Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers will play Louisville Saturday in the first of their final half dozen games before the school joins the Big 12 July 1.

“This is our third straight year that we have come to West Virginia,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said last week. “I always request it every year. Generally you would see in the Big East that somebody would come back to you the following year, but [Big East Commissioner] John Marinatto’s a dear friend and I always tell him, ‘Look, don’t let West Virginia come to Louisville. I’d like to visit one more time.’

“And now it adds extra meaning because they’re going into the Big 12 so it will be the last time we play against each other.”

After Louisville, West Virginia has games at Pittsburgh (Feb. 16), at Notre Dame (Feb. 22), home for Marquette (Feb. 24) and DePaul (Feb. 28) and at South Florida (March 3).

The Big East Tournament runs March 6-10 at Madison Square Garden.

Kevin Jones, the presumptive Big East Player of the Year from Mount Vernon, N.Y., said last fall the league wouldn’t have the same “feel” without West Virginia.

“It’s not going to really affect me or Truck [Bryant], but I just feel sorry for my teammates and the players that it will affect in the future,” Jones told SNY.tv at Big East media day.

“Of course I will be coming and watching games and watching games on TV, but it just won’t have that same feel if it wasn’t the same Big East that I played in.”

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino echoed similar feelings. He sent Jones and current West Virginia freshman guard Jabarie Hinds to West Virginia and then enjoyed seeming them return to Madison Square Garden, Seton Hall and Rutgers.

Now he’ll have to travel to Big 12 territory to see Hinds play live beginning next year.

“Of course, I’m like everybody else out here,” Cimmino told SNY.tv earlier this year. “I’m mourning the disintegration of the great Big East that I grew up with. To this day, I think it was the best league that there ever was so it hurts.”

For the recruits signed to play at West Virginia beginning in 2012, they will never know what it’s like to play in the Big East or at the Garden.

Elijah Macon is a senior power forward at Huntington (West Va.) Prep signed to play with West Virginia next year.

“He didn’t really care regardless of what conference they were going in,” Huntington Prep coach Rob Fulford, whose team meets St. Anthony Saturday in the PrimeTime Shootout at Roselle Catholic High School, told SNY.tv earlier this year. “He picked West Virginia for their style of play and I think it fits him very well.”

Fulford believes the school had to make the move to the Big 12 for football, basketball be damned.

“Being from here, obviously they needed to make a move for football and the Big 12 is going to be a better conference for West Virginia from a football standpoint,” Fulford said. “I think they needed to take a chance to see where the basketball would take them.”

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NEW YORK — Big East Commissioner John Marinatto may not want to give Rick Pitino any credit for Memphis coming to the Big East, but Josh Pastner certainly does.

“We play Louisville next year as part of a home-and-home series,” Pastner, the Memphis coach, told SNY.tv during Thursday’s edition of “The Big East Report.”

“I really believe Coach Pitino deserves a standing ovation when Louisville comes here because one of the main reasons we got into the Big East was through Coach Pitino’s public politicking for us to get in.”

Pitino told SNY.tv last fall that Memphis would be “an awesome addition” to the Big East in the wake of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia leaving, and reiterated those comments Thursday on “SiriuxXm’s Inside College Basketball” with Jeff Goodman and Bruce Pearl.

“In terms of the culture of Big East basketball, we needed an inner city school, a Top 20 program, and right now we get Memphis who would automatically now become the second largest crowd,” Pitino said.

“They average 16,500.  They’ll average 18,000 now being in the Big East.  This is going to sound shocking to you but their APR would be second in the Big East.  Their facilities would rank them in the top 5 in the Big East.  So we needed this, a big shot in the arm for us.  I think we’re going to probably still add one more team.”

Consistent with comments he previously made to SNY.tv, Pitino still believes Temple could be that team.

“Me personally, it’s Temple,” he told Goodman and Pearl. “But, you know, I’m not the commissioner and I’m not the presidents.  People say that Villanova is fighting it.  I don’t understand because South Florida had to say, ‘Look, we don’t like it but we’ll take Central Florida.  If that’s in the best interests of the conference, we’ll do it.’  And Villanova’s going to have to say, ‘If it’s in the best interests of the conference, we’ll do it.’

“So everybody’s gotta start thinking, the only agenda is how can the Big East be strong?  Now, Temple, I think, is the logical, again, it’s an inner city school, Philadelphia, great coach, great tradition.  I think it’s a natural.  Good football program.  But I don’t know if some other people would agree with that. I’ve always said that Memphis and Temple make the most sense.”

