https://setonhall.rivals.com/
By JP Pelzman
It's common knowledge in the basketball community that Seton Hall has two potential all Big East players in 2020-21 with the return of Sandro Mamukelashvili and the addition of Harvard star Bryce Aiken.
But famed broadcaster Gary Cohen, the legendary voice of both the New York Mets and the SHU Pirates, has court vision to match those unmistakable baritone pipes. And he sees a third star who could shine brightly in the Seton Hall firmament.
“To me, the season next year hinges on the development of Jared Rhoden and Sandro,” Cohen said in a recent interview with PirateCrew.com. “Those guys are going to be the stars. They have to take that next step forward. We saw it with Sandro last year. If he hadn’t suffered the injury, he would have had a monster season.”
Mamukelashvili missed 10 games because of a fractured wrist in 2019-20, yet still averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds.
“There have been times when it appeared Sandro held back, and he can’t hold back anymore,” Cohen added. “He has to be that force that we’ve seen him be at times and with Jared, the sky’s the limit. He spent the first half of the season last year recovering from an ankle injury and if fully healthy he’s got a chance to be a huge star in the Big East as well.”
Rhoden averaged 9.1 points and 6.4 boards and filled in as the starter at power forward while Mamukelashvili was sidelined.
“And I should also mention (rising sophomore) Tyrese Samuel because he showed flashes last year of star quality and I'm sure they’re going to ask a lot out of Tyrese as well.”
Of course, Seton Hall will be going forward without shot-blocker extraordinaire Romaro Gill, do-everything point guard Quincy McKnight and face of the franchise Myles Powell. All were lost to graduation.
“Obviously, those are enormous pieces,” Cohen said. “They're probably covered at point guard, although you’re not going to get a player like Quincy McKnight because there aren’t very many like him who are as relentless on both ends of the floor. I think the addition of Bryce Aiken is huge in terms of having a starting point guard from Day 1, which takes pressure off (freshman) Jahari Long who was going to come in and try to compete for that spot. Shavar Reynolds is a nice sparkplug but he’s not really a point guard so Aiken is a huge piece.”
Cohen added, “Losing Ro is a shame because he really only played, for all intents and purposes, a year and a half. He got so good this past year and it would’ve been great to see him be able to follow that up. But, they’ve got Ike Obiagu and (freshman Jeff) Ngandu, so they’re going to have some legitimate big guys to play defense.
“The X-factor is Myles Cale. He had a very, very puzzling season as a junior but he’s capable of great things.”
Cale averaged 6.0 points and shot a woeful 28.4 percent from beyond the arc in 2019-20.
Cohen said, “We know what the athleticism is like. We know what the shot is like when it’s on. We know how hard he plays and how well he plays defensively. So, to me, he is the X-factor. If Myles Cale plays at the level Myles Cale is capable of, then this team can go right back to the tournament and make noise.”
Of course, the Pirates never actually did go to the NCAA Tournament this past season, as fate and the coronavirus cruelly cancelled their season-long dreams of glory.
What does Cohen think of their chances in The Tournament That Never Was?
He said, “The interesting thing about this particular college basketball season was that there were a whole host of teams that could have made it through to the Final Four. There was no dominant team. And what made it even more compelling was that you had schools like Seton Hall, like San Diego State, like Dayton and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few others, for whom this was their best chance of having that signature season and getting to the Final Four."
“The way I looked at it before the season, and I remember having a conversation with (New York Post sportswriter) Zach Braziller in the Mets’ clubhouse in September about this. He asked me what would be considered a good season."
“I said, ‘look, the expectation at this point is that they go to the second weekend. If they don’t go to the second weekend, that would be a disappointment. Anything beyond that, anything beyond getting to the Sweet 16, would be a success.’ I felt that way before the season, and I felt that way going into the Big East tournament that this was a team that after making the NCAAs four straight years, going in with a transcendent talent in Myles Powell and with so many great complementary pieces like Quincy McKnight and Sandro and Ro Gill, they had enough to be able to be a second-weekend team.”
Of course, then it literally can come down to the luck of the draw.
Cohen continued, “And after that, a lot of it has to do with match ups, and timing and who has a bad night and who has a great night and buzzer-beaters. Things happen in the NCAA Tournament. But there’s no question this was a team that had the potential to make it to the Final Four and unfortunately, we’ll never know.”
One question that doesn’t require speculation for Cohen is whether Powell’s Number 13 jersey should be retired.
His answer is as emphatic as one of his calls of a Powell three-pointer.
“Oh, without question,” he said. “I was on board with the idea of retiring (former SHU center) Angel Delgado’s number (31), but for certain, if anybody has ever had their jersey retired at Seton Hall, who is a more transcendent figure at Seton Hall than Myles Powell?”
Cohen then began listing the names of Seton Hall hoop royalty.
“Walter Dukes, you can make the argument for Richie Regan because of everything he meant to the program, you could make the argument for Bob Davies (and) Terry Dehere and that might be about it."
“And that’s the pantheon of Seton Hall history. (Powell) was a transformational figure in the history of this program. What he was able to accomplish on the court, what he was able to accomplish in terms of getting his body in shape to play, what he was able to accomplish in terms of the way he treated other people for all four years he was there, and even the fact that from his sophomore year on, he was the best player on the team, but was deferential to the guys two years ahead of him who also meant so much to the program."
“I think the kid is just phenomenal in every way,” Cohen added, “and I feel awful for him that he was not able to get his team into the Tournament and show what he could do on a national stage, but I'm thrilled for him that he was able to achieve all the accolades that he did, Big East Player of the Year, first-team All-American, all greatly deserved. We won’t see another one like him for a long time.”
