Romaro Gill
7-2 255 LBS St. Thomas, Jamaica
St. Thomas Technical High School
Bio
**2020 BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR**
**2020 BIG EAST MOST IMPROVED PLAYER**
**2020 NABC ALL-DISTRICT 5 SECOND TEAM**
**2019 BIG EAST ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM**
**2019 NABC HONORS COURT**
**2018 BIG EAST ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM**
2019-20: Registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 74-57 victory over Stony Brook (11/9/19)… secured eight rebounds against Michigan State (11/14/19)… had three blocks in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament opener against Oregon (11/27/19)… accounted for four blocks and five rebounds in a Battle 4 Atlantis contest vs. Southern Miss (11/28/19)... totaled six blocks in a win over Maryland (12/19/19)... poured in a career high 17 points in a victory over Georgetown (1/3/20)... scored 11 points and had five blocks vs. Xavier (1/8/20)... tied career high in points with 17 in win at Butler (1/15/20)... recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds vs. St. John's (1/18/20)... recorded 17 points, eight blocks, and six rebounds against Providence (1/22/20)... had eight blocks in a victory over Georgetown (2/5/20)... finished with 13 points and seven rebounds vs. Creighton (2/12/20)... grabbed eight rebounds at Providence (2/15/20)... accounted for 15 points and seven rebounds in a victory over Butler (2/19/20)... went 6-6 from the field for 12 points while grabbing six rebounds in a win vs. St. John's (2/23/20)... had nine points and six rebounds at Creighton (3/7/20).
2018-19: Appeared in 27 games for the Pirates and made three starts...Finished second on the team in blocks (34) but also finished first on the team and fourth in the BIG EAST in blocks per game (1.3/gm)...Blocked a career-high five shots in a huge 12-minute appearance to help the Pirates beat Rutgers in the Garden State Hardwood Classic (12/15/18)...Made his first career start in The Hall's road win at Maryland and made a huge difference in 24 minutes with six points, eight rebounds and three blocks (12/22/18)... Made a big impact off the bench at Xavier with four points, five rebounds, four blocks, and three steals, most of them coming in the second half of the comeback victory (1/02/19)... Blocked a shot as time expired to preserve the Pirates' two-point victory over Providence (1/30/19)...Had seven points, five rebounds and three blocks in the Pirates' win over No. 16 Marquette (3/6/19)...Recorded six points and five rebounds in the Pirates' win over No. 23 Marquette in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals (3/15/19)...Had six points in the BIG EAST final against No. 25 Villanova (3/16/19).
2017-18: Redshirt Season.
BEFORE SETON HALL: Played two years of junior college basketball at Vincennes University, where he averaged 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game his sophomore season...Ranked 10th in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) in blocked shots (85)...Helped the Trailblazers go 32-3 and win the Region 16 district championship as well as reach the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Div. I Championship...Previously attended St. Thomas Technical High School in Jamaica, where he played one year of varsity basketball.
PERSONAL: Son of Novlette Barnes and Micheal Gill...Has four siblings...Outside of basketball, enjoys playing soccer and cricket and watching the National Geographic channel...Hopes to major in Athletic Training at Seton Hall...Birthday is October 2.
Career stats
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4278582/romaro-gill
There was only one given on April 28 2017 when 7-2 (wing span 7-8) Romaro Gill committed to Seton Hall. That being Seton Hall's basketball team's GPA would get a big boost. And big boost it got with the soon to be named 3 time Big East All Academic team member.
But academics was not the reason that Kevin Willard offered the Jamaican born big man. The offer was made because of what Gill could contribute to the basketball team on the court. Off of it was just a bonus.
A few months prior to Gill signing an NLOI Seton Hall assistant coach Grant Billmeier flew to the Hoosier state to check on a tip to watch a couple of Vincennes University basketball players. While there he noticed a tall gangly center (see photo below) siting on the bench. Billmeier, a big man in his own right was intrigued. Unfortunately that day Gill played just a few minutes. But in those few minutes the SHU assistant saw something in the future Pirate then few if any D1 coaches saw. He saw potential in the raw Jamaican. Potential that with hard work and a sit out year could be cultivated into a serviceable Big East basketball player.
Was that a stretch? Few but Billmeier thought not. But fast forward three years later and maybe even the SHU coach would have been surprised. The 'serviceable player' became a mainstay on a team that won a share of the conference's regular season championship with Villanova and Creighton in the shorten 2019/20 season.
How can a player with limited basketball skills and even less experience in the game morph into what became the Big East DPOY?
Well, one hint would be to look above at the photo and compare that Romaro Gill to the player who eventually bulked up to 255 LBS.
Seton Hall superstar Myles Powell gets a lot of well deserved credit for changing his body which made him the player he is today. But Gill quietly did the same and did so in a equally short time span. Thing is no one knew as Gill, not considered a prime recruit with little publicity sat out his initial year at the Hall and was basically sight unseen by Pirate Nation. Unusual for a man of his stature.
While Gill did not play in the 2017/18 season he did more than just work on his body. He worked on his game as well under the tutelage of the big man coach Billmeier. Work that was aided by playing against Angel Delgado, that years recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award, given to the best college center in the country.
Delgado often credited the Jamaican giant for helping him win the award noting that he had to add to his game because he could not shoot over Gill and he had trouble bullying him on the blocks down low because of Gill's strength. Strength borne of the many hours spent in the weight room.
After Delgado's graduation the 5 spot would be open and early on that next season Gill would get some of those minutes off the bench, Eleven to be exact, playing behind two other foreign born players, Georgia's Sandro Mamukelashvili and Nigerian Mike Nzei.
Gill would be used as a spot player due to his defensive shot blocking ability and lack of an offensive game. But those minutes were precious for the inexperienced center and they eventually would bear fruit. Not so much in that year, his junior season, but the following one where unexpectedly he won the starting center position over another redshirt big man, Ikey Obiagu, a 7 foot transfer from ACC powerhouse Florida State.
That news initially caused concern for the fans of the preseason Big East number one rated Pirates. Obiagu, unlike Gill was considered a future star and came to the Hall as a 4 star nationally known recruit. The fact that the lowly regarded Gill had beaten out Obiagu surely wasn't a good sign. Or so it was thought.
Gill would become one of the leaders in the nation in BPG and even added to his offensive repertoire by shooting nearly 63% from the field on an assortment of dunks and short jump hooks to the tune of 7.8 PPG. An unexpected bonus for a team looking for scorers from anyone not named Myles Powell.
In short Romaro Gill gave Seton Hall what Obiagu was expected to give, A strong force in the middle for the defensive minded Kevin Willard. With the points an added 'bounty' for the Pirates.
Rating
No one saw a a comeback player of the year award in the offering for Gill. And even less saw his being chosen conference defensive POY. But through hard work, perseverance and an incredibly strong will to succeed, to the surprise of everyone, even those that saw glimpses of that ability, he brought home those two trophies.
I always thought highly of Gill and in fact was somewhat disappointed in his first go around at the Hall as noted this time last season. But even in my optimistic view I never saw the Gill Pirate fans saw this season and for that....
Final rating A-
