Jerry with the background story of Cope and Bashir. Good read

Get #$%& NCAA and anyone defending them. Virginia objectively should have stayed home instead of the Hall. oregon and nc state winning has nothing to do with it.

the fix is in

Lawrenceville, N.J. – Fresh off a three-game sweep at Georgetown over the weekend, the Seton Hall softball team continues its road stretch with a doubleheader at Rider on Tuesday. Game one will get underway at 2 p.m., with the second game of the day slated to begin at approximately 4 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
After an 0-3 start to conference play, the Pirates traveled down to Washington, D.C. and came away with a three-game sweep over Georgetown. The sweep was punctuated by a 12-7 win in 10 innings on Sunday, a game in which the Pirates saw two separate two-run leads slip away. The Pirates had a 5-3 edge with one out to go in the seventh inning before a two-run home run tied things up. Later in the ninth inning, Seton Hall once again took a two-run edge at 7-5, but a pair of Hoya sacrifice flies leveled the score again. The Pirates would leave no doubt in the top of the 10th, scoring five runs to pull away with the win.

NEWS & NOTES

• Katey Brennan was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday after batting .455 (5-for-11) with five RBI. The freshman also reached base at least twice in all three games over the weekend against Georgetown.
• Lauren Caye also garnered weekly honors from the conference, being named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. The Pirates' centerfielder batted a team-best .500 over the weekend and reached base at a .692 clip over the three-game sweep of the Hoyas.
• Kelsey Carr put up a big weekend at the plate against Georgetown. The senior hit three home runs over the final two games of the series, moving her season total up to five.
• Brennan hit her first career home run on March 10 at Villanova. Hitting in the middle of the order in all 20 games so far this season, the freshman sports a .317 batting average and 15 RBI, both of which rank in the top-three on the team.
• Caye's walk-off home run against UIC on March 2 was the first non-run rule walk-off home run for the Pirates since Baylee Allender hit one against Georgetown on April 6, 2019.
• For Caye, it was her first home run since April 16, 2022 against Georgetown.
• The Pirates have won 40 consecutive games when scoring six or more runs. Their last loss in such a game came on April 9, 2022 in an 8-7 loss to DePaul.
• Kyra Kreuscher was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 26 after her strong outing on Saturday against New Mexico State. The sophomore pitched all seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs to pick up her second win of the season.
• Now in her sophomore year, Kreuscher has an ERA of 2.58 through the first 81.1 innings of her career.
• Taylor Hill was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 19 after going .500 (6-for-12) at the plate with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI in the season's opening weekend at FAU.
• The Pirates were picked to finish third in the BIG EAST preseason poll, behind second-place UConn and first-place Villanova. Seton Hall finished in third place in last year's standings.
• Seton Hall will be tasked with replacing some key producers from last year's squad. Centerfielder and last year's team leader in batting average Abby Wingo, second baseman Ashly Colonnetta, and left fielder Marisa Pla have all graduated along with reserves Grace Dawson, Ally Taylor and Jordan Tressler. Pitcher Shelby Smith, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, transferred to Houston. Catcher Regan Rand has also transferred to Division-II Indiana (Pa.).
• The Hall welcome in a pair of freshmen to the 2024 squad. Outfielder Katey Brennan and pitcher Karissa Dupuis will both look to be key contributors in South Orange this upcoming season.
• Seton Hall will face a tough non-conference slate in 2024, including matchups against three teams that won NCAA regional games last season an six opponents who won at least 34 games. Included in that bunch are dates with Grand Canyon, who pulled off a shocker last season against No. 2 UCLA, as well as a rematch of the Austin Regional elimination game against Texas State.
• The Pirates will face off against opponents from three of the power conferences this season: ACC (Louisville, Syracuse), Big 10 (Michigan) and PAC-12 (Arizona State).
• Head Coach Angie Churchill coached against her alma mater in Michigan last weekend for the first time in her career. Churchill was a four-year member of the Wolverines softball team from 2001-04, winning three Big Ten titles and reaching the College World Series three times.
• The Pirates earned several All-BIG EAST awards. Kelsey Carr was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Abby Wingo was named Defensive Player of the Year, and the coaching staff led by Angie Churchill was named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Carr, Wingo and Shelby Smith were all named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Carr being a unanimous selection.
• Carr is the first Pirate pitcher to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year. The junior led the league in ERA (1.82), reaching that number after 61.2 innings of work. Carr only allowed more than two earned runs in a start just twice during BIG EAST play.
• Carr was one of just two players in the country last season to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA, hit 10+ home runs and drive in 50+ runs (Valerie Cagle, Clemson).
• Wingo was the first Pirate recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 31 chances in center field. Wingo had the third-highest number of chances among BIG EAST outfielders and had the most chances among center fielders in the league.
• Abby Wingo set new single-season records in base hits (71) and longest hitting streak (19 games) last season. Her .397 average led the club, and she only failed to collect a base-hit in consecutive games twice all year.
• Seton Hall's 18 BIG EAST victories last season were a new program record, and the team's 42 wins rank as the second-most in program history (46, 2004).
• Seton Hall's win over Villanova on Day Two of the BIG EAST Tournament was its 40th win of the season, reaching that plateau for just the second time in program history. Entering the year, Seton Hall had not won 30 games in a season since 2005.
• The Pirates finished with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.

