https://setonhall.rivals.com/
By JP Pelzman
With the 2020-21 edition of the Seton Hall basketball recently assembling for the first time with coach Kevin Willard, now is as good a time as any to analyze the roster, player-by-player.
Guard Bryce Aiken: Aiken will not be the focal point of the Pirates this year--I'll get to that player shortly--but it can be argued he will be their most essential player. Aiken was plagued by injuries throughout his career at Harvard, and, in fact, has the benefit of a graduate year because he played in only seven games last season. But when healthy, he is dynamic, averaging 16.8 points and 85.3 percent from the foul line. He needs to improve his assist to turnover ratio however. While playing for Tommy Amaker, Aiken averaged 2.7 assists and 2.9 turnovers.
For what it’s worth, Aiken averaged 18.1 points and shot 38.5 percent in 10 games against high-major-type opponents while with the Crimson. Included in that sample were games against new SHU Big East rival UConn, Houston and perennial NCAA contender Saint Mary’s. His virtuoso performance was a 10-for-18, 30-point effort in a loss to Maryland in Orlando last November
Guard Takal Molson: Unlike Aiken, Molson had all of last season to get acclimated to his new Pirate teammates in practice after coming over from mid-major Canisius, where he averaged 14.8 points in two seasons. Molson impressed on defense during his sit-out year, and the hope is that he can be a pest to opposing offenses somewhat in the Quincy McKnight mold, although to be that good will be a lot to ask.
Molson's three-point percentage dropped from 36.9 as a freshman to 26.8 as a sophomore, a disparity he attributed, in an interview with PirateCrew.com, to being forced to take tough shots. Willard is a terrific shot doctor. It will be interesting to see if he can help Molson regain his freshman form.
Guard/forward Myles Cale: It’s now or never for Cale. Seton Hall needs him to put it all together. Granted, sometimes last season Cale was the victim of strange substitution patterns, or of not seeing the ball when he had the hot hand. But the talented Cale also needs to demand the ball sometimes, and have the sheer determination that teammate Sandro Mamukelashvili often showed last season. He cannot afford lapses in concentration.
Former Seton Hall coach Louis Orr often would say of a veteran player, “He’s a senior. It’s his time.” And so it is for Myles Cale.
Forward/guard Jared Rhoden: Willard believes Rhoden (9.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) can be one of the top players in the Big East. He is absolutely right. Myles Powell and McKnight trusted Rhoden in a huge spot at Butler last winter, and he knocked down a dagger three. That is only part of his game. Late in games, the 6-6, 210-pound Rhoden goes up for important rebounds with the ferocity of someone much bigger and taller.
Rhoden has the poise, the game and the attitude. If he can avoid the injuries that have nagged him the past two seasons, he can make Willard’s prediction look very good.
Power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili: Mamukelashvili averaged 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in the last eight games of the abbreviated season and finally was shaking off the effects of a fractured wrist when the year ended so abruptly. With Powell gone, the offense likely will run through Mamu this year, and he is a matchup nightmare for opponents because of his ability to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket or spot up and shoot the three-pointer (43.4 percent).
The problem for Seton Hall will be making sure he stays out of foul trouble by limiting the amount of time Mamukelashvili must do heavy lifting in terms of guarding the paint.
Center Ike Obiagu: The Florida State transfer was a disappointment in his first season with The Hall, compiling almost as many fouls (55) as rebounds. He managed only 36 blocked shots, often getting faked out of position and thus missing his chance for a block. Of course, it wasn’t that bad with Romaro Gill still around, but now the 7-0 Obiagu is the only game in town in terms of rim protectors. Seton Hall needs Obiagu to be serviceable on defense to keep Mamukelashvili from falling prey to foul trouble.
Guard Shavar Reynolds Jr.: Perhaps the most surprising stat of 2019-20 was Reynolds’ sudden improvement from three-point range, where he went from 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) as a sophomore to 22-for-46 (47.8 percent) as a junior. No magic formula, just the same brand of hard work that earned the former walk-on a scholarship and has made him an excellent defender and a solid rotational player. Reynolds isn’t going to make the “wow” play very often, but he almost will never be out of position and you can count on him to do the right thing. The quintessential glue guy.
Forward Tyrese Samuel: Perhaps no player was hurt more by the pandemic than Samuel, who certainly needs as much work as he can get after averaging only 11 minutes as a freshman. The high-flying 6-10 Samuel has much potential, but would be well-advised to take the ball to the rim more often to utilize his explosive first step instead of so often settling for jump shots.
Freshmen Jeff Ngandu (power forward), Jahari Long (point guard) and Dimingus Stevens (shooting guard). As for the incoming freshmen, we all know this, if you don’t defend, you don’t play for Kevin Willard. Thus, even though they play different positions, that is what it will take to get on the court.
Ngandu certainly isn’t rated as highly as Adama Sanogo, who went to UConn, so he seems to be more of a long term project. If Long can defend, he could see time as a backup combo guard, because the one thing Reynolds cannot do is create for others. Stevens is a shooter who will need to execute better shot selection to maximize his results in his first season in Pirate Blue.
Bottom Line, this team will compete for the upper echelon of the conference. Clearly Big East stalwart Villanova will be the odds on favorite to bring home the regular season and tournament crown, and after them Creighton is also held in high regard. But expect Willard's Pirates to battle newly entered Big East foe UConn for the 3rd and 4th spots in the league's standing. An accomplishment if garnered that would be a nice rebound for the Hall after losing starters Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight and Ro Gill to graduation.
The Pirates under Willard are now at a point where they are reloading instead of rebuilding coming off multiple successful seasons.
