The Holy Land of Hoops

Today's squad I'm previewing is a team that went on quite a roller coaster ride last year: the Seton Hall Pirates.

Seton Hall Pirates (16-15 overall, 6-12 Big East)
Tied for Seventh Place in Regular Season play, 8 Seed in Big East Tournament
No Post-Season Tournament

Losses:
F Haralds Karlis (graduated) - 27 GP, 12.4 MPG, 3.3 PPG, 0.7 RPG, 0.5 APG
F Stephane Manga (graduated) - 21 GP, 12.3 MPG, 2.6 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 APG
F Brandon Mobley (graduated) - 30 GP, 24.5 MPG, 9.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.6 APG
G Sterling Gibbs (transferred) - 29 GP, 33.7 MPG, 16.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 3.8 APG
G Jaren Sina (transferred) - 24 GP, 32.2 MPG, 7.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.3 APG
C Chier Ajou (transferred) - 10 GP, 3.8 MPG, 0.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.1 APG

Returnees:
G Isaiah Whitehead (Sophomore) - 22 GP, 27.8 MPG, 12.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.5 APG
G Khadeen Carrington (Sophomore) - 31 GP, 25.0 MPG, 8.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG
F Desi Rodriguez (Sophomore) - 31 GP, 16.6 MPG, 5.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.5 APG
F Ismael Sanogo (Sophomore) - 18 GP, 5.3 MPG, 0.5 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.1 APG
F/C Angel Delgado (Sophomore) - 31 GP, 28.2 MPG, 9.3 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 0.9 APG
F/C Rashed Anthony (Sophomore) - 30 GP, 8.8 MPG, 0.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.1 APG

Additions:
G Trevonn Morton (Freshman -- walk-on -- redshirted last season?) - NR on Scout, Rivals, nor ESPN
F Michael Nzei (Freshman -- redshirted last season) - 3 Star, NR on Scout, 3 Star, NR on Rivals, NR on ESPN

Recruits:
G Derrick Gordon (Senior -- transferred from UMASS after graduating and will be eligible immediately) - 32 GP, 28.4 MPG, 9.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.7 APG (2014-15 with UMASS)
G Jevon Thomas (Junior -- transferred from Kansas State and will sit out this season) - 31 GP, 25.8 MPG, 4.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.3 APG (2014-15 with Kansas State)
F/C Braeden Anderson (Junior -- transferred from Fresno State after graduating and will be eligible immediately) - 17 GP, 10.6 MPG, 1.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.2 APG (2014-15 with Fresno State)
F Amarveer Singh (Freshman) - 3 Star, NR on Scout, 3 Star, NR on Rivals, 4 Star, #23 SF on ESPN
F Myles Carter (Freshman) - 3 Star, NR on Scout, 3 Star, NR on Rivals, 3 Star, #50 PF on ESPN
G Dalton Soffer (Freshman) - NR on Scout, Rivals, 2 Star, NR on ESPN

Storylines:
Earlier in the Spring Sterling Gibbs came out and said he would stay. A month or so later he did an about face and announced he was transferring. He is clearly the biggest loss from last year’s squad, but not the only loss. Gone too are Karlis, Manga, and Mobley to graduation and Sina and Ajou to transfer. The core six freshmen from last year do return, however, including Isaiah Whitehead, Khadeen Carrington, and Angel Delgado. They should all be improved from last year, but by how much? Mike Nzei, who redshirted last year joins Amarveer Singh, Myles Carter, and Dalton Soffer as freshmen. Transfers Derrick Gordon and Braeden Anderson are the only eligible upperclassmen on this still very young team. Kansas State transfer Jevon Thomas is eligible in 2016-17.

Questions:
Is this Willard’s make or break year?
Will Whitehead be even better this year? How will The Hall use him?
How will Angel Delgado top his stellar freshmen season?
What will Mike Nzei, Ismael Sanogo, and Rashed Anthony provide in their likely larger roles?
What impact will transfers Derrick Gordon and Braeden Anderson provide?
Will any of the freshmen contribute this year?
Will Seton Hall play small like St. John’s last year?

Looking at the OOC schedule, it's a pretty tough one....

Starts with the Charleston Classic. Other teams are Oklahoma St, Ole Miss, and Virginia amongst tougher teams- and then Bradley, George Mason, Long Beach St, and Towson.
Then Georgia, @ GW, and Wichita St.

If they could go into conference play with only 3 losses, it would be a very good start. Hopefully Seton Hall is seeded in the Charleston Classic if you will so they don't see Oklahoma St, Ole Miss, UVA in the 1st round- that could get them 2-1 but with no meaningful wins at all.

Definitely an improved OOC schedule from how they used to do it.

Questions:
Is this Willard’s make or break year? No.
Will Whitehead be even better this year? How will The Hall use him? Yes. As a point guard because the other point guards hated him and left.
How will Angel Delgado top his stellar freshmen season? More of the same. Maybe make a few free throws?
What will Mike Nzei, Ismael Sanogo, and Rashed Anthony provide in their likely larger roles? Pretty much nothing.
What impact will transfers Derrick Gordon and Braeden Anderson provide? They'll eat up minutes. Somebody has to.
Will any of the freshmen contribute this year? Singh. Maybe.
Will Seton Hall play small like St. John’s last year? Probably once they realize Anderson isn't very good.

This should be Willard's make or break year...

I think this could be an absolute train wreck of a season for The Hall. Whitehead as the primary ball handler is a frightening thought, as he will be focused solely on putting up numbers for the scouts. Delgado is a nice player, but ideally would be the garbage man big and not a second option on offense. Carrington is a nice looking player, but does not mesh well next to Whitehead in the backcourt. Desi Rodriguez is also a solid prospect, but would fit much better on a team without so many slashing type guards and a big that cannot spread the floor. If you had Sina and Gibbs instead of Whitehead, I could see this team being a tough out and winning a solid number of games. Instead, you have a team that cannot shoot and a coach that basically cannot coach offense, led by a selfish guard that will use far too many possessions.

Jet915 wrote:This should be Willard's make or break year...

At a school that...

A.) cared about winning

or

B.) had the money to pay a coach to go away...

it would be a make or break year. Seton Hall fits neither of those criteria.

Could be a pretty rough year for the NYC teams...

Tournament it bust for willi ard. No more excuses