Week 1

SETON HALL (3-0) (0-0 in Big East)

Chances to Dance 55%

The Week Past:

Beat St. Peter's 70-59. 6 foot 6 Sr. Kadary Richmond (South Shore NY/Brewster Academy) notched 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals. Thwarted FDU 85-55. Richmond scored 14. Ran past Albany 96-71. 6 foot 2 Sr. Al-Amir Dawes (Patrick School/Clemson - NJ Hoops #8 Class of 2019) scored 15.

The Week Ahead:

Wagner comes in on Saturday

Where They're At:

KenPom.com ranking of 53rd. 33rd in fg% at 53%. 215th in 3 pt% at 31.4%.


RUTGERS (3-1) (0-0 in Big 10)

Chances to Dance 40%

The Week Past:

Edged by Princeton 68-61. 6 foot 11 Sr. Clifford Omoruyi (Roselle Catholic - NJ Hoops #2 Class of 2020) had 12. Thwarted Boston U 69-45. 6 foot 8 Fr. Gavin Griffiths (Kingswood Oxford) hit 9-15 shots on the way to 25 points. Beat Bryant 66-57. 6 foot 6 Sr. Aundre Hyatt (Miller School VA/LSU) notched 19. Beat Bryant 66-57. Hyatt had 19 again.

The Week Ahead:

Howard comes in on Saturday. St. Peter's makes the short drive down Monday

Where They're At:

KenPom.com ranking of 71st. 46th in fg% defense with opponents only hitting 36%. 305th in fg% at 39.9%.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks​

TEAM INFO​

I know it's 4 hours old and everyone has raw emotions, but I noticed Sha said Richmond, Davis and DAW all have eligibility and have not decided what to do.

Any remote chance they run it back?

I am boycotting the tournament this year, except when the 3 Big East teams are playing

BC beats Providence 62-57. Did Carter suit up? Did he sit out?

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I’m guessing Providence, St. John’s, and Villanova were the 3 who did not.

Man what a bad look for a league that is basketball only.

Nice to see DC lead this team of 7 healthy players.

Copeland has the team clicking, up by 17 !!!

Pretty impressive what Donald has been doing with only 7 players at Wagner this season!

Do you think he gets offered another job at the end of this year or he stays another year at Wagner??

All three teams have afternoon games.

South Orange, N.J. -- Senior guard Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has been named First Team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

An All-BIG EAST First Team selection, Richmond collected six weekly BIG EAST conference honors this season, including BIG EAST Player of the Week recognition in back-to-back weeks on Jan. 8 and Jan. 15. Richmond was one of only two players in the BIG EAST to finish in the top 11 in league play in scoring (10th, 17.1 points per game), rebounding (11th, 6.9 rpg), assists (fifth, 5.1 apg) and steals (second, 2.1 spg). He also shot 82 percent from the free-throw line in league play, which tied for 11th in the conference.

