5 Thoughts: Seton Hall’s predictions and expectations at Big East media day

With Myles Powell no longer around, Sandro Mamukelashvili has embraced newfound role as Seton Hall’s leader. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — The scenery was different, yet the content remained the same.

Big East Conference media day, traditionally a Madison Square Garden spectacle, was shifted to a virtual setting Wednesday amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing league officials and teams to operate in a Zoom call. The change in locales did not alter the tone of the proceedings for Seton Hall, however, as the Pirates projected a tenor consistent with the program’s recent Big East results: Somewhat disregarded in the beginning, yet among the best in the room by the final buzzer.

Picked fifth in the Big East preseason poll, Seton Hall is once again strapping the seemingly perennial chip onto its collective shoulder, unleashing a determined confidence and perhaps its most balanced look in the past three years. Head coach Kevin Willard was unfazed by the stage as well, delivering his trademark combination of refreshing candor and dry humor from the comfort of his New Jersey home while playfully roasting media members as only he can.

What became clear throughout the day, as the Pirates prepare to defend the regular season championship they claimed a share of last year, is that this group shows no sign of a dropoff despite graduating Myles Powell five months ago. That continuity is one of several things to take away from today’s festivities as we offer our first set of thoughts for the 2020-21 campaign:

1) COVID, COVID, COVID

While President Donald Trump has grown understandably frustrated with the media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks as he gears up for his re-election bid, there is no denying the indelible mark COVID-19 has left within the college basketball landscape. Such changes to what appeared to be a timeless routine were touched upon early and often by each of the Big East’s 11 coaches, and in great detail for the South Orange residents.

“I think the biggest difference is how I interact with them,” Willard revealed. “I don’t get within six feet of them anymore, none of the coaches do. We don’t have team meetings anymore, everything’s spaced out on the court. But as far as the basketball side, we’ve tried to treat it as normal as possible.”

The normalcy has come in handy as non-conference schedules have been changed more frequently than we change shirts — a brutally honest Willard referred to that process as a “total, total s***show” — and it raised a question from Forbes.com’s Adam Zagoria of perhaps going into a bubble if need be, similar to how three of the four major professional sports have.

“They better have a lot of wine, Adam,” Willard quipped before delving into an introspective take on the positives and negatives of bubble play. “I think it would be a lot more feasible around February, when we get all the other sports and all the other students back on campus. I hope as we move forward and testing becomes more available and quicker, we can use the backlog of tests to keep moving forward without such a huge disruption, but as you get towards February, I think a bubble could definitely be an option.”

2) The Fifth Element

Willard did not reference the Pirates’ standing among the pundits, but the prognostication was not lost on his three seniors, who have been down this road before and are eager to make debtors out of their skeptics.

“I don’t think they really understand the potential and talent we’ve got left,” Sandro Mamukelashvili emphatically declared, taking a swipe at anyone rating the Pirates lower in the wake of losing Powell. “I feel like everybody’s going to step up a lot more. Myles (Cale) is going to step up, we can’t wait to have Bryce (Aiken) playing with us, Jared Rhoden has improved.”

“I feel like all the guys have taken major steps, so I don’t think coaches really understand how much talent we have on this team. We’ve always been underdogs, so I feel like it’s just in our DNA to come out and play with our hearts out and just play hard. I feel like coaches are going to regret this decision, but we’ll see.”

3) Checks and Balances

To expound on Mamu’s point, yes, Seton Hall is losing a once-in-a-generation talent in Powell. But just because the Trenton native is gone, does that mean the Pirates are thinner in terms of impactful pieces to the puzzle? Absolutely not.

“We lost a lot of power in our starting five last year,” Cale admitted, also mentioning the graduations of Romaro Gill and Quincy McKnight in addition to Powell. “But I feel like we didn’t lose anything. We have the right stuff, we’ve got a good point guard that came in (Aiken), Sandro, he’s back, so I’m looking forward to this year and I don’t think it’ll be a surprise.”

“I like my team even though we lost who we lost,” Willard echoed. “Jared Rhoden had a phenomenal summer, I love where Tyrese Samuel is, Shavar Reynolds is playing phenomenal right now, I love Takal Molson, he gives us a layer of toughness and scoring in different ways. I just think we’re so much more balanced.”

4) The Bryce is Right

Seton Hall lost out on Aiken four years ago when the former Patrick School star passed on the chance to play alongside Powell, signing instead at Harvard. Now back in the Garden State as a graduate transfer, Aiken will assume the point guard duties and follow in the footsteps of McKnight, Khadeen Carrington and Isaiah Whitehead, a legacy his new coach sees no issue with him upholding.

“Where I’m excited about Bryce is, for the first time in a long time, he’s a point guard who understands the game at a coaching level,” Willard gushed. “He sees the game and calls plays where I don’t have to do stuff, I don’t have to run the team or call plays. He’s one of those who just has a feel.”

As for replicating Powell’s place on the scoreboard? Aiken is certainly qualified, but the need for him to don Superman’s cape is nonexistent.

“He doesn’t have that pressure on him,” said Willard. “He doesn’t have to go out and score 30. Is he capable of doing it? Absolutely, and that just makes us that much more dangerous. But he doesn’t have that pressure, or I don’t feel like we have that pressure where he has to play like a Myles Powell.”

5) Big Mamu’s House

Mamukelashvili, who tested the NBA Draft waters this summer before returning to Seton Hall for his senior season, is clearly the face of the team despite its massive depth and talent. And by all accounts, the Georgian is already proving himself to be quite acclimated with living in the limelight, the universal dream.

“Just going through the process was a blessing,” Mamu recounted. “Going into it, I didn’t know how many interviews I would have, so I just got nervous. Right now, knowing what teams are really interested and know a lot about me, I just feel like I took the opportunity to kind of showcase what kind of person I am. Coming into this year, I want to be the leader, I want to be the guy my teammates can rely on. This is like a new adventure for me. I’ve never been in the spotlight like this, so I’ve got to stay level-headed.”

“I think the whole NBA Draft process helped him grow up a lot,” Willard reflected. “He got so much positive feedback from so many teams, and I think that helped his confidence. I think he’s really stepped up his personality and his confidence to the point where he’s ready to put us on his shoulders. I’m expecting a really big year from him because I think he wants it, and I think he’s ready for it.”