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

This Week in the BIG EAST - Weekly Overview of NCAA College Basketball's Top Conference

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.

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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.