Big East Preview: #13 Seton Hall Pirates

Previewing all 15 teams in the Big East from #15 to #1

By:  Shane McCarthy

After being so close to making the NCAA Tournament last year, will the Pirates be able to overcome key losses to make it back to the big dance for the first time since 2006?

Who’s Back:

Fuquan Edwin –G/ F– Junior – 33.6 Min, 12.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.3 apg

Aaron Cosby –G– Soph – 29.9 Min, 7.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.4 apg

Patrick Auda –F– Junior – 24.0 Min, 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.1 apg

Brandon Mobley –F– Soph – 20.3 Min, 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.1 apg

Haralds Karlis –G– Soph – 16.6 Min, 3.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.6 apg

Aaron Geramipoor –C– Junior – 9.2 Min, 1.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.1 apg

Freddie Wilson –G– Soph – 8.1 Min, 1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.7 apg 

Kevin Johnson –C– Soph – sat out last year

Incoming Recruits:

Tom Maayan  - [Point Guard] – 6 foot 1, 180

Incoming Transfers:

Brian Oliver – [Guard/Forward] – 6 foot 6, 226

Former swingman at Georgia Tech, Oliver transferred to Seton Hall and sat out last year, leaving him two years of eligibility with the Pirates.  He is a scorer, who has been known to light up the stat sheet in a big way from time to time. 

Gene Teague – [Center] – 6 foot 9, 290

Teague also sat out last year after transferring from Southern Illinois and will have two years of eligibility remaining.  He has been credited for contributing to the success of Herb Pope last season as he provided a big athletic body to practice against on a daily basis.  With Pope now gone, the Pirates need him to fill that void, and Coach Willard has high expectations for him.  

Kyle Smyth – [Shooting Guard] – 6 foot 4, 185

A graduate transfer from Iona, Smyth will be eligible immediately to provide guard and scoring depth.

Who’s Out:  Jordan Theodore, Herb Pope

 Outlook:

Seton Hall was likely a win away from the NCAA Tournament last season.  A bad loss at DePaul (86-58 on March 3rd) essentially forced the Pirates to get a quality win in the Big East Tournament.  They beat Providence in the first round, but then lost to the eventual Big East Tournament champions, Louisville, in the second round; landing them in the NIT.

This year the Pirates will try to make that leap without their two most important players from a year ago – Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope – who were both lost to graduation. 

Without any highly touted recruits (only one incoming recruit), the Pirates will have to fill the void with transfers. 

Enter Brian Oliver and Gene Teague, each who sat out last year and will have two years of eligibility remaining. 

Oliver, who can bang it down low or play on the perimeter, can score from any spot on the floor and can very well be the leading scorer on the Pirates come the end of the season. 

Teague is a true center who provides a low-post presence that Seton Hall hasn't had in years.  He could evolve into the focal point in which the offense revolves around. 

And it is not like this team isn't returning any experience from last year. 

Fuquan Edwin returns to provide upperclassmen leadership along with being the most talented player on the Pirates.  Aaron Cosby (whose season may be delayed a few weeks due to a knee injury), Patrick Auda and Brandon Mobley, who all played in more than half the minutes in games they appeared in last season, all return.

The 2012-13 Seton Hall Pirates are probably not the 13^th best team in the Big East this year.  I fully expect that this team can be just as good, if not better, than the next four or five teams I have ranked ahead of them. 

But the problem is – I expect them to struggle for a while trying to find their identity without Theodore and Pope.  And it sounds like Cosby (the heir to the Theodore role) could potentially be out for an extended period of time. 

I hope the Pirates prove me wrong.  And if they do – the jump to the NCAA Tournament is not out of the question.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac