PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By Halldan
Teammates once. Teammates again.
Femi Odukale will join his former high school teammate Kadary Richmond at Seton Hall taking the same path as each transferred to the Pirates through the NCAA established Portal.
The 6-foot-5 sophomore swing from Brooklyn announced his transfer to the Pirates from Pittsburgh on May 8 on his twitter account with the words previously echoed by his new head coach Shaheen Holloway I’m Not Gonna Mess This Up!
He also considered UConn, Oregon. Maryland, and Rhode Island.
Odukale, who played three seasons at Brooklyn South Shore High School with Richmond and won two PSAL AA city championships, averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 31 games last season at Pitt.
Now he takes those stats to South Orange along with a hard nosed defensive game.
HIs former South Shore coach spoke to NJ Media reporter Adam Zagoria and was quoted saying, “I think he’s going to bring a lot of defense, I think he’s going to bring a winning attitude, he’s going to bring a mixture of a lot of different things, scoring, leadership.”
Words similar to these as spoken to ZAGSBLOG by Commonwealth Academy coach Nick Couluris....
“He gets teammates involved, advances the ball and can make all passes. He’s a high-level athlete who fits the pro-style game and projects to that level. He’s a great competitor, great teammate, great leader and great kid.
“He has faced tremendous adversity as a teenager and young man, yet he was able to overcome all of that and just stay focused on his and his family and his goals.”
Jerry Carino, Seton Hall's beat writer broke down Odukale's game and relevance as such....
Seton Hall basketball adds guard Femi Odukale, transfer from Pitt
3 things to know about Odukale, plus an updated look at the Pirates' projected 2022-23 depth chart
www.app.com
1. He’s a classic New York City slasher.
The Brooklyn native is closer to a point guard than a shooter. He averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 32 minutes per game as a sophomore on a struggling Pitt squad this past season. His numbers were not overly efficient: 2.8 turnovers and 39 percent shooting, including 33 percent from 3-point range. He also shot .630 from the foul line, an improvement on .493 from his freshman year.
The key to Odukale’s game is his quickness — he’s a slasher with an explosive first step, and a good defender who covers a lot of ground. Here are some of his 2021-22 games against notable opponents: 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting and six steals against Virginia Tech; 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting against Wake Forest; 10 points on 5-11 shooting, nine assists and seven turnovers against North Carolina; and six points on 1-of-12 shooting with six rebounds, five turnovers and three assists against St. John’s.
2. He’s grown quite a bit since high school.
At 6-foot-3 and 185 bounds, Odukale rated a composite three stars and was ranked 183rd as a high school prospect (when he chose Pitt over Seton Hall, St. Bonaventure and UMass). This year Pitt listed him at 6-5 and 205 pounds, great size for a playmaker. Maryland, UConn and Oregon also pursued him as a transfer.
Odukale (pronounced oh-due-CAL-ee) turns 22 in January. He earned ACC All-Academic honors for 2021-22.
3. The backcourt is now burgeoning.
Right now the Hall has 10 players on next year’s roster. Seven are guards — and six hail from New York or New Jersey. Three of Holloway’s first four commits have been guards. All of them are regarded as good defenders.
At Saint Peter’s, Holloway’s 10-man rotation consisted of five guards and five bigs. No matter how Holloway fills his three remaining open scholarships — obviously, there's an urgent need for size — playing time in the backcourt is going to be juggling act.
Odukale now joins fellow transfers Al-Amir Dawes, Dre Davis, high school recruits Tae Davis, JaQaun Harris and recently announced NY POY Jaqaun Sanders, along with Jamir Harris and Alexis Yetna, both returning for their super seasons at Seton Hall in the Big East.
