Blue Ribbon
Seton Hall was ready for its moments of greatness last season. The expectations were sky-high, fueled by the talent and leadership of senior guard Myles Powell, and he delivered. So did the Pirates’ supporting cast, which went through the season producing beyond what most people would have anticipated.
The Pirates captured a share of the Big East regular-season championship, the first time they had achieved that distinction since 1993. They were ranked in the AP Top 25 for 16 of the 20 weeks, with a high ranking of No. 8. They posted four victories over ranked teams and won seven road games in the conference.
Powell (21.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.9 apg) was voted the league’s Player of the Year, but he wasn’t the only senior to make a major contribution. Romaro Gill (9.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.2 bpg), a 7-2 center who led the league in blocked shots, became only the second player in Big East history to win Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player honors in the same season. Point guard Quincy McKnight (11.9 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.5 spg) provided leadership and defense and was an honorable mention all- conference performer.
Losses in their final two games to Villanova and Creighton dropped the Pirates into a tie for the title with the Wildcats and the Bluejays, and their chance at making what could have been a deep run in the NCAA tournament was eliminated by the coronavirus. But coach Kevin Willard thinks the senior class left behind a blueprint for what needed to be done to succeed, and he expects the next group of seniors to follow suit.
“I think the good thing about the three seniors was they did a really good job of getting the young guys to understand what’s going on,” Willard says. “Although we’re going to miss the three seniors very much, they really passed on their legacy. The younger guys saw what Myles and Quincy and Ro did, and now I have a group of seniors who stepping into that role and taking on that same leadership. It’s their time for leadership.”
Powell, a consensus All-America, Seton Hall’s first since 1953, finished his career with 2,252 points, third in program history, and won the Jerry West Award as the nation’s top shooting guard.
It’s not only offense the Pirates will miss by the departure of their seniors. They also were integral parts of the defense, with Gill protecting the rim and McKnight and Powell getting after the opponent on the perimeter, combining for 79 steals. Still, Willard likes what he has returning and notes that “this should be the best defensive team I’ve ever had.”
“I think we’re going to be able to play a lot of different lineups,” he says. “I think we can play really small at times, which is going to help us with our zone and switching and being aggressive and pressing. Then I think we’re going to be able to play really big. We’re going to be a little more versatile with our lineups, which is going to give us a chance to kind of be more aggressive than we’ve been able to be in the past.”
The next group of seniors is led by 6-11, 240-pound forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg), who filed for early entry into the NBA Draft but decided to return on Aug. 1. The team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, he missed 10 games after suffering a fractured right (non-shooting) wrist at Iowa State but provided Seton Hall with a versatile scoring threat once he returned.
In his last nine games, Mamukelashvili averaged 14.3 points and 8.2 boards while shooting .564 from the floor and .464 from 3-point range. That included a season-high 26 points against Marquette. He also has evolved into an excellent passer.
Willard plans to capitalize on Mamukelashvili’s all-around talents and utilize him as a stretch four in a bigger lineup and as an inside threat in a smaller lineup.
“I just love how versatile he is,” Willard says. “I think early in his career, he really just wanted to play on the perimeter. I think he’s starting to realize that getting eight to 10 points inside plus making three 3s, it’s an easy way to get 19-20 points. So his versatility inside and out is really what I like most.”
The second senior starter is 6-6 wing Myles Cale (6.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg), whose numbers were down from the previous year where he averaged 10.2 points and played 30.2 minutes per game as opposed to 23.0 last season. Cale scored in double figures six times and his season high of 16 points came in back-to- back games at DePaul and versus Georgetown, but he averaged just 4.3 p and went 8 of 38 (.211) on 3-point attempts in his last 16 games.
The defensive side of the court, however, is where Willard appreciates Cale’s talent.
“With three seniors, I don’t think Myles got as many opportunities [on offense] as he did the year before,” Willard says. “I think he really sacrificed to become a high-level defender more than anything, chasing guys like Ty-Shon Alexander and Alpha Diallo all over the court. He was more or less our glue on the defensive end last year. He’s been through the grind and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
The Pirates’ offense will be helped by the addition of 6-0 graduate transfer Bryce Aiken (16.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.7 apg), who played in only seven games for Harvard before a foot injury ended his 2019-20 season and earned him a medical redshirt. Aiken, who lives in northern New Jersey and attended the Patrick School located about five miles from Seton Hall’s campus, averaged 22.2 points with the Crimson in 2018-19, including games of 44 and 36 points versus Columbia.