Like Pitino before him, Pastner will be coming over to the Big East from Conference-USA, where Memphis, especially under former coach John Calipari, has at times dominated its opponents.

“I want to say that Conference-USA is a terrific basketball league,” said Pastner, whose Tigers are 17-7, 7-2 in the conference and boast 18,000 season ticket-holders. “It’s very, very under-valued. It’s very under-appreciated both locally and nationally by the media….Conference-USA does not get the respect that it deserves.”

Still, Pastner said coming to the Big East in 2013 would be an “honor and privilege.”

“I mean, the Big East, you’re talking about a league that is known as maybe the best basketball league for 20, 30, 40 years,” he said.

Paster said he had no dramatic plans to alter his recruiting philosophy once his team joins the new league.

“We’re a national program,” he said, “and we recruit nationally. You look at our last couple recruiting classes, we recruit at a very high level, we’ve signed high-level guys….This is a players’ game, and that what’s your focus is, going to get the best players.”

He will need the best players to compete in the new conference even if this isn’t your father’s Big East.

Georgetown coach John Thompson III, whose team has played Memphis the last two years out of conference, believes the Tigers are joining an elite conference.

“When you start talking about Syracuse and people leaving, all that meant is that we went from unquestionably the best basketball conference to now we’re arguably the best basketball conference,” Thompson III said on the Big East conference call.

“And so they’re coming into what is probably going to still be the best basketball conference.”

Like Pitino, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has also coached in Conference-USA and in the Big East.

Yet while West Virginia is on its way out – perhaps as early as this year – Memphis is coming in.

Asked how he thought Memphis would make the transition, Huggins said:

“That’s hard to answer because the truth of the matter is a third of the  Big East was in Conference-USA when I was in Conference-USA. I mean, Rick was at Louisville, Cal was at Memphis, DePaul had Quentin Richardson, Marquette was good. Tommy [Crean] was doing a great job at Marquette.”

He added: “They’ve got a heck of a basketball program. Cal did a great job getting it going and Josh has kept it going. They’ve got a great, great fan base. Their base is absolutely terrific. They travel. You’ll see them everywhere in the league.”

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said it was “bittersweet” that his team was leaving the Big East for the ACC, along with Syracuse.

But he said he believes the Big East did the right thing in adding schools like Memphis, Houston, SMU and UCF.

“They’ve definitely solidified the conference and we’re very glad for that and we’re glad to see that Memphis and all the other teams that they’re adding bring something,” Dixon said. “Everybody brings something different to the table and they all bring some value.

“That is key. They didn’t fill with just numbers. They filled with teams that brought a certain value and strength to the conference in different ways. And I think the plan that they’ve followed has really worked out well for the Big East.”

Now, it’s just a matter of getting Pitino that standing O in Memphis.

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It sounds strange, but it could happen.

With established powers Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia on their way out and former Conference-USA schools Memphis, Houston, SMU and UCF on their way in, the Big East will look dramatically different in a year or so.

All those schools are set to join in 2013, meaning by the time of the 2014 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, it’s at least possible Memphis and Houston – or for that matter, SMU and UCF — could play for the title.

“Although it sounds odd today, five years from now it’ll be accepted and it won’t be in the same manner,” Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said Wednesday.

“So change is always going to occur and this is just another piece of evidence to support that.”

There could be as many as 17 teams in the 2014 Big East Tournament, once the new schools are in and the old schools are out.

Talk about a busy week at Madison Square Garden.

“Our membership will get together and we’ll analyze all of the possibilities of a 17-team postseason championship,” Marinatto said.

“Depending on what the membership’s desire is, there are ways to do whatever you want to do.”

Marinatto added that while the 12-member football league that begins play in 2015 would be split into two six-team divisions, East and West, there were no such plans to divide the basketball conference into divisions.

It remains unclear when West Virginia will leave, and Marinatto said it would be “inappropriate” to discuss whether the league would let them out in 2012. He also declined to comment on a timeframe as to when the matter would be resolved.

The league and school are suing one another, and the Big East insists no school can leave before the 27-month time period, or June 2014.

The addition of Memphis was clearly made to augment the basketball side of the league in the wake of the losses of Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia. Memphis’ basketball program is traditionally much stronger than its football team.

