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.”

Why is our commissioner so quiet? Is it because she doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers which may hamper her quest for a bigger and better position with the NCAA, another conference or the NBA?

For those of you that put in orders through the ticket office, have they gone out yet? Just wondering if I should shoot someone an email.

There's nobody who's feeling worse than coach Holloway tonight. He far exceeded all expectations this year, finishing just one game behind Marquette and Creighton. A 13-7 conference record is more than enough to get an NCAA bid in most seasons. Coach cobbled together a good team with much less resources than most of our conference teams, and managed to do us proud.

We need more than the large supporters to lift our program, we all have the ability to make a huge difference. Do you realize that if we managed to get all the season ticket holders to contribute just $100 to Onward Setonia, we'd have 5 to 6 really good bench players to support the starting five. I partly blame myself and need to do a better jobe spreading the message.

Sha - congratulations to a job well done! In Sha We Trust!!!

I know it's politics and she just cannot just come out and blast the committee BUT she better be doing something behind the scenes. How about getting all the ADs and coaches together and come up with a plan .It may be a little radical but I would stop playing conference challenges with top conferences . Down grade schedules outside of playing national TV games and pile up Ws with lesser teams . She better do something or I want her out .

Good article about Danny Hurley and his family.

I remember how fans treated him in his freshman season, I was one who expressed disappointment as well. Our perspective on Danny changed when he took time out from basketball to exercise his demons. When he returned to the team he became a fan favorite and earned a lot of respect.

Seton Hall University is mentioned throughout this article and it gives us perspective about the man he has become, and the love he shares with his family.

I'm rooting for Danny the next 3 weeks.

Don’t know about you but I’m so bummed about the snub, I’m having a hard time having any interest in filling out a bracket.

But I finally found a way to hopefully participate and help my beloved Pirates along the way.

I decided to donate a portion of at least 1/2 of any winnings I get to the NIL fund. Hopefully this will help anyone else get some joy out of this tournament and help get our guys in next year!

Her seat should be scorching right now.

I pegged this team as a 13 win team- Wrong

I doubted the coach - wrong

I doubted the transfers - wrong

Great season for year 2. The 4 season tickets i have been buying for years are some of the best money i spend every year. Hats off to the team and coaching staff.

I’ll be there Wednesday. Looking forward to it.

So let’s track this to the best of our ability and try to take away some of the anxiety if possible.

10 Spots Available for 20 teams / bid stealers heading into today.

LAST 4 BYES
Oklahoma - lost (3/13) to TCU - should be IN
Michigan St - beat Minnesota / up next Purdue - should be IN

After that it’s kind of wide open
Mississippi St - beat LSU /
Seton Hall - lost to SJU
SJU - beat SHU / UConn up next
Colorado - vs Utah
Virginia vs BC
Providence - beat CU / Nova or MU up next
New Mexico vs Boise St
Indiana St - lost in MVC Finals
South Florida - Needs win AAC tournament
Texas A&M - Beat Ole Miss / Kentucky up next
Villanova - vs Marquette
Pittsburgh - beat Wake / UNC up next
Wake Forrest - lost to Pitt - should be out
Kansas st - lost to Iowa St - should be out
Iowa - lost to Ohio St - should be out
Ohio St - beat Iowa - Illinois up next
Cincinnati - beat Kansas / Baylor up next

Bid Stealers
Dayton needs to win the A10
Arizona or Wash St need to win the PAC12
UNC or Clemson need to win the ACC

So at the moment 10 spots for 17 teams.

Really only two spots left based on most bracketologists to avoid Dayton.

So have some fun, stop complaining about the NET, and kick back and watch some CBB besides Seton Hall and the Big East.

Stats


South Orange, N.J. — Kyle Lyons (West Chester, Pa.) went 3-for-4 with two RBI including the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Seton Hall salvaged the final game of its three-game series with Stony Brook, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Stadium.

Alex Nicolosi (Stony Point, N.Y.) eared the win on the mound for the Pirates (11-8) and improved to 2-0 on the season after tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts. Cole Hansen (Skillman, N.J.) turned in a quality start, going 6.1 innings with no earned runs and allowing only one walk. Jonathan Luders (Lynnfield, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

How It Happened

Stony Brook took advantage of a Seton Hall error in the top of the first as it scored twice on two sacrifice flies that made it 2-0. A triple by Zack Sylvester (Montville, N.J.) led off the bottom of the second for The Hall and Cole Zak (Cleveland, Ohio) drove him in on an RBI groundout that got the Pirates on the scoreboard.

Hansen settled in after the first inning as he retired 10 of the next 12 Seawolves that stepped to the plate. The Pirates returned to their small ball roots for the game-tying run in the sixth and go-ahead run in the seventh.

Danny Melnick (Hamilton, N.J.) led off the bottom of the sixth with a base hit and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sylvester. Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y.) then drove Melnick in with a base hit to left field that tied up the score at 2-2.

After Jay Allmer (Asheville, N.C.) came on in relief of Hansen in the top of the seventh and induced a double play that ended the inning, the Pirates got the lead-off runner on again in the home half as Luders reached on a single through the left side. Joey Calabretti (Perkasie, Pa.) then moved him to second base on a sac bunt and Lyons delivered with the go-ahead RBI that made it 3-2 Seton Hall.

