Kevin Willard is entering his sixth season as the head coach at Seton Hall and is still seeking his first NCAA Tournament appearance.
During his five years in South Orange, Willard is 82-80, 30-60 in the Big East and has one NIT appearance on his résumé.
This year is critical for Willard and he understands that, telling Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com that the Pirates have to do something special in order for this year to be considered a success.
“I think we have to get to the NCAA Tournament,” Willard said. “I have high expectations for these guys. We’ve talked about what my expectations are for them. I want to see much more consistent basketball throughout the year and I want to see us achieve what we achieved during the early part of last year towards the end of this season.”
After starting 13-3 a year ago, Seton Hall went 3-12 the rest of the way. They lost New Jersey guards Sterling Gibbs (UConn) and Jaren Sina (George Washington) to transfers, and now have only three proven guards on the roster — Isaiah Whitehead, Khadeen Carrington and transfer Derrick Gordon.
Health will be critical for the Pirates. If one of those three guards goes down with an injury for an extended period, where will the team turn?
“We lost two great kids unfortunately, but luckily we still have Khadeen Carrington, Isaiah Whitehead, and we were able to pick up Derrick Gordon,” Willard said. “So we have three guys that are really experienced. Two freshman who became sophomores and a well tested red shirt senior who can come in and fill that void.”
