PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By JP Pelzman
His size--a bruising 6-foot-8, 234 pounds--tells one aspect of Alexis Yetna’s talents. But his career statistics say something equally important as he brings his multifaceted game up the East Coast from Tampa to South Orange.
In two seasons with South Florida, the incoming Pirates transfer averaged 11.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, including 12.3 and 9.6, respectively, as a redshirt freshman in 2018-19. But what might be even more impressive, and a key for the 2021-22 Seton Hall Pirates, is that he is a career 34.6% three-point shooter at the collegiate level.
And that percentage is not from a microscopic sample size. Yetna was 45-for-130 from long distance in his two seasons as a Bull, combining the ability to score on the low blocks (and on putbacks) with the range to step outside of the arc occasionally and also to hit mid-range jumpers.
That kind of an offensive game could make him a matchup nightmare for Pirate opponents and also could make the Hall less vulnerable to the offensive droughts that plagued them during their season-ending swoon in 2020-21.
Yetna is one of three transfers Seton Hall expects to make an impact in the upcoming season, along with Syracuse’s Kadary Richmond and American’s Jamir Harris.
“I want to do everything I can on the court to help the team,” said Yetna, who is originally from Paris, France. “Defense, rebounding, shooting threes, driving the ball, I try to be the most complete basketball player I can be.”
Yetna, who is now 22, helped France to a bronze medal at the FIBA Under-20 European Championships in Greece in 2017. He redshirted his first year at USF, 2017-18, after the NCAA ruled him ineligible because he had played at a prep school in the United States two years after graduating from high school in France.
But he made a big impact the next season. He led the American Athletic Conference with 9.6 rebounds per game, and his 15 double-doubles were the 23rd most in Division I that season.
But a torn ACL suffered in preseason practice sidelined him for the entire 2019-20 campaign before he returned for the pandemic-ridden 2020-21 season.
“I had a great time” at USF, he said, “and I feel like I still have a lot of room to improve in my game. Obviously, I'm excited about where I am right now but I feel like I can get even better and I'm determined to do that.”
Yetna chose Seton Hall because “I liked the coaches a lot. I felt that what they offered me and the plan that they gave me fit what I wanted to do and I felt that with the team we have now we have a chance to be successful.”
He added, “I knew about Coach (Kevin) Willard, but I didn’t know what a great person he was until I met him.”
Yetna also is excited about working with lead assistant coach Grant Billmeier, who helped center Romaro Gill become the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20.
“I know he did such a great job with Romaro Gill. I'm looking forward to improving my game and I know he can help me,” Yetna said.
Yetna said he always has been tall for his age. There was no late growth spurt as there is for some players, who start out as point guards and then suddenly have to change their aspirations along the way. Instead, Yetna says his decision to embrace aspects of the game other than merely working inside the paint came from his father, who encouraged him from an early age to become an all-around player.
Yetna has maintained the same approach to the game here as he had back home.
“Basketball is basketball,” he says, “wherever you are. The same things have made me successful--work hard, play hard and enjoy the process.”
As for the knee injury that cost him a season, he said it allowed him to “reflect and be to be able to play the game and compete.”
When asked what his eventual aspirations are, Yetna was very upfront.
“I believe I can play in the NBA,” he replied. “I feel like I can bring something to any franchise because I am able to do so many different things on the court.”
However, he quickly added, “But, obviously right now I'm focused on this season and us winning and making an impression this year.”
In 2018-19, Yetna was named AAC Freshman of the Year because of his outstanding season. The Bulls were 8-10 in conference, but finished 24-14 overall thanks to a terrific run in the College Basketball Invitational, where they eventually beat DePaul, two games to one in the finals.
Last season wasn’t as successful for USF, which was 9-13 and 4-10 in conference, ending with a heartbreaking 68-67 loss to top-seeded Wichita State in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament.
“Of course, it was a tough season (because of COVID) but we were all fortunate to be able to play,” said Yetna, who averaged 9.5 points and 7.3 boards in 16 games, starting 15.
He added, “What mattered was that we were able to compete. It will be exciting to see fans back and this season will be very, very exciting.”
He looks forward to continuing to improve.
“I think I can be so much better than I am now,” he says.
As for his rebounding prowess, Yetna said, “I think it is about desire, who wants it more.”
One thing Yetna will have to adjust to after spending nearly four years in Florida is the climate.
“The weather here is similar to back home,” he said, “but after four years (in Tampa), it will be a little different. (Hot weather) is something I got used to, but it will be nice to see the four seasons again.”
And he and Seton Hall hope to see the post-season again, preferably the NCAAs.
