Pirates Picked Toward Bottom Of Preseason Poll Despite Loads Of Experience
Colin Rajala
10/23/23
Mark Twain once said, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,” which is something the Seton Hall men’s basketball team looks to come to fruition during their upcoming season, where they were chosen ninth out of eleven teams in the BIG EAST preseason coaches poll. Ninth is the same position the Marquette Golden Eagles were picked in last season’s preseason coaches poll.
That is before a head coach in his second year in the conference, an all-conference point guard and a team that believed in itself took the league, and country, by storm on their way to a 29-7 record, including 17-3 in conference play to win the regular season championship before defeating St. John’s, UConn and Xavier to win the Big East tournament and earn a number two seed in the NCAA region.
While Head Coach Shaheen Holloway and his squad do not expect to be a two seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament, they would be more than happy with a berth in the Big Dance after finishing last season 17-16 and 10-10 in conference play with an NIT appearance.
“The goal is always to make the tourney,” Holloway said, at Tuesday’s BIG EAST Media Day at Madison Square Garden. “Every game is a very important game for us this year ... winning games, to me, is the only thing that matters. You can win games in the 50s and you can win games in the 80s, but the only thing that matters is that you win.”
That focus on winning and hunger to win at all costs has been instilled in The Hall’s players, particularly its three veteran leaders – Kadary Richmond, Al-Amir Dawes and Dre Davis.
“Everybody saying 9th doesn’t matter right now. I think everyone’s expectation doesn’t mean much to us because that’s just their point of view, but were the guys in the gym every day, we see the work we’re putting in and how we’re improving,” Richmond said. “We’re the only ones who believe right now, so we’re going to keep it that way and keep doing what we’re doing.”
The sentiment was echoed by Davis, a senior wing/forward who said the Pirates are “focused on one main thing” – winning the Big East conference.
“We want to win the conference and at the very least get a good seed in the Big East tournament, win the Big East tournament and make a run to the NCAA Championship. That’s what were focused on each and every day. We’re going to keep the main thing the main thing,” Davis said.
While it may be easy to use the preseason poll as bulletin board material to motivate the team, the Pirates are focused on themselves and controlling what they can control.
“As a team, we know politics are going to be politics. Sha wants us to stay out of it, we want to stay out of it. We want to focus on what we got, we want to focus on ourselves and focus on winning. We’re going to let our play doing the talking because we can’t wait for the season to come,” Graduate guard Al- Amir Dawes said.
With Richmond, Dawes and Davis being the elder statesmen and comprising a majority of the returning scoring from last year’s squad, 43.7%, they have also been named teams captains by Holloway.
“Us leading the new guys and the young guys is a big task, but there’s no other three ready for it,” Richmond said. “When things go wrong, we should be the guys to look at because we know right from wrong and what Sha wants from us.”
“It’s a privilege and an honor to have the role of captain,” Davis said. “It doesn’t come easy, you really have to take it to heart and be responsible because your words and actions mean that much more.”
Holloway asks his captains to be the best they can be every day in practice, in the weight room and the classroom, setting an example for others on what it takes to be successful in the best basketball conference in the country.
“They’ve had to pick up on me and what I do. They have to echo what I say, echo my message and do what I do. Last year KC [Ndefo] was the only guy that knew what I wanted and this year I have three,” Holloway said.
“We know what to expect being here from last year. We know what Sha wants and we know what to teach the new guys,” said Dawes, who led the team in scoring last year at 12.6 points per game. “The idea of making us, the three captains, has helped the camaraderie because the freshman and new guys are listening to us and I think they understand what we are trying to do and what is at stake for some of us older guys.”
Colin Rajala
10/23/23
Mark Twain once said, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,” which is something the Seton Hall men’s basketball team looks to come to fruition during their upcoming season, where they were chosen ninth out of eleven teams in the BIG EAST preseason coaches poll. Ninth is the same position the Marquette Golden Eagles were picked in last season’s preseason coaches poll.
That is before a head coach in his second year in the conference, an all-conference point guard and a team that believed in itself took the league, and country, by storm on their way to a 29-7 record, including 17-3 in conference play to win the regular season championship before defeating St. John’s, UConn and Xavier to win the Big East tournament and earn a number two seed in the NCAA region.
While Head Coach Shaheen Holloway and his squad do not expect to be a two seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament, they would be more than happy with a berth in the Big Dance after finishing last season 17-16 and 10-10 in conference play with an NIT appearance.
“The goal is always to make the tourney,” Holloway said, at Tuesday’s BIG EAST Media Day at Madison Square Garden. “Every game is a very important game for us this year ... winning games, to me, is the only thing that matters. You can win games in the 50s and you can win games in the 80s, but the only thing that matters is that you win.”
That focus on winning and hunger to win at all costs has been instilled in The Hall’s players, particularly its three veteran leaders – Kadary Richmond, Al-Amir Dawes and Dre Davis.
“Everybody saying 9th doesn’t matter right now. I think everyone’s expectation doesn’t mean much to us because that’s just their point of view, but were the guys in the gym every day, we see the work we’re putting in and how we’re improving,” Richmond said. “We’re the only ones who believe right now, so we’re going to keep it that way and keep doing what we’re doing.”
The sentiment was echoed by Davis, a senior wing/forward who said the Pirates are “focused on one main thing” – winning the Big East conference.
“We want to win the conference and at the very least get a good seed in the Big East tournament, win the Big East tournament and make a run to the NCAA Championship. That’s what were focused on each and every day. We’re going to keep the main thing the main thing,” Davis said.
While it may be easy to use the preseason poll as bulletin board material to motivate the team, the Pirates are focused on themselves and controlling what they can control.
“As a team, we know politics are going to be politics. Sha wants us to stay out of it, we want to stay out of it. We want to focus on what we got, we want to focus on ourselves and focus on winning. We’re going to let our play doing the talking because we can’t wait for the season to come,” Graduate guard Al- Amir Dawes said.
With Richmond, Dawes and Davis being the elder statesmen and comprising a majority of the returning scoring from last year’s squad, 43.7%, they have also been named teams captains by Holloway.
“Us leading the new guys and the young guys is a big task, but there’s no other three ready for it,” Richmond said. “When things go wrong, we should be the guys to look at because we know right from wrong and what Sha wants from us.”
“It’s a privilege and an honor to have the role of captain,” Davis said. “It doesn’t come easy, you really have to take it to heart and be responsible because your words and actions mean that much more.”
Holloway asks his captains to be the best they can be every day in practice, in the weight room and the classroom, setting an example for others on what it takes to be successful in the best basketball conference in the country.
“They’ve had to pick up on me and what I do. They have to echo what I say, echo my message and do what I do. Last year KC [Ndefo] was the only guy that knew what I wanted and this year I have three,” Holloway said.
“We know what to expect being here from last year. We know what Sha wants and we know what to teach the new guys,” said Dawes, who led the team in scoring last year at 12.6 points per game. “The idea of making us, the three captains, has helped the camaraderie because the freshman and new guys are listening to us and I think they understand what we are trying to do and what is at stake for some of us older guys.”