Aiken finished his Ivy League career with 1,090 points (16.8 ppg) even though injuries limited him to 65 games. He shot .410 from the field, .350 from beyond the arc and .857 on free throws. In other words, scoring is not a problem for him, but he excels in other areas, too.
“He’s probably the highest basketball IQ player I’ve ever been around,” Willard says. “He really understands the game at an elite level. Obviously, he can score the basketball—he can shoot it, he can score off pick-and-rolls. But I think what makes Bryce really special is the fact that he’s going to make everyone around him better. He’s going to make the right reads off pick-and-rolls. He’s going to understand where people are. He really has a very intellectual sense of how to play the game and how to make everyone better on the floor.”
Another wing player who flourished last season is 6-6 junior Jared Rhoden (9.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.2 spg), who gives Willard another versatile player for different lineups. The team’s top rebounder last season, Rhoden came on during the Big East portion of the schedule, averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his last nine games, all starts. He shot .500 from the field and .446 from the arc in conference play.
Willard loves Rhoden’s high motor, and thinks a key part of the player’s development last season was finding a way to harness the energy he brings to a game.
“I think as he’s gotten older, he really understands,” the coach says. “He’s starting to slow down a little bit and play at different speeds. He’s really shooting the basketball well. He’s gotten really strong. He can shoot from the outside. He’s a guy that’s going to get you two or three offensive rebounds, get you a put-back, get you a hustle play. Guys who play that hard are tough to find.”
When Willard wants to play a bigger lineup, junior Ike Obiagu (2.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg) gives him a 7-2, 270-pound inside presence at center. Despite a nagging ankle injury, Obiagu played in every game with a significant role against DePaul (six points, eight rebounds, three blocks in 15 minutes) and six blocked shots against Maryland. He shot .676 from the floor for the season.
“I think Ikey really started the season off well last year and then obviously Ro really blossomed,” Willard says. “But Ikey really battled. He sprained his ankle in the first game of the season and never got over it. He kept spraining it and spraining it. I like the way he’s worked since he’s been back. I think he’s going to have a much better feel and be a much bigger impact player for us.”
Seton Hall was ready for its moments of greatness last season. The expectations were sky-high, fueled by the talent and leadership of senior guard Myles Powell, and he delivered. So did the Pirates’ supporting cast, which went through the season producing beyond what most people would have anticipated.
The Pirates captured a share of the Big East regular-season championship, the first time they had achieved that distinction since 1993. They were ranked in the AP Top 25 for 16 of the 20 weeks, with a high ranking of No. 8. They posted four victories over ranked teams and won seven road games in the conference.
Powell (21.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.9 apg) was voted the league’s Player of the Year, but he wasn’t the only senior to make a major contribution. Romaro Gill (9.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.2 bpg), a 7-2 center who led the league in blocked shots, became only the second player in Big East history to win Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player honors in the same season. Point guard Quincy McKnight (11.9 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.5 spg) provided leadership and defense and was an honorable mention all- conference performer.
Losses in their final two games to Villanova and Creighton dropped the Pirates into a tie for the title with the Wildcats and the Bluejays, and their chance at making what could have been a deep run in the NCAA tournament was eliminated by the coronavirus. But coach Kevin Willard thinks the senior class left behind a blueprint for what needed to be done to succeed, and he expects the next group of seniors to follow suit.
“I think the good thing about the three seniors was they did a really good job of getting the young guys to understand what’s going on,” Willard says. “Although we’re going to miss the three seniors very much, they really passed on their legacy. The younger guys saw what Myles and Quincy and Ro did, and now I have a group of seniors who stepping into that role and taking on that same leadership. It’s their time for leadership.”
Powell, a consensus All-America, Seton Hall’s first since 1953, finished his career with 2,252 points, third in program history, and won the Jerry West Award as the nation’s top shooting guard.
It’s not only offense the Pirates will miss by the departure of their seniors. They also were integral parts of the defense, with Gill protecting the rim and McKnight and Powell getting after the opponent on the perimeter, combining for 79 steals. Still, Willard likes what he has returning and notes that “this should be the best defensive team I’ve ever had.”
“I think we’re going to be able to play a lot of different lineups,” he says. “I think we can play really small at times, which is going to help us with our zone and switching and being aggressive and pressing. Then I think we’re going to be able to play really big. We’re going to be a little more versatile with our lineups, which is going to give us a chance to kind of be more aggressive than we’ve been able to be in the past.”