By JP Pelzman
It's common knowledge in the basketball community that Seton Hall has two potential all Big East players in 2020-21 with the return of Sandro Mamukelashvili and the addition of Harvard star Bryce Aiken.
But famed broadcaster Gary Cohen, the legendary voice of both the New York Mets and the SHU Pirates, has court vision to match those unmistakable baritone pipes. And he sees a third star who could shine brightly in the Seton Hall firmament.
“To me, the season next year hinges on the development of Jared Rhoden and Sandro,” Cohen said in a recent interview with PirateCrew.com. “Those guys are going to be the stars. They have to take that next step forward. We saw it with Sandro last year. If he hadn’t suffered the injury, he would have had a monster season.”
Mamukelashvili missed 10 games because of a fractured wrist in 2019-20, yet still averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds.
“There have been times when it appeared Sandro held back, and he can’t hold back anymore,” Cohen added. “He has to be that force that we’ve seen him be at times and with Jared, the sky’s the limit. He spent the first half of the season last year recovering from an ankle injury and if fully healthy he’s got a chance to be a huge star in the Big East as well.”
Rhoden averaged 9.1 points and 6.4 boards and filled in as the starter at power forward while Mamukelashvili was sidelined.
“And I should also mention (rising sophomore) Tyrese Samuel because he showed flashes last year of star quality and I'm sure they’re going to ask a lot out of Tyrese as well.”
Of course, Seton Hall will be going forward without shot-blocker extraordinaire Romaro Gill, do-everything point guard Quincy McKnight and face of the franchise Myles Powell. All were lost to graduation.
“Obviously, those are enormous pieces,” Cohen said. “They're probably covered at point guard, although you’re not going to get a player like Quincy McKnight because there aren’t very many like him who are as relentless on both ends of the floor. I think the addition of Bryce Aiken is huge in terms of having a starting point guard from Day 1, which takes pressure off (freshman) Jahari Long who was going to come in and try to compete for that spot. Shavar Reynolds is a nice sparkplug but he’s not really a point guard so Aiken is a huge piece.”
Cohen added, “Losing Ro is a shame because he really only played, for all intents and purposes, a year and a half. He got so good this past year and it would’ve been great to see him be able to follow that up. But, they’ve got Ike Obiagu and (freshman Jeff) Ngandu, so they’re going to have some legitimate big guys to play defense.
“The X-factor is Myles Cale. He had a very, very puzzling season as a junior but he’s capable of great things.”
Cale averaged 6.0 points and shot a woeful 28.4 percent from beyond the arc in 2019-20.
Cohen said, “We know what the athleticism is like. We know what the shot is like when it’s on. We know how hard he plays and how well he plays defensively. So, to me, he is the X-factor. If Myles Cale plays at the level Myles Cale is capable of, then this team can go right back to the tournament and make noise.”
Of course, the Pirates never actually did go to the NCAA Tournament this past season, as fate and the coronavirus cruelly cancelled their season-long dreams of glory.
What does Cohen think of their chances in The Tournament That Never Was?
He said, “The interesting thing about this particular college basketball season was that there were a whole host of teams that could have made it through to the Final Four. There was no dominant team. And what made it even more compelling was that you had schools like Seton Hall, like San Diego State, like Dayton and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few others, for whom this was their best chance of having that signature season and getting to the Final Four."
“The way I looked at it before the season, and I remember having a conversation with (New York Post sportswriter) Zach Braziller in the Mets’ clubhouse in September about this. He asked me what would be considered a good season."
“I said, ‘look, the expectation at this point is that they go to the second weekend. If they don’t go to the second weekend, that would be a disappointment. Anything beyond that, anything beyond getting to the Sweet 16, would be a success.’ I felt that way before the season, and I felt that way going into the Big East tournament that this was a team that after making the NCAAs four straight years, going in with a transcendent talent in Myles Powell and with so many great complementary pieces like Quincy McKnight and Sandro and Ro Gill, they had enough to be able to be a second-weekend team.”
Of course, then it literally can come down to the luck of the draw.
Cohen continued, “And after that, a lot of it has to do with match ups, and timing and who has a bad night and who has a great night and buzzer-beaters. Things happen in the NCAA Tournament. But there’s no question this was a team that had the potential to make it to the Final Four and unfortunately, we’ll never know.”
One question that doesn’t require speculation for Cohen is whether Powell’s Number 13 jersey should be retired.
His answer is as emphatic as one of his calls of a Powell three-pointer.
“Oh, without question,” he said. “I was on board with the idea of retiring (former SHU center) Angel Delgado’s number (31), but for certain, if anybody has ever had their jersey retired at Seton Hall, who is a more transcendent figure at Seton Hall than Myles Powell?”
Cohen then began listing the names of Seton Hall hoop royalty.
“Walter Dukes, you can make the argument for Richie Regan because of everything he meant to the program, you could make the argument for Bob Davies (and) Terry Dehere and that might be about it."
“And that’s the pantheon of Seton Hall history. (Powell) was a transformational figure in the history of this program. What he was able to accomplish on the court, what he was able to accomplish in terms of getting his body in shape to play, what he was able to accomplish in terms of the way he treated other people for all four years he was there, and even the fact that from his sophomore year on, he was the best player on the team, but was deferential to the guys two years ahead of him who also meant so much to the program."
“I think the kid is just phenomenal in every way,” Cohen added, “and I feel awful for him that he was not able to get his team into the Tournament and show what he could do on a national stage, but I'm thrilled for him that he was able to achieve all the accolades that he did, Big East Player of the Year, first-team All-American, all greatly deserved. We won’t see another one like him for a long time.”