Stony Brook answered in the top of the eighth with a run that knotted it up at 3-3 but Nicolosi came out the bullpen to prevent further damage as he retired the final two batters of the frame. Nicolosi recorded a shutdown top of the ninth that kept the scored tied at 3-3 and Luders got the bottom of the ninth started with a lead-off walk. Another well-placed sac bunt laid down by Calabretti moved Luders into scoring position and Lyons came up big once again as his single up the middle plated Luders and gave Seton Hall the 4-3 walk-off win.

Up Next

The Pirates are back at The Shep on Tuesday when they host Monmouth for the first of two midweek contests at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Pirate Sports Network via FloSports.

Four Multi-Hit Efforts Lead Pirates Past Hoyas, 8-4​

Stats


Washington, D.C. – Four Pirates posted multi-hit efforts and Kelsey Carr (Ridgewood, N.Y.) picked up the win in the circle as the Seton Hall softball team earned its first BIG EAST win of the season on Friday afternoon over Georgetown, 8-4.

How it Happened
After a quiet first three innings, both offenses began to flex their muscles in the fourth. The Pirates got on the board first thanks to an RBI double from Erin Howard (Skillman, N.J.). However, Georgetown would respond in the bottom of the frame with three runs to take a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth, the Pirates would punch back, scoring five runs to take the lead for good. Lauren Caye (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tripled to open the inning, then scored on a great hustle play on a tapper in front of the plate. The Pirates then drew back-to-back walks to bring home the tying run, followed by a dropped infield fly which scored the go-ahead run. Next, Lela Allen (Phoenix, Ariz.) laced the first pitch she saw into center field for an RBI knock, and Howard would cap the inning with an RBI groundout.

Two more Pirate runs would cross the plate in the seventh to help cushion the lead. With two outs, Caye singled home Miranda Arruda (Pawcatuck, Conn.) to increase the lead to 7-3. Later in the inning, Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) would collect her third hit of the day, bringing home Caye on an RBI single to make it an 8-3 lead.

Georgetown would mount a threat in the bottom of the seventh, scoring one run on an RBI single to trim the deficit to four. However, Carr would escape any further damage by inducing a pop out to shortstop to end the game.

News & Notes

• The win gives Seton Hall its first BIG EAST victory of the season.
• Hill posted her first three-hit performance of the season.
• Allen went 2-for-4 to snap an eight-game slump which saw her go 2-for-24.
• Andrea Perez (Corona, Calif.) has gone 3-for-7 over her last two games.
• Caye went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored out of the number nine spot in the batting order.

What's Next
Seton Hall continues its weekend stay in the nation's capital on Saturday with first pitch set for 1 p.m.

Look who is back in the portal !!! BW is on the road again !

Former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Tom Crean was not a fan of several teams asking not to be invited to this year’s NIT, which included St. John’s.

Crean was on ESPN’s “NIT Selection Special” show when he started to lambast the idea of teams not wanting to play in college basketball’s other main postseason tournament.

The Red Storm publicly announced that they had told the NIT selection committee that they did not want to be extended an invite shortly after they had learned that they didn’t receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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“After thorough consideration of all that goes into postseason participation, we believe at this time it is best for our team and basketball program to prepare for next season,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said in part of a statement regarding the decision.

It is believed that the transfer portal opening on Monday played a role in the decision process for teams.

However, Crean wasn’t buying that excuse from any school that was opting out of the NIT.

“There’s no question about it. I would want to coach, I would want to develop my team,” Crean said. “You’ve got bigger staffs than you’ve ever had. There’s plenty of time for the portal. There’s plenty of time to talk to recruits. There’s plenty of time to negotiate NIL deals.”

That’s when Crean, who coached at Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, started to get more stern in his comments.

“There’s not plenty of time to play. There’s not plenty of time to get your players on the floor and give them a chance to get better,” he said. “There’s not plenty of time for guys to continue to play that may never get to play again and that to me is absolutely ridiculous. It’s each coach’s choice, I get it, but if you take away a chance to play the games, to put your team on the floor.

“Let them opt out. The bowl season has it all the time. Let it happen, who cares. Give your players and coaches a chance to keep coaching and playing and don’t shortchange.”

Other notable teams that opted not to participate in the NIT included Syracuse, Pitt, Memphis and Ole Miss.

The first round of the NIT begins on March 19.

nm

This was a player that was clse to coming to Seton Hall. Hope we are having him in since he just got in the Portal!! I think only a Sophmore and played well at Old Dominion!!

Too bad Jay Wright was muted


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As if the NIL mess isn't bad enough, the NCAA has made a mockery of March Madness. Not gonna watch two seconds of this joke or the NIT.

Big thanks to Sha and our players for a great season. They exceeded expectations by a country mile and should be proud. I know I am as a fan. Best of luck to our players that are not coming back. Hope Sha and staff have a great off season.

With only three team this year, this hurts our number of NCAA credits and therefore affects everyone’s pocketbook. The committee handed the midmajor Mountain West a boatload of money while basically robbing the Big East!

Hope the Mountain West and Little 10 all flame out in the first round!