Patrick School Point Guard Jordan Walker Picks Seton Hall, Could Become Fan Favorite
Seton Hall has landed its point guard
Seton Hall has landed its point guard
A year ago a prominent Seton Hall basketball star won the Haggerty Award as the best player in the New York metropolitan area.
He then tested the NBA Draft waters, received an invite to the NBA Draft Combine and ultimately entered the Draft.
A year after Isaiah Whitehead landed with his hometown Brooklyn Nets, another Seton Hall player, junior big man Angel Delgado, could follow Whitehead’s trajectory.
Delgado on Wednesday became the second straight Seton Hall player to win the Lieutenant Frank J. Haggerty Award as the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Year. Delgado was set receive the honor Wednesday night at the annual Met Writers dinner at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, N.Y.
“It made me feel good,” he said Wednesday by phone. “I gotta be happy. I think my teammates are happy for me, too, because in my opinion I think they deserve it more than me because they helped me to become a better player on the court and off the court.”
Sandro Mamukelashvili, a 6-foot-10, 222-pound power forward from Montverde (FL) Academy, committed to Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard on Thursday following an official visit to the school.
He signed his National Letter of Intent, the school announced Monday.
Assistant Grant Billmeier was the lead recruiter.
Mamukelashvili also considered USC, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt among others.
“We are very excited to welcome Sandro into the Seton Hall basketball family,” Willard said. “He is only 17, and yet he is a very skilled passer and ball handler, and he shoots very well for someone his size. It is clear he has been mentored by one of the more respected high school coaches in the country in Coach [Kevin] Boyle. We think he has a very high ceiling, and we are looking forward to coaching him and developing his potential.”
Mamukelashvili, a three-star recruit according to 247Sports.com and Scout, played for a powerhouse Montverde Academy team that was the runner-up in the DICK’S High School National Championship tournament. Mamukelashvili was instrumental in helping the Eagles reach the final; he had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the quarterfinal win over Shadow Mountain, and he had 11 points and seven boards in the semifinal victory over Greensboro Day. Monteverde finished the season 26-5 and ranked No. 7 in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings.
Born in New York City, Mamukelashvili grew up in the country of Georgia and went to high school in Italy before moving to Florida to attend Montverde. He speaks four languages, including English, Georgian, Russian and Italian.
“The main part was the coaching staff,” he said by phone. “It feels like home. It’s like a family in the locker room. Everybody’s friends with everybody. The school loves the program and everybody likes basketball there.
“I think I will be a great addition to that team.”
Darnell Brodie, a 6-foot-9, 270-pound forward from Newark East Side, has signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Seton Hall.
Brodie, a three-star recruit as rated by 247Sports, is currently finishing his high school career at Newark East Side High School, the same school that produced current Pirates defensive star Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.). Brodie spent his freshman and sophomore years at Newark East Side before transferring to Putnam Science Academy for a year and a half and then returning to East Side in January 2017. Brodie and Sanogo played on the same team in 2013-14 when Brodie was a freshman and Sanogo was a senior.
Brodie’s addition is the latest in a successful string of local commitments to coach Kevin Willard and the Pirates that have helped the program win 46 games and make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances over the last two seasons.
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Seton Hall has offered
By DENNIS CHAMBERS
NEW YORK — Against Villanova this time around, the ball didn’t bounce off the rim the way Seton Hall wanted it to.
Last season with 18 seconds left in Big East Tournament final, Isaiah Whitehead got his shot to tap the back of the rim before going in. His shot tied the game at 67, his following foul shot gave the Pirates a 68-67 lead that they ultimately held on to for the victory.
But this year, down 55-53 with the final possession the rim wasn’t so kind to the Pirates. Angel Delgado had a clear layup opportunity with three seconds remaining that didn’t find its way to the bottom of the net. As a result, Villanova got their revenge victory at Madison Square Garden over Seton Hall Friday night.
“I just missed it,” Delgado said about the blown opportunity. “Can’t really tell you nothing right now, I just missed. Something that never happened in my life. That’s the first time, and I gotta live with it.”
