After losing Angel Delgado, Desi Rodriguez, Khadeen Carrington and Ismael Sanogo from the prior season, few people had high expectations for the Seton Hall basketball program heading into the 2018-19 season.
Previewing the Seton Hall Pirates 2019-20 Season
Recapping the 2018-19 season
Credit head coach Kevin Willard for perhaps his finest moment as coach of the Pirates. He got Seton Hall back to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. Willard did it by getting a fantastic junior campaign from Myles Powell and squeezing a lot out of his role players.
The season began with a ho-hum November. The month was capped off with the Pirates winning the Wooden Legacy Tournament by beating Miami in the championship.
In December, Seton Hall really made a case for an NCAA Tournament bid by beating both Kentucky (in one of the wildest games of the season at Madison Square Garden) and Maryland—the latter which came on the road. Seton Hall would go on a seven-game winning streak in December and early January (which also included Big East wins over St. John’s and Xavier).
What followed up was the Pirates losing five of their next seven conference games. That put the Seton Hall basketball program back on the bubble.
However, Seton Hall responded by winning five of their last eight regular-season league games. The Pirates then advanced to the finals of the Big East Championship before eventually losing to Villanova.
That was more than enough of a resume to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Pirates’ season ended, though, with a first-round loss to Wofford.
From a personnel standpoint, Powell was marvelous.
He just lost out on Big East Player of the Year to Marquette’s Markus Howard. Powell averaged a whopping 23.1 points per game on 36.3 percent shooting from three-point range and 84 percent from the free-throw line. He also added 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2.9 assists per game.
Whose Back
We must start with Powell coming back.
Powell was named the Big East’s preseason Player of the Year at the conference’s media day. He is a lethal scorer who just goes out and gets buckets.
He wants this year to count and after thinking about turning pro after last season, Powell has some unfinished business he wants to tend to.
“I know how much winning does to your legacy and the biggest thing about coming back is that I just want to leave a (winning) legacy behind,” Powell said at Big East media day. “It’s not about me scoring the ball—everybody knows I can score the ball—it’s pretty much about us just winning (as a team) and that’s my focus right now. The more we win the better it’s going to be for everybody.”
Also back are three other starters in 6’6” junior wing Myles Cale, 6’4” senior point guard Quincy McKnight, and 6’10” sophomore big man Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Cale is Willard’s secondary scoring option on offense. At the moment, he is overshadowed a bit by Powell, but Cale is an emerging scorer in his own right. Keep tabs on Cale, he could break out.
McKnight is a steady point guard. He is more about substance than style and keeps things flowing for the Pirates. Expect a nice swan song for McKnight.
Mamukelashvili is another intriguing piece. He can be physical in the paint, while also making you pay from beyond the arc.
Willard has some depth, as he is also welcoming back six other players that received significant minutes last season. They include 6’11” forward Taurean Thompson, 6’6” wing Jared Rhoden, 6’4” guard Anthony Nelson, 7’2” center Romaro Gill, 6’2” guard Shavar Reynolds, and 6’9” forward Darnell Brodie.
Something has to be said for the continuity Willard has assembled. That should count for a lot this season.
New Additions
With ten returning players, the Pirates are light on newcomers.
The biggest—literal and figurative—addition is Florida State transfer Ike Obiagu, a 7’1” sophomore center. Also coming aboard is 6’10” freshman power forward Tyrese Samuel.
Obiagu and Samuel will add even more size and length to a formidable Pirate’s front line. With them in tow, Willard now has five players 6’10” or taller with two of them being taller than 7-foot. Talk about an imposing frontcourt.
Season Expectations
With an experienced core that includes one of the country’s most dynamic scorers (Powell), some emerging players (Cale and Mamukelashvili) on the cusp of taking their games to the next level and a team that will cause havoc on defense, this just might be Willard’s best team he has ever had.
In fact, the Big East coaches were high enough on them to make them the pre-season favorites over Villanova at media day.
Willard knows his team will have a bullseye on their back, but he is up for the challenge.
“I think it’s a great honor (being picked as the pre-season favorite),” said Willard at media day. “It’s exciting for the players, exciting for the university and for the program. It shows you how far we’ve come. But at the same time, it’s a great challenge and we really have a lot of work ahead of us.”
A slight hiccup will affect the Pirates before they open the season, though.
Willard was just slapped with a two-game suspension for transfer tampering. This should have little impact, as the Seton Hall basketball program opens up with two soft games against Wagner and Stony Brook.
Making the NCAA Tournament is not the only goal for the Pirates, but playing on the second weekend of the Big Dance should be on the docket. This is a deep and talented squad that could do great things. While a trip to the Final Four (the Pirates haven’t been back since 1989) may be a tad ambitious, things are aligning for a standout season.
Prediction: 22-8 overall, 13-5 Big East.
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