“For different reasons, I think we’re always going to be very, very strong in men’s basketball,” Marinatto said. “And with the addition of Memphis I think we just solidify our position as being the best conference in the country in men’s basketball. And for that matter, women’s basketball.”

While Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Notre Dame coach Mike Brey both told SNY.tv this fall they supported the additions of Memphis and Temple, Marinatto said Pitino was not “the driving force” behind the addition of Memphis.

“Rick’s comments, as much as I love him,” Marinatto said, “didn’t really influence our membership’s decision.”

He said Memphis was chosen over Temple in part because Memphis plays in the Central Time Zone, which would allow them to slide into the West Division for football.

“We needed a school that would fit into that West Division,” Marinatto said.

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Everyone in the college basketball world knows Josh Pastner can recruit.

The Memphis coach signed ESPN’s No. 4 recruiting class nationally in 2010.

His current roster includes McDonald’s All-American Joe Jackson and Jordan Brand All-Americans Will Barton and Wesley Witherspoon.

Now that Memphis is headed to the Big East beginning in 2013, Pastner and his staff will have recruiting entree to the rich talent corridor from New York to Washington, D.C.

“I think joining the Big East helps a program like Memphis recruit New Jersey/New York kids,” Roselle (N.J.) Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose best player is 2013 small forward Tyler Roberson, told SNY.tv. “First of all, the name Big East still carries weight. Kids know they will be playing in one of the best conferences and a conference with great tradition. Second, I think kids are more apt to go away to school if they know there is a chance they get to play some road games that are close to home.”

When former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star Jeff Robinson picked Memphis out of high school, he was headed to play in Conference-USA. Robinson ultimately transferred to Seton Hall and finished his career in the Big East.

Now, a player from New York or New Jersey could pick Memphis, and still come home several times a year to play at St. John’s, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova. The Big East Tournament, still the crown jewel of the league, is held each March at Madison Square Garden.

“I think it will definitely help them get players from the Northeast knowing they will come home multiple times to play in front of friends and family,” said St. Benedict’s Prep coach Mark Taylor.

The St. Benedict’s roster includes 2013 point guard Tyler Ennis, who is being courted by Memphis, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona and Louisville, and 2015 guard Isaiah Briscoe, who is being courted by UConn and Syracuse and is one of the top players nationally in that class.

Brooklyn Lincoln coach Tiny Morton, who coached Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair and Lance Stephenson, agrees with Taylor and Boff.

“[Memphis] is a place that a lot of players that I’ve coached and known never visited so to be able to play there and come back home would be great,” Morton said.

Lincoln’s current roster is highlighted by 2014 wing Isaiah Whitehead, who holds offers from Arizona, Syracuse, St. John’s and PIttsburgh and has interest from Kentucky, UConn, North Carolina, Louisville, Georgetown and Florida State.

Pastner and Memphis will, of course, be competing in the Northeast with established Big East power like UConn, Louisville, Villanova, Georgetown, Cincinnati and Marquette for players, as well as rising programs like Providence, St. John’s, Rutgers and Seton Hall.

Syracuse and Pitt, which will move to the ACC, will also continue to recruit nationally and will now attempt to draw players away from the Big East.

In Philadelphia, Memphis will have to go head-to-head with Villanova, as well as the other programs that recruit the City of Brotherly Love.

“There are so many Big East teams between here and Memphis,” said Philly Constitution coach Rob Moore, whose roster includes uncommitted 2012 wing Savon Goodman and 2013 point guard Daiquan Walker.

“There’s more Big East teams here [in this area] than Conference-USA so it actually puts them at a disadvantage in Philly.”

In the Washington D.C. area, Memphis could also make some inroads.

“Yes, sir, no doubt about it,” DC Assault coach Nate Britt Sr., the father of North Carolina-bound 2013 point guard Nate Britt Jr., told SNY.tv. “It puts Memphis in the loop for recruits from the DMV. It’s a great move for Memphis to the Big East for basketball.”

Mike Jones, head coach at legendary DeMatha Catholic, concurs.

“I definitely believe it will [help Memphis],” he said. “They already have ties into Baltimore.”

Ultimately, said Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep coach Ryan Hurd, whose roster includes Pitt-bound Steven Adams, Xavier signee Myles Davis and uncommitted shooting guard Sam Cassell Sr., recruiting comes down to relationships.

