NC State will play Seton Hall in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Wichita, Kan. Here are five things to help you know the Pirates better.
Kevin Willard Turns His Fate Around
Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard was struggling and on the precipice of being on a severe hot seat, and he needed to make his class of 2014 count.
Willard did by landing five-star shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead, four-star center Angel Delgado, three-star shooting guard Khadeen Carrington, three-star small forward Desi Rodriguez, and three-star power forwards Ismael Sanogo and Michael Nzei.
All six players were from New Jersey or New York City, and well known prep coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton from Brooklyn (N.Y.) Lincoln High was hired as an assistant coach by Willard just in time. He had coached both Whitehead and Rodriguez. Both Morton and Whitehead have been ensnared in the FBI scandal. Morton returned to Lincoln after an uneven year at Seton Hall.
Whitehead ended up being a two-and-done, with the Pirates going 25-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big East his second year to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. That ended any talk that Willard’s job was in danger, and the Pirates have followed that up with two more NCAA Tournament appearances.
The trio of Delgado, Carrington and Rodriguez have been crucial players, with Rodriguez’s development perhaps the most surprising.
Desi Rodriguez’s ankle injury looms large
Senior small forward Desi Rodriguez missed three full games and was limited in two others after spraining his ankle at Providence Feb. 22.
Providence’s Dunkin Donuts Center had ice underneath the court, and when the temperatures hit the 70s, the court got slippery and Rodriguez got injured. The game was postponed until the next morning.
Seton Hall went 3-2 during that five-game stretch where Rodriguez either missed games or was limited. His emergence into Seton Hall’s leading scorer has been impressive.
Rodriguez was always athletic and tough, but is now shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 37.9 percent on three-pointers. He is averaging 17.8 points, but that jumps to 19.0 when the three games he played partial minutes are eliminated. Rodriguez was just coming off his season-high of 33 points against DePaul Feb. 18 when he sprained his ankle. He has scored at least 20 points in 11 contests.
Rodriguez returned to play against Butler in the Big East Tournament March 8, but he logged just 16 minutes in a 75-74 loss.
Pirates seniors 0-2 in NCAA Tourney
The Seton Hall seniors and juniors have played in two NCAA Tournament games, losing both.
Arkansas ended Seton Hall’s season last year, 77-71, despite 22 points from Khadeen Carrington. Seton Hall struggled with 15 turnovers and shot just 6 of 17 from three-point land against the Razorbacks. The Pirates led 71-70 with 1:43 left, and then went scoreless after that in Greenville, S.C. Arkansas made a layup and tacked on five free throws for the final margin.
Seton Hall pounded Arkansas on the boards 46-32, including an astonishing 21 offensive rebounds. Four starters and two bench reserves return from that contest.
The 2016 loss in Denver for Seton Hall in the NCAA Tournament wasn’t as dramatic. Gonzaga entered the tourney as a No. 11 seed, but featured two future NBA players in the frontcourt and the nucleus of a squad that ended up playing for the national title the next year. Domantas Sabonis had 21 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks to lead Gonzaga to a 68-52 win.
Star guard Isaiah Whitehead had a miserable 4-of-24 shooting effort from the field and only two Pirates cracked double figures with Derrick Gordon joining Whitehead with 10 points.
Seton Hall had entered the 2016 NCAA Tournament on a high after defeating Creighton, Xavier and Villanova to win the Big East Tournament.
Kevin Keatts, Kevin Willard share same mentor
The Rick Pitino coaching tree will live on through his incredible amount of assistant coaches who have gone on to become head coaches.
NC State first-year head coach Kevin Keatts and Seton Hall’s eighth-year head coach Kevin Willard both worked for Pitino at various points, but not together. However, Keatts worked with Willard’s father, former college head coach Ralph Willard, in 2011 at Louisville.
Keatts had just been hired at Louisville after his successful prep coaching career at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy. Ralph Willard was winding down his coaching career and went from serving as a full-time assistant coach at Louisville (2009-10) to director of operations in 2010-11. Ralph Willard had been a head coach at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Holy Cross, reaching the NCAA Tournament six times and the NIT on three more occasions. He also was an assistant coach to Pitino with the New York Knicks, Kentucky and Louisville.
Kevin Willard got his first assistant coaching job with Pitino with the Boston Celtics, and then followed him to Louisville, covering 1997-2007. He became the head coach at Iona and after guiding the Gaels to a 21-10 mark in his third year, was hired at Seton Hall in 2010.
Keatts was an assistant under Pitino from 2011-14, helping the Cardinals win the 2013 NCAA title, which was recently vacated due to NCAA violations. He went on to become the head coach at UNC Wilmington and has now reached the NCAA Tournament the last three years.
Weight loss makes difference for Myles Powell
Seton Hall sophomore guard Myles Powell was ranked No. 105 overall in the class of 2016 because he could really shoot the basketball.
The 6-2 guard can still shoot, but now he’s lost 45 pounds since high school, and that has helped him get mentioned with the seniors.
Powell, who is listed at 195 pounds, was a solid role player last year, averaging 10.7 points per game while shooting 39.2 percent from the field and 33.2 percent on three-pointers. He has improved in every category, plus has 94 assists, which is an increase of 65. Powell has upped his average to 15.4 points and is shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Powell’s three-point field goal percentage was as high as 42.0, but a recent three-game skid where he combined to go 5 of 31 on three-pointers has lowered it. He has reached double figures in all but four games, and has drained four or more three-pointers in 12 contests.
Carrington, Rodriguez and Delgado are all major cogs, but Powell has joined them at the table this season.
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