By JP Pelzman
With the 2020-21 edition of the Seton Hall basketball recently assembling for the first time with coach Kevin Willard, now is as good a time as any to analyze the roster, player-by-player.
Guard Bryce Aiken: Aiken will not be the focal point of the Pirates this year--I'll get to that player shortly--but it can be argued he will be their most essential player. Aiken was plagued by injuries throughout his career at Harvard, and, in fact, has the benefit of a graduate year because he played in only seven games last season. But when healthy, he is dynamic, averaging 16.8 points and 85.3 percent from the foul line. He needs to improve his assist to turnover ratio however. While playing for Tommy Amaker, Aiken averaged 2.7 assists and 2.9 turnovers.
For what it’s worth, Aiken averaged 18.1 points and shot 38.5 percent in 10 games against high-major-type opponents while with the Crimson. Included in that sample were games against new SHU Big East rival UConn, Houston and perennial NCAA contender Saint Mary’s. His virtuoso performance was a 10-for-18, 30-point effort in a loss to Maryland in Orlando last November
Guard Takal Molson: Unlike Aiken, Molson had all of last season to get acclimated to his new Pirate teammates in practice after coming over from mid-major Canisius, where he averaged 14.8 points in two seasons. Molson impressed on defense during his sit-out year, and the hope is that he can be a pest to opposing offenses somewhat in the Quincy McKnight mold, although to be that good will be a lot to ask.
Molson's three-point percentage dropped from 36.9 as a freshman to 26.8 as a sophomore, a disparity he attributed, in an interview with PirateCrew.com, to being forced to take tough shots. Willard is a terrific shot doctor. It will be interesting to see if he can help Molson regain his freshman form.
Guard/forward Myles Cale: It’s now or never for Cale. Seton Hall needs him to put it all together. Granted, sometimes last season Cale was the victim of strange substitution patterns, or of not seeing the ball when he had the hot hand. But the talented Cale also needs to demand the ball sometimes, and have the sheer determination that teammate Sandro Mamukelashvili often showed last season. He cannot afford lapses in concentration.
Former Seton Hall coach Louis Orr often would say of a veteran player, “He’s a senior. It’s his time.” And so it is for Myles Cale.
Forward/guard Jared Rhoden: Willard believes Rhoden (9.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) can be one of the top players in the Big East. He is absolutely right. Myles Powell and McKnight trusted Rhoden in a huge spot at Butler last winter, and he knocked down a dagger three. That is only part of his game. Late in games, the 6-6, 210-pound Rhoden goes up for important rebounds with the ferocity of someone much bigger and taller.
Rhoden has the poise, the game and the attitude. If he can avoid the injuries that have nagged him the past two seasons, he can make Willard’s prediction look very good.
Power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili: Mamukelashvili averaged 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in the last eight games of the abbreviated season and finally was shaking off the effects of a fractured wrist when the year ended so abruptly. With Powell gone, the offense likely will run through Mamu this year, and he is a matchup nightmare for opponents because of his ability to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket or spot up and shoot the three-pointer (43.4 percent).
The problem for Seton Hall will be making sure he stays out of foul trouble by limiting the amount of time Mamukelashvili must do heavy lifting in terms of guarding the paint.
Center Ike Obiagu: The Florida State transfer was a disappointment in his first season with The Hall, compiling almost as many fouls (55) as rebounds. He managed only 36 blocked shots, often getting faked out of position and thus missing his chance for a block. Of course, it wasn’t that bad with Romaro Gill still around, but now the 7-0 Obiagu is the only game in town in terms of rim protectors. Seton Hall needs Obiagu to be serviceable on defense to keep Mamukelashvili from falling prey to foul trouble.
Guard Shavar Reynolds Jr.: Perhaps the most surprising stat of 2019-20 was Reynolds’ sudden improvement from three-point range, where he went from 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) as a sophomore to 22-for-46 (47.8 percent) as a junior. No magic formula, just the same brand of hard work that earned the former walk-on a scholarship and has made him an excellent defender and a solid rotational player. Reynolds isn’t going to make the “wow” play very often, but he almost will never be out of position and you can count on him to do the right thing. The quintessential glue guy.
Forward Tyrese Samuel: Perhaps no player was hurt more by the pandemic than Samuel, who certainly needs as much work as he can get after averaging only 11 minutes as a freshman. The high-flying 6-10 Samuel has much potential, but would be well-advised to take the ball to the rim more often to utilize his explosive first step instead of so often settling for jump shots.
Freshmen Jeff Ngandu (power forward), Jahari Long (point guard) and Dimingus Stevens (shooting guard). As for the incoming freshmen, we all know this, if you don’t defend, you don’t play for Kevin Willard. Thus, even though they play different positions, that is what it will take to get on the court.
Ngandu certainly isn’t rated as highly as Adama Sanogo, who went to UConn, so he seems to be more of a long term project. If Long can defend, he could see time as a backup combo guard, because the one thing Reynolds cannot do is create for others. Stevens is a shooter who will need to execute better shot selection to maximize his results in his first season in Pirate Blue.
Bottom Line, this team will compete for the upper echelon of the conference. Clearly Big East stalwart Villanova will be the odds on favorite to bring home the regular season and tournament crown, and after them Creighton is also held in high regard. But expect Willard's Pirates to battle newly entered Big East foe UConn for the 3rd and 4th spots in the league's standing. An accomplishment if garnered that would be a nice rebound for the Hall after losing starters Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight and Ro Gill to graduation.
The Pirates under Willard are now at a point where they are reloading instead of rebuilding coming off multiple successful seasons.
