Pirates ready to pop cork on a fresh start

With his senior class having graduated, Kevin Willard now draws up new life and new situations for a Seton Hall team picked eighth in Big East preseason poll. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK -- "A couple bottles of wine."

That's what Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard said when asked what the Big East bribed him with to get him to volunteer to be fully miked up in an all-access style broadcast of the Pirates' game at Butler on February 2.

Willard is kidding, of course, but it nevertheless is a departure from the norm for a coach who has been cautious at times with things like that in his nine years as head coach; though, to his credit, much less so as time has gone on.

"I've been practicing," the Pirates' skipper quipped. "I do one segment of practice where I pretend like I'm on the all-access. And it's hard, because it's not just what you say to the team -- that's easy -- it's the comments you make to yourself. There's so many times where you say to yourself 'oh, that was a stupid play call.'"

Willard will continue to work out the kinks in that respect, but it's not the only thing that is a difference from past routines, or what had been routines over the last four years. Seton Hall was picked eighth in the Big East preseason coaches' poll at the league's media day on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The reason, without a doubt? The graduation of one of the most storied recruiting classes in program history.

Gone are the Big East's all-time rebounding leader and pillar of strength in the middle in Angel Delgado, defensive whiz Ish Sanogo, bruising wing Desi Rodriguez, and crafty combo guard Khadeen Carrington. They were the nucleus of a squad that went to three straight NCAA Tournaments, won the 2016 Big East Championship, put the program back on the map, and even consistently gave perennial conference favorite and reigning national champion Villanova the hardest time of any Big East opponent.

So, it's natural to see the Hall picked where they are in the initial rankings. But for all those four did on the court, their presence will also be missed within the program and in the locker room.

"That happens to me every day in practice," Willard said of looking around and not seeing his departed seniors on the floor. "I miss their personalities, I miss being around them. (Of course) I'm going to miss them basketball-wise. If I said anything otherwise, I'd be nuts."

"On and off the court, you miss those guys," junior guard Myles Powell added. "Like coach said, they represented the school well, they were funny, they were good leaders on the court. It's hard not to miss (them)."

That's not to say the cupboard is bare -- far from it, actually. Powell, who emerged as a force as a sophomore sniper, is back to lead a fresh group of Pirates, along with veteran forward Mike Nzei and his high motor inside. Powell was named to the preseason All-Big East second team, so the league took notice of last year's success. So have his teammates.

"Just being a leader," Powell said about what has changed for him on this year's iteration of the Pirates. "I was used to going to the seniors and Mike and asking them questions, and now I've got the freshmen and sophomores coming to me. So I'm just trying to take to my role of being a leader and do my best."

"I look to him a lot during practice for motivation because I believe his energy transfers to the rest of the team," Nzei said. "Even when he's not on my team during practice, I love it when he starts going hard, when he brings that energy. You've seen it in a lot of games, everyone else just follows (him)."

With the departure of so many valued minutes from last year, there are big voids to fill in the Hall's lineup. New to the team are Syracuse transfer and spot-up power forward Taurean Thompson, lanky rim protector Romaro Gill (who redshirted last year), and Sacred Heart transfer and combo guard Quincy McKnight. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Myles Cale, both of whom had their moments as freshmen last year, will be called upon in a larger role as well. Willard has added to them three freshmen in point guard Anthony Nelson, wing Jared Rhoden, and big man Darnell Brodie, who have received positive early reviews.

That group contains much skill and athleticism. What they lack at this point, according to their head coach, is the one quality that the departed class had oozing out of every pore: Toughness, though not in the way you may think.

"It's more mental toughness," Willard clarified. "You have guys who haven't played 32 minutes a game. All our guys are physically tough to play. It's a matter of getting them to understand the rigors of mental toughness, of scouting reports and being the guys now. I'm not worried about their physical toughness, it's just a matter of getting them to understand that it's a long season, a tough grind."

Speaking of toughness, the Pirates will be tested big-time by their schedule. Games loom with traditional powers Louisville (at home), Kentucky (on a neutral floor) and Maryland (on the road), along with a Gavitt Games road test at Nebraska and a home date with a possibly-sneaky Saint Louis team, all before the new year.

In short, one figures they may need to grow some toughness in short order. Come Big East play, everyone is difficult, though the Pirates aren't the only team with voids to fill -- Xavier and Creighton were also picked to take a step back in the preseason poll.

It's also tough to predict where the Pirates will end up with so much of the roster still to show of their skills in blue and white. But this is a team that, if the players take to their new roles quickly, could be making opposing fans, coaches, and players wish for a bottle of vino or two.