference. With the strength of the Big Ten, their NCAA resume looks strong enough for an at-large bid.
The NBA hosted its annual all-star game in Atlanta, with Team LeBron beat Team Durant 170-150. While the game featured shooting displays from Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry, the game was marred by Durant being unable to play due to injury, and Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons being unavailable due to COVID-19 tracing. Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo won the MVP Award, going 16-16 from the field, although it appeared he missed two dunks.
In other All-Star news, Anfernee Simons won the Slam Dunk Contest, Stephen Curry won the Three Point Competition, and Domantas Sabonis won the Skills Challenge. The day was dedicated to supporting HBCUs.
The regular season for New Jersey boys’ basketball has ended. East Orange beat Orange 63-57, Seton Hall Prep defeated University High 56-47, Central rode by West Side 68-48, Columbia beat West Orange 67-53, and Payne Tech slipped by Irvington 55-52.
Finally, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is going to be very rich. He is set to sign a 4-year, $160 million deal, with $126 million guaranteed, and a $66 million signing bonus.