The next group of seniors is led by 6-11, 240-pound forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg), who filed for early entry into the NBA Draft but decided to return on Aug. 1. The team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, he missed 10 games after suffering a fractured right (non-shooting) wrist at Iowa State but provided Seton Hall with a versatile scoring threat once he returned.
In his last nine games, Mamukelashvili averaged 14.3 points and 8.2 boards while shooting .564 from the floor and .464 from 3-point range. That included a season-high 26 points against Marquette. He also has evolved into an excellent passer.
Willard plans to capitalize on Mamukelashvili’s all-around talents and utilize him as a stretch four in a bigger lineup and as an inside threat in a smaller lineup.
“I just love how versatile he is,” Willard says. “I think early in his career, he really just wanted to play on the perimeter. I think he’s starting to realize that getting eight to 10 points inside plus making three 3s, it’s an easy way to get 19-20 points. So his versatility inside and out is really what I like most.”
The second senior starter is 6-6 wing Myles Cale (6.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg), whose numbers were down from the previous year where he averaged 10.2 points and played 30.2 minutes per game as opposed to 23.0 last season. Cale scored in double figures six times and his season high of 16 points came in back-to- back games at DePaul and versus Georgetown, but he averaged just 4.3 p and went 8 of 38 (.211) on 3-point attempts in his last 16 games.
The defensive side of the court, however, is where Willard appreciates Cale’s talent.
“With three seniors, I don’t think Myles got as many opportunities [on offense] as he did the year before,” Willard says. “I think he really sacrificed to become a high-level defender more than anything, chasing guys like Ty-Shon Alexander and Alpha Diallo all over the court. He was more or less our glue on the defensive end last year. He’s been through the grind and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
The Pirates’ offense will be helped by the addition of 6-0 graduate transfer Bryce Aiken (16.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.7 apg), who played in only seven games for Harvard before a foot injury ended his 2019-20 season and earned him a medical redshirt. Aiken, who lives in northern New Jersey and attended the Patrick School located about five miles from Seton Hall’s campus, averaged 22.2 points with the Crimson in 2018-19, including games of 44 and 36 points versus Columbia.
Aiken finished his Ivy League career with 1,090 points (16.8 ppg) even though injuries limited him to 65 games. He shot .410 from the field, .350 from beyond the arc and .857 on free throws. In other words, scoring is not a problem for him, but he excels in other areas, too.
“He’s probably the highest basketball IQ player I’ve ever been around,” Willard says. “He really understands the game at an elite level. Obviously, he can score the basketball—he can shoot it, he can score off pick-and-rolls. But I think what makes Bryce really special is the fact that he’s going to make everyone around him better. He’s going to make the right reads off pick-and-rolls. He’s going to understand where people are. He really has a very intellectual sense of how to play the game and how to make everyone better on the floor.”
Another wing player who flourished last season is 6-6 junior Jared Rhoden (9.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.2 spg), who gives Willard another versatile player for different lineups. The team’s top rebounder last season, Rhoden came on during the Big East portion of the schedule, averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his last nine games, all starts. He shot .500 from the field and .446 from the arc in conference play.
Willard loves Rhoden’s high motor, and thinks a key part of the player’s development last season was finding a way to harness the energy he brings to a game.
“I think as he’s gotten older, he really understands,” the coach says. “He’s starting to slow down a little bit and play at different speeds. He’s really shooting the basketball well. He’s gotten really strong. He can shoot from the outside. He’s a guy that’s going to get you two or three offensive rebounds, get you a put-back, get you a hustle play. Guys who play that hard are tough to find.”
When Willard wants to play a bigger lineup, junior Ike Obiagu (2.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg) gives him a 7-2, 270-pound inside presence at center. Despite a nagging ankle injury, Obiagu played in every game with a significant role against DePaul (six points, eight rebounds, three blocks in 15 minutes) and six blocked shots against Maryland. He shot .676 from the floor for the season.
“I think Ikey really started the season off well last year and then obviously Ro really blossomed,” Willard says. “But Ikey really battled. He sprained his ankle in the first game of the season and never got over it. He kept spraining it and spraining it. I like the way he’s worked since he’s been back. I think he’s going to have a much better feel and be a much bigger impact player for us.”
