PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By Colin Rajala
The 2022-2023 Seton Hall men’s basketball team is looking to record its ninth straight season with a winning record, however, just five players are returning from last year’s 21-11 squad that finished fifth in the Big East and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
New Head Coach Shaheen Holloway has constructed a roster that is expected to maintain the university’s standing as one of the top programs in the conference.
With significant roster turnover and so many new faces, the initial focus will be on team chemistry and role allocation as Holloway looks to employ a defensive-first style of play. Whether the team looks to parlay its defensive tactics into a methodical grind it out approach or more transition-oriented offense remains to be seen as Holloway advances through his first year at the helm of a major conference team.
Holloway is expected to carry over his all-hands-on deck approach - pushing each player as much as possible until they can no longer play at the level he expects - which helped propel his Saint Peter’s University team to an unprecedented Elite Eight run in a Cinderella story that captivated the country.
Playing as hard as possible until they can no longer maintain that intensity should not be an issue in the backcourt as the Pirates have depth with seven players competing for minutes, including two returnees that averaged more than 20 minutes per game, three Atlantic Coast Conference transfers that averaged more than 20 minutes per game and two highly touted incoming freshman.
Roster flexibility will be of the utmost importance for this year’s team as its frontcourt is not as deep with two true bigs and two forwards/wings that will be called upon to contribute physicality and rebounding around the basket.
BACKCOURT - Kadary Richmond, Al-Amir Dawes, Jamir Harris, Femi Odukale, D’Andre ‘Dre’ Davis, Jaquan Sanders, JaQuan Harris
Holloway will give the first opportunity to the keys to drive the car to returning guard Kadary 'Kooks' Richmond, who started 26 of 32 games last season and became the primary point guard during the second half of the season after Bryce Aiken’s season-ending concussion. Richmond continues to be a tantalizing prospect due to his size and length coupled with his court vision and ability to break down the defense off the dribble, however, concerns surrounding his conditioning, ability to protect the ball and jump-shot accuracy remain.
Last year he averaged 4.1 assists and 2.9 turnovers per game with a 31.7% to 21.7% assist to turnover ratio, which highlights his ability to put his teammates in positions to succeed while at the same time giving the opposition too many extra possessions. Richmond’s transition to man-to-man defense from Syracuse University’s vaunted zone took some adjusting, yet he led the team with 1.7 steals per game and was fourth in blocks.
The Pirates will be a tough out if Richmond can take the proverbial next step under the tutelage of Holloway, one of the program’s all time preeminent point guards, to the tune of double figure points and 5+ assists per game, while limiting turnovers and continuing to pressure opponents on and off the ball.
Returning shooting guard Jamir Harris appeared in all 32 games for the Pirates last season and averaged 7.9 points per game while shooting 36.9% from the three-point line. Harris increased his ball-handling responsibilities as the 2021 season progressed due to Aiken’s concussion and a Richmond thumb injury.
While Harris is not expected to be on the ball as much in 2022-2023, that experience was helpful in building his confidence to beat his defender off the dribble as well as develop as a distributor.
Harris is expected to return to his off the bench instant offense role this season with the hope that he excels even further by receiving more lightly contested three-point opportunities via Holloway’s offensive sets and scripted plays drawn up by Assistant Coach Ryan Whalen. While coaches will surely have Harris identified as a knock down shooter in their scouting reports, if the Pirates are able to find Harris for more open opportunities and he converts them at a comparable or better clip, it will help create space for the guards/wings to operate and leave the bigs to deal with less double teams.