Nine of Richmond's 13 career 20-point games came against BIG EAST competition this season. The first of which was a 23-point, six-rebound and five-assist performance in Seton Hall's 75-60 win over No. 5 UConn on Dec. 20. Arguably Richmond's most impressive performance of the season when he scored a season-high 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds and five assists in a Quad 1 road victory at Butler on Jan. 13. He also posted just the second triple-double in program history on Jan. 20 against Creighton when he put up 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Richmond is tied for second nationally in Division I with eight 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist games this season. He scored his 1,000th-career point at Butler on Jan. 13 and registered his 1,000th point as a Pirate in the win over Villanova on March 6. Richmond is part of a group that features Terry Dehere, Shaheen Holloway, Andre Barrett, Khadeen Carrington and Myles Powell as the only Pirates to collect 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists in their Seton Hall careers. Richmond ranks 45th on Seton Hall's all-time scoring list with 1,024 points. He's also tied for 14th in career assists (379) and ranks 13th with 167 career steals.

NIT matchup with St. Joe’s on Wednesday is a sell out! Great to see Shaheen and the guys getting everyone’s support!

With the most devastating outcomes happening around ncaa, the Hall is destined for the NIT unless the committee has some respect for the Big East.

Now this heavily dominate senior team has out performed their preseason ranks but most likely are all gone.

I have faith in Sha but next year there is going to be a lot missing and with little NIL it will be a long year.

So how long til The Hall sniffs another NCAA? Hopefully we can shock again but I can't see anything building for another 3 yrs.

There’s another type of madness under way and it doesn’t involve brackets.

The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, less than 24 hours after the revealing of the 68-team field, and the list has already surpassed 100 entrants.

College basketball insider Jeff Goodman reported that 125 players had already entered the portal as of noon Monday.

Some of the top players already declaring their intent to transfer include, via On3: Stanford’s Andrej Stojakovic, a former top-25 recruit and son of former Kings sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic; Michigan guard Dug McDaniel, who averaged 16.3 points this past season; and Hofstra’s Darlinstone Dubar, who averaged 17.8 points while shooting nearly 40 percent from deep.

The transfer portal has essentially become free agency for college athletics, with players leaving for more playing time and lucrative NIL deals.

Some teams use the portal to supplement recruiting classes or fill holes, while some rely on the available pool to entirely remark their roster.

Overall No. 1 seed UConn would not be a juggernaut if not for the additions of two transfers in former East Carolina guard Tristan Newton and former Rutgers deep threat Cam Spencer.

The timing of the transfer portal, though, has come under scrutiny.

Teams that have already had their season ended — like St. John’s — can immediately start focusing on next year’s roster and devote all their attention to these efforts.

That, of course, puts the teams still in the tournament at a disadvantage as they are focusing their efforts on trying to advance in the big dance.

Wrote Goodman: “The NCAA really needs to move this back 2 weeks — at least until after the Elite 8. Just cut down the window from 45 days to 30 days.”

Fox’s John Fanta had stronger words.

“Let me be clear: it’s an absolute travesty that the transfer portal in college basketball opens tomorrow. It takes away from literally the best week of the year in the sport,” Fanta wrote Sunday. “At least give it a week and let the tournament have our undivided attention. The portal is toxic. Enough!

Rick Pitino isn’t thrilled about St. John’s getting left out of the NCAA Tournament, but he’s especially peeved that Seton Hall got snubbed.

Seton Hall became the first team in the 45-year history of the Big East to get left out of March Madness after finishing five games above .500 in the conference, and had five Quad I wins, with defeats over Providence, Marquette, Butler, St. John’s and defending-champion UConn.

Writing on X on Monday, Pitino stuck up for his conference-mates.

“I believe in getting better not bitter,” Pitino tweeted.

“I totally believe that six teams from the Big East belonged in the field. I know our players along with Providence are totally disappointed with the decisions made. But not having Seton Hall at 13-7 in BE play with wins over the top teams is flat out wrong!”

Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway was beside himself on a Zoom call with reporters on Sunday night.

“Super-disappointed, super-shocked,” Holloway said.

“Can’t believe that a team that won 13 games in supposed to be the second-best conference in the country numbers-wise, I don’t think I ever been a part of seeing anything like that. The disrespect that the Big East got shown … it’s mind-boggling to me . … It’s hours later and I still can’t believe it. I still can’t believe that only three teams got in from this conference. That’s a shame, and disrespectful, on every level.”

Meanwhile, Marquette head coach Shaka Smart theorized that DePaul’s historically futile team ended up costing other teams in the Big East a shot at the Big Dance.

“It was a perfect storm numbers-wise in our league,” Smart said on CBS Sports. “You had UConn having the best year ever of any Big East team. And then you had DePaul probably having the worst year ever.

“That affected those teams in the middle.”