NEW YORK — The deep sighs heard Tuesday in John Marinatto’s teleconference were gone one day later in New York City. He’s undoubtedly tired, frustrated and disheartened as the league to which he’s dedicated nearly two decades of his life teeters on the cliff of existence.

But Wednesday, from the podium at the New York Athletic Club at the Big East’s annual men’s basketball media day, a smile found its way onto Marinatto’s face. He welcomed the change in topic.

‘I, for one, am obviously very happy to be talking to you about basketball this morning,’ Marinatto said. ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am to be talking with you about basketball this morning.’

In the midst of a whirlwind month that saw the death of the Big East’s original commissioner and co-founder, Dave Gavitt, the defection of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the Atlantic Coast Conference and the departure of Texas Christian before it even played a game, Wednesday’s focus on basketball was a relief for Marinatto. And though he couldn’t fully escape questions about realignment and expansion, he could do so knowing this day was all about basketball and not football or television deals.

‘Today is also about a preview of the Big East basketball season that won’t be affected by all the aspects of conference realignment,’ Marinatto said. ‘So we’re focused on that as we move forward.’

Nonetheless, he was swarmed by reporters following his statement to open the media day event and faced a slew of questions to follow up his teleconference from Tuesday afternoon.

The biggest piece of news from the teleconference was the announcement that even if the Big East secures two replacements for Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the commissioner will not allow them to leave any earlier than June 30, 2014.

He made that point perfectly clear when asked again on Wednesday if there was any intention of letting Syracuse and Pittsburgh leave early, smiling at his emphatic response.

‘We have no intention of doing that. Period. Exclamation point. End of sentence,’ Marinatto said.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim skirted around the topic when he was asked about the future of his team. He made it very clear his focus was on preparing for the 2011-12 season, which he knows will be in the Big East.

But unlike Marinatto, Boeheim didn’t shut the door completely on an early exit for the ACC.

‘My only concern as a coach is getting this team ready to play,’ Boeheim said at Big East media day. ‘And I’ll get next year’s team ready to play wherever we are. I’ll leave it at that.’

Boeheim’s tight-lipped approach to questions about realignment and the ACC was strikingly different than those of his coaching colleagues. Louisville’s Rick Pitino remained outspoken and candid, exactly as he has during the entire conference expansion process.

He referenced the ages of Boeheim and Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun, saying their coaching window is rapidly closing. And with both of those coaching moguls having accomplished so much in their careers, an additional ‘one or two years’ in the ACC wouldn’t mean much to them at this point.

Like Pitino, Marinatto acknowledged how difficult it must be for Boeheim to see the conference in its current jumbled state.

‘I have a lot of respect for Jim for what he’s been able to accomplish over the years,’ Marinatto said. ‘I think Jim is a very loyal Big East guy. He’s been here from the beginning, and he’s one of the few people that can really truly appreciate the evolution of the Big East conference and what it’s done for Syracuse University.’

The Big East that Boeheim remembers from the inaugural season in 1979 is without similarities to the new models Marinatto and his staff are considering. Thirty-two years ago, it was a seven-team basketball league. Today, the Big East is exploring an option that could lead to a 14-team football conference with 19 schools.

Marinatto even said the Big East has done models of a 24-school format. Four basketball divisions with six teams in each. Every team plays the teams in its own division with additional crossover games.

‘This isn’t exactly what I signed up for,’ Marinatto said, chuckling. ‘I was never contemplating this being the thing that you would focus all your time on, the last 18 months really, since November or December, I think, of 2010 has been about conference realignment.’

And while the coaches of all 16 teams were repeatedly questioned about the future of the Big East, there sat the players — sometimes awkwardly.

It was a scene made possible by the turbulent realignment process. Marinatto’s excitement about the beginning of basketball season seemed ironic by the event’s end, as the players themselves were passed over to discuss the league’s future rather than its impending season less than a month away.

It’s a trend that will likely continue until June 30, 2014, at which point Syracuse and Pittsburgh will be released. And hopefully, by that point, the talk of expansion will cease.

‘I don’t think anyone — obviously no one has a crystal ball — but I don’t think anyone expected what’s happened over the last several months to ever happen,’ Marinatto said. ‘Not in the way it’s happened. It’s unfortunate, and it’s not something that I’m proud of.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13