“Anytime you go up a notch league-wise it’s going to be great for your program,” Hurd said. “Especially when you’re heading to a league with as many media hotbeds as the Big East has.

“Ultimately, recruiting is about relationships and whether or not you treat people the right way.”

HOW THE BIG EAST WILL LOOK

The Big East still publicly maintains that Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia won’t be permitted to leave the conference until June 2014.

So their press release officially introducing Memphis in 2013 says the league will look like this beginning in 2015.

In 2015, the 12-team Big East football membership will consist of Boise State, UCF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Navy, Rutgers, San Diego State, SMU and USF.

In 2015, the 17-member Big East basketball league will include UCF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, SMU, USF and Villanova.

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Rick Pitino

Memphis and the Big East are negotiating to make the Tigers an all-sports member of the league beginning in 2013, Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reported.

“Memphis would be an awesome addition,” Pitino, the Louisville basketball coach, told SNY.tv last fall, referring to their basketball program.

Memphis would come aboard with fellow all-sports members SMU, Houston and UCF beginning in 2013. Boise State and San Diego State will also join then as football-only members, with Navy coming aboard in 2015 for football only.

From a basketball perspective, Memphis could help offset the losses of West Virginia, which could leave as early as this year depending on the outcome of lawsuits between the school and the conference, and Syracuse and Pittsburgh, which are headed to the ACC either this year or next even though the Big East says it will keep all teams to their 27-month exit timeline.

Pitino and Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey have both been in favor of adding Memphis for basketball, which would bring the league to 17 teams, depending on when West Virginia leaves.

“We must replace Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia, if that’s the case, with Temple and Memphis,” Pitino said. “One Top 10 program, the other a Top 30 program that fit into everything we are all about.”

On the football front, Pitino said, ““Memphis has a lot of money behind them and they could build up their football program.”

Brey also supports the addition of Memphis for basketball.

“I want Memphis because we need basketball star power because we’ve lost some,” Brey told SNY.tv in the fall. “Memphis brings a basketball program, and we’ve just lost two horses. We need to be mindful of our basketball stuff. And I think Houston can give us a little bit. Memphis really gives you that star power.

“I like a Temple and a Memphis and a Houston because of their basketball. I don’t really care about their football.”

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What that shows is that the league is loaded — loaded — with talented frosh.

We’re still about a month away from the official naming of the All-Rookie team but here is the ZAGSBLOG Big East All-Rookie Team for 2011-12.

**Big East Rookie of the Year, Moe Harkless, St. John’s, G/F

Harkless is the ninth-leading scorer in the Big East at 16.2 points per game and trails only his teammate, D’Angelo Harrison, among rookies in scoring. The 6-foot-8 Harkless is also fifth in the Big East in rebounding (8.7) and trails only Providence’s LaDontae Henton in that category among frosh. When he went for 30 points and 13 rebounds at Duke, he became the first player to score 30 on Duke this season.

**D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s, G

Harrison is averaging 16.7 points per game, good for eighth-best in the Big East and tops among rookies, and ranks fourth in the Big East in 3-point makes per game (2.35). He’s averaging 24 points across his last five games, including 29 in a win at DePaul and 28 in a OT loss to Villanova.

**Andre Drummond, UConn, C

The Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year, Drummond is averaging 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. His rebound average is good for ninth-best in the league and fourth-best among rookies. Among his best games this year were outings of 20 and 11 in a win over West Virginia, 15 and 11 in a loss to Notre Dame and 18 and 7 in a loss to Georgetown.

**LaDontae Henton, Providence, F

The 6-6 Henton is averaging 13.8 points and 8.8 rebounds, fourth-best in the Big East and tops among rookies. Henton went for 33 and 7 in an 81-78 loss at South Florida, and has accumulated 65 points and 22 rebounds in his last three games.

**Jerian Grant, Notre Dame, G

Though technically a sophomore, Grant is considered a Rookie because he red-shirted last season. Now he’s averaging 12.7 points, 4.9 assists and a 3.05 assist/turnover ratio. His assist total is eighth-best in the Big East and second-best among rookies.

**Eli Carter, Rutgers, G

Part of Mike Rice’s highly regarded recruiting class, Carter is averaging 13.8 points, 20th best in the Big East and fourth-best among rookies, behind only Harrison, Harkless and Henton. In a win over then-No. 10 Florida, Carter scored 31 points. He added 19 in a win over then-No. 8 UConn and tallied 24 in Saturday’s loss at Louisville.

