NEW YORK — Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez sat together in the first row at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday taking it all in.
Returning to the Garden for the first time since they defeated Villanova in the Big East title game last March, the trio of Pirate juniors are eager to build off their postseason success.
“It’s the first time I’ve been here since we won,” Carrington, a Brooklyn native, said at Big East Media Day. “I stepped on the court and all the memories rolled back. I can’t wait to be here again. It’s a long season, we’re going to take it one game at a time, but we know what the goal is.”
Seton Hall was the last team to beat Villanova before the Wildcats reeled off six straight NCAA Tournament wins to capture their second national championship.
This year the Pirates were picked tied for fourth with Georgetown in the Big East Preseason Poll, while Delgado and Carrington were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team. Villanova was the unanimous pick to win its fourth straight Big East crown.
“I think Villanova showed us that we could’ve been where they was,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe even meet them in a national game, maybe. I think we were kind of still excited about winning the Big East championship last year and we didn’t look forward to how big the NCAA Tournament was. I think by Villanova winning that, they kind of motivated us more to get there, too.”
The obvious difference between the team that upended the eventual national champion Wildcats, and this year’s Pirate squad is the absence of point guard Isaiah Whitehead, now a rookie with the Nets. A Brooklyn native, Whitehead dazzled at the Garden during the Big East final, scoring 26 points and the go-ahead bucket with 18 seconds remaining to beat Villanova, 69-67.
Whitehead’s production needs to be replaced one way or another to ensure success for the Pirates.
Head coach Kevin Willard brings two point guard pieces to the table that weren’t at his disposal last season. Graduate transfer Madison Jones comes over from Wake Forest to help ease the backcourt transition, while Kansas State transfer Jevon Thomas becomes eligible in December. Carrington also figures to play double-digit minutes at the point behind Jones.
“What JT [Thomas] can bring to our program is a defensive presence that we haven’t had,” Willard said. “He can really defend the basketball in a way that we haven’t had…He can change the game that way. I think we’ll be able to press much more aggressively than we have in the past, especially going into conference.”
Jones also helps another transfer in departed guard Derrick Gordon, the Pirates’ sixth man a year ago.
“Madison’s been phenomenal,” Willard said of his transfer athlete. “He’s a lot like Derrick. He’s very mature. He’s gone through some ups and downs in his career, and I think he’s come into this team understanding that we have four starters back and that he has to come in and try to get to know these guys on and off the court. He’s been extremely steady with the basketball, he’s given us a good presence. He’s played 80 ACC games, he’s played a high level of basketball.”
The Whitehead Era is over, and now it’s time for the Pirates to adjust without him.
“We’re not going to run the same package that we ran last year,” Willard said. “Every year we kind of adjust a little bit, we’re going through Angel more than we have in the past. He’s able to handle the workload as a junior…When Khadeen’s at that [two] guard spot he still has that mentality to score. So we do have half the package that we had last year, in for him.”
Like everyone else in the league, the Pirates face an uphill climb to dethrone national champion Villanova atop the Big East. But for those once again doubting Seton Hall, Delgado has a message.
“My freshman year a lot of guys said we were too young for the league, and we proved people wrong,” he said. “That’s what we’re gonna do now.”
PIRATES HOST NOJEL EASTERN
Seton Hall hosted Class of 2017 point guard Nojel Eastern on an official visit from Thursday-Saturday.
“The visit went well,” his mother Tamala Reed said. “My son really just wants to finish out his visits and get ready for the upcoming season and stay focused on his academics.”
Eastern, a 6-6 guard out of Evanston (IL) Township, is considering Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue along with Seton Hall. It’s unclear if he will sign in the fall or spring.
–Adam Zagoria
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