Trove tidbits on our latest story

[Halldan1]

This is from part 1 of our Tony Bozzella interview.

In part two, to be posted tomorrow, he goes in depth profiling all the new players.

I will post one of the profiles here for our readers.

Part 1....

To fill out the staff, Bozzella brought on Christian Stefanopoulos, who most recently served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Kentucky, a team that advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament last season. She also served as the video coordinator at Kentucky from 2007 through 2010.

Prior to her stint at Kentucky, Stefanopoulos served as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Bucknell University, helping the team to the biggest turnaround in program history, going from five wins in 2011/12 to fifteen the following season. She also served as an assistant coach at Morehead State University for two years.

“Christian brought in back to back rookies of the year at Kentucky and then Bucknell as well as another rookie of the year at Morehead State, so I think she can really help us expand our recruiting base” Bozzella said. “I think she is going to do great here because she is such a tireless recruiter who has an excellent basketball mind and that will allow us to branch out in multiple ways. In the last month to six weeks that she has been here, I can tell her recruiting prowess is fantastic. I am lucky to have her join our already great staff.”

 

[Halldan1]

PirateSportsNetwork ‏@PirateSportsNet 21h21 hours ago

.@TonyBozzella. @John_Fanta. Talkin' @SHUWBB. Enough said. WATCH: http://www.shupirates.com/collegesportslive/?media=499418…

 

[Halldan1]

Part 2 profiles 9 new players. Below is one of the nine.



Aleesha Powell

Another impact newcomer for the Pirates will be Aleesha Powell. Powell is expected to play major minutes immediately after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations. Powell played for Bozzella for two years at Iona, before having a breakout junior year. She earned all-conference honors in her third season playing with the Gaels. The combo guard has a great relationship with the Seton Hall head coach so when she decided she wanted to finish her career playing outside of New Rochelle; her first call was to her former coach.

Junior guard Aleesha Powell scores 21 points in Iona’s 90-89 loss to Harvard in the WNIT.

“Aleesha is a great fit for our program, she has worked hard for this opportunity,” Bozzella said. “She hasn’t played in a game in a year, but she did play a whole lot against two of the top guards in the country last season in Didi and Daisha in practice. I thought Aleesha was good when she came here, but she has improved tremendously in her sit out year and she's expected to not only play right away but really impact the games. I expect her to have a big year for us.”

Powell's offensive strength is her shooting and because of that she will serve primarily as the Hall's 2 guard, but she also will at times be a facilitator at the point when the need arises. Bozzella said that while Powell can really fill it up, her best attribute may be on defense, where she uses her speed to disrupt the opponent’s offense turning defense into transition opportunities for the Hall.

“This season we could potentially start two fifth year seniors with Aleesha and Shakena replacing DiDi and Daisha, and then we have fourth year senior forwards Tabatha Richardson-Smith and Tiffany Jones as well. The amount of experience they have just being older and more mature helps set the tone. Our veteran leadership and experience was important for our success last year and it will be important for our success again this season.”

 

[400SOAVE]

If they can rebound and hit free throws, I believe the Pirates can challenge in the Big East and make the NCAA.

The key will be the bigs and their ability to rebound, and to finish the easy shots. Last season the Pirates had to lead the nation in missed layups.

Fortunately, TRS and Jones have shown what they can do on the glass. (And they can both score.) Let's hope Lundberg and Molyneau and ready to contribute. They have size.

That leaves the 6-4 Gordon as the big question mark. If she steps it up with the rebounding, it could change their game by giving the Pirates another weapon inside. Last season she averaged only 7.8 minutes. That has to improve. Is there any word on her progress?

And how much emphasis is there on improving free throw shooting?

 

[Halldan1]

The conclusion of the story will appear on the Trove tomorrow as we got additional info from Tony.

He talks about what he expects this season and also comments about the importance of fan attendance. He squarely paints a target on himself and his team. He's not afraid to project high expectations.

Little wonder with that kind of attitude why he is so successful.

 

[Halldan1]

Part of Tony Bozzella's closing comments......


“We love our fans behind us and we will give them another very successful year as we will be a top contender in the Big East. With this challenging non conference schedule we have the opportunity to position ourselves if successful to be considered for an at large NCAA berth if we don't win our conference tournament. When I took over this program my goal was to give our fans an entertaining hard working team that will contend each year. I feel this year's team will have the opportunity to do just that."

 

[Halldan1]

Seton Hall Athletics ‏@SHUAthletics 18h18 hours ago

#TBT to the @BIGEAST Tip-Off Party on @FOXSports1 when Kobayashi visited Historic Walsh Gym! #NationalHotDogDay

Takeru Kobayashi, Kevin Willard and Tony Bozzella