PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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JP's Takeaways
Some thoughts on Seton Hall as it embarks on three games (it hopes) in five days:
Players don’t mind the extra games.
Seton Hall made several players available on a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon, and the consensus was that they are not fazed by the prospect of three games in five days, beginning with Rhode Island on the road tonight. (Of course, in this most unusual college basketball season ever, any of those games could get canceled at a moment’s notice.).
Jared Rhoden said, “A lot of us have aspirations to play in the pros, whether it be in the NBA or overseas. … And this will be our pro week. It will be a good test to see how strong our bodies are.”
But it is fair to wonder if the travel will be an issue. If there are no coronavirus cancellations, The Hall is scheduled to face Oregon in Omaha, Neb. on Friday before returning to the Eastern Time Zone on Sunday to visit Penn State. The players aren’t worried about the fact that the virus paused their activities last month, saying they have complete confidence in trainer Tony Testa and the protocols they are following.
“Of course, we’ll be physically tired,” guard Shavar Reynolds said. “But as long as we stay mentally aware and locked in, I think we’ll be fine.”
Reynolds proving the doubters wrong.
And I have to raise my hand and admit I was one of them. Mea culpa.
Not that I ever thought it was a wasted scholarship, per se, when coach Kevin Willard elevated Reynolds from walk-on. But maybe he had done it too soon, when perhaps that scholarship could have been saved--at that juncture--for someone who could have provided more immediate help.
But the overachieving Reynolds has more than justified Willard’s belief in him. His career-highs in minutes (29), assists (eight) and steals (five) were huge in the Pirates’ win over Iona on Monday night. No, nobody is going to compare him to Pirate legends Shaheen Holloway or Andre Barrett, but he has shown against both Louisville and the Gaels that he can get by his defender, get into the lane and create for others, and that’s huge.
“This year, I’ve been given more of an opportunity to do it,” Reynolds said. “I want to be the creator and get these guys the ball because if they’re going, we’re all flowing.”
Rick's back.
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to debate that college basketball, particularly local college basketball, will be a more interesting place with Rick Pitino returning. The 66-year-old Pitino said during the MAAC’s virtual media day last month that he wants this to be his last coaching gig. Whether you believe him or not, there’s no doubt it should be an interesting ride. Watching him on the sidelines, even on TV, you can see the passion for the game still is there.
As Willard said, “I’m not going to be playing him in three or four years, I’ll tell you that.” But the Pirates will return the game in Madison Square Garden next season, Pitino said.
“I can see why Coach Willard looks up to him because they act similar,” Reynolds said of Pitino. “It was actually funny because you could see the similarities between them. It was an honor to play against Coach Pitino.”
Rhoden asserts himself.
The junior wing had 26 points and 10 rebounds against the Gaels. Willard indicated after the Iona game that he had wanted to see that kind of performance from Rhoden against Louisville. Rhoden had 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting. The two met after practice Sunday. Rhoden said the conversation wasn’t really about basketball.
“He kind of just spoke to me,” Rhoden recalled, “and said, ‘remember my character. Remember who I am. Remember what makes me, me.’” Make no mistake, Rhoden is equally as important to the Pirates’ success this season as is Mamukelashvili. Willard has touted Rhoden, both publicly and privately, as an all-Big East first-team kind of player, and Rhoden has both the talent and basketball savvy to make that happen.
A visit to Fatts City and more.
Taking the opponents one game at time, as Mamukelashvili said, let’s begin with Rhode Island (2-2). As expected, senior guard Fatts Russell is the Rams’ leading scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game. But he has not been efficient from the floor, shooting 36.8%. Still, he makes teams pay at the foul line, where he is 24-for-28.
Rhody played four games in five days recently, but all were at the Mohegan Sun. The Rams pulled off an interesting double, beating two USFs on back-to-back days, South Florida on Saturday and San Francisco on Sunday. The latter victory, an easy 13-point win, came two days after the Dons had upset Virginia.
Friday night’s opponent, Oregon, already is in Omaha, where it is scheduled to play Missouri in the Ducks’ season opener tonight. The Ducks lost point guard Payton Pritchard, who led them to that comeback win over the Pirates last season, but have plenty of talent back. They also have former Rutgers forward Eugene Omoruyi, now eligible after sitting out last season. Omoruyi totaled 25 points and 17 rebounds in his previous two games versus Seton Hall.
Finally, Penn State has plenty of talent back from what was a sure NCAA at-large team in 2019-20, but also has an interim coach in Jim Ferry after Pat Chambers resigned under fire.
