Dana Dingle is well acquainted with Seton Hall’s recruiting process.
The former UMass guard who played on John Calipari’s 1996 Final Four team is now the director of the Nike-sponsored NY Lightning on the EYBL circuit.
He coached current Seton Hall senior forward Angel Delgado, and more recently coached Seton Hall commit Anthony Nelson.
Another one of his players, 6-foot-6 Our Savior Lutheran shooting guard Jared Rhoden, will announce his college choice on Saturday. He’s down to a Final Four of Seton Hall, Penn State, Wichita State and Saint Louis.
“Jared is wired to score,” Dingle said on The 4 Quarters Podcast. “He’s 6-6 long, lanky with a 7-foot wing span. He can score the ball, shoot the three ball. Has a great mid-range, one-two dribble-pullup, can score in the mid post. And he can rebound the ball. He plays with a high motor but he’s definitely wired to score.
“He’s relatively unknown outside of Long Island, but the rest of the country really got a chance to see his ability to score against anybody.”
Dingle said Nelson has been working on getting Rhoden to join him at Seton Hall next season.
“Let’s put it this way, those are my best two players on the EYBL team and those two guys were very close,” Dingle said. “And they talk to each other often throughout the course of the week, and Nelson said he was going to stay with Jared throughout the process.”
Dingle said the pair were discussing playing together Dayton and Seton Hall, but Dayton is now out of the mix for both.
“Out of those two schools, they were the only two that were recruiting both of them hard,” he said.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if Jared decided to play with his boy and go to Seton Hall. I wouldn’t be surprised at all. It’s just right now he has to figure out what makes the most season, but I do know those two guys are very close and they stay in constant communication.”
Regardless of where Rhoden chooses, Dingle thinks Seton Hall’s recruiting momentum is on the upswing based on appearing in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, with a chance for a third straight.
“I think definitely because one thing, kids want to win,” Dingle said. “And kids are watching, especially kids in your back yard and kids that want to stay home and love to win while they’re home. After making the NCAA Tournament consecutive years, that’s nothing but a plus because kids will say, ‘Well, why go here when I can play and still make the tournament and win and be on TV?’, rather that in the past that was one of the things that hurt them. It hurt St. John’s, the fact that kids don’t see the chance to make the tournament. But once you start making the tournament, you become way more appealing to a better level of talent. And I think they’ve done a great job of maximizing that and continuing with the great success they’ve had in recent years.”