Honorable Mention

Chane Behanan, Louisville; Ryan Boatright, UConn; Pat Connaughton, Notre Dame; Jabarie Hinds, West Virginia; Myles Mack, Rutgers; JayVaughn Pinkston, Villanova; Otto Porter, Georgetown.

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“I doubt it,” he said on Thursday’s Big East conference call. “I think that there was a chance last year but from what I understand some of the members of the [Big 12] conference don’t want to split the revenue and they want to stick at 11, so at least personally I’m hoping we stay put.

“But you never know in this landscape today, I don’t decide those things.”

Pitino was answering a question about Louisville’s game at West Virginia Feb. 11.

“This is our third straight year that we have come to West Virginia,” he said. “I always request it every year. Generally you would see in the Big East that somebody would come back to you the following year, but [Big East Commissioner] John Marinatto’s a dear friend and I always tell him, ‘Look, don’t let West Virginia come to Louisville. I’d like to visit one more time.’

“And now it adds extra meaning because they’re going into the Big 12 so it will be the last time we play against each other.”

West Virginia and the Big East are suing one another over exactly when the school can depart the league for the Big 12. The league maintains that no school can leave before the 27-month exit period, which would be June 2014.

Meantime, Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reports that Louisville is “aggressively pursuing a Big 12 invitation” to become the league’s 11th team.

“They are clearly the best fit,” a college football industry source told McMurphy.

Louisville would have to pay a $10 million exit fee to leave the Big East now that Navy is joining for football in 2015.

In recent months, Pitino, a New York native, has openly taken shots at Syracuse and Pitt for leaving the Big East and at UConn for even considering it.

In September, he told SNY.tv regarding UConn: “They’re leaving Camelot. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

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NEWARK

That’s not to say 11 will make it. They probably won’t.

But 11 teams are currently at or near the .500 mark in the league, which generally is good enough to generate an invite to the Big Dance.

After Saturday’s wild day of action, the following teams are above or at .500, or within striking distance: Syracuse (9-1), Marquette (7-2), Georgetown (6-3), Notre Dame (5-3), USF (5-3), UConn (4-3), Louisville (5-4), Cincinnati (5-4), West Virginia (5-4), Seton Hall (4-5) and Rutgers (4-5).

After Louisville beat Seton Hall, 60-51, in a game of teams that were previously at the .500 mark, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said it would be “awesome” if Seton Hall were to make the Big Dance for the first time since 2006.

“Their RPI is so good, all they gotta do is finish .500 and they’re going to the [NCAA] Tournament,” Pitino said of his former assistant Kevin Willard’s team, which has gone 1-4 since cracking the Top 25.

“That’s all they gotta do. Don’t have grand goals. Just get to the Tournament, I think it would be a remarkable achievement.’

Photo: Star-Ledger

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ESPN and CBSSports.com first reported the news, and it was confirmed by The Associated Press.

The Big East has been courting Navy, a football independent, for months and service academy officials had made it known they liked the idea of joining.

But when the Big East added Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members and Houston, SMU and Central Florida as full members in December, the Midshipmen were not ready to get on board.

Those schools are scheduled to begin competing in the Big East in 2013.

The Big East is losing Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference and West Virginiato the Big 12, but it’s unclear when.

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim has said he doubts the Orange will remain in the Big East past the 2012-13 season.

West Virginia filed a lawsuit against the Big East so it can join the Big 12 in 2012. The Big East sued West Virginia to make the school abide by the league’s 27-month notification period, which would keep the Mountaineers in the Big East through the 2013-14 school year.

A Rhode Island judge has ordered West Virginia and the Big East to enter non-binding mediation to resolve their competing lawsuits.

Pitt, Syracuse and the ACC have said they will not challenge the Big East bylaws.

The Big East wants to end up with a 12-team football conference, split into eastern and western divisions, and hold a league championship game.

(The AP contributed)

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Among the highlights:

**Rice said 6-10 redshirt freshman Kadeem Jack could play a “couple minutes” Thursday against No. 10 Florida. Jack broke a bone in his foot in October and was slated to be out 3-4 months. He would add a much-needed athletic presence to Rutgers’ frontcourt.

**Rice on Seton Hall’s 11-1 start:  ”I still can’t believe they’re not rated in the Top 25.”

**Rice on Pirates coach Kevin Willard: ”He right now is probably the [Big East] Coach of the Year. Him and JT3.”

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