Kevin Willard quote book: Bethune-Cookman

On Alexis Yetna:

“I’m still getting used to a lot of the new guys and what they’re doing, and what they can do, and one of the things I’ve got to do with Lex is get him inside more and not space him, and give him the opportunities to be aggressive and get some of his junkyard dog points that he’s always gotten. So I think some of his stats and his rebounding issues have been more the way I’ve used him on offense than him, but it was good to see him be out there and be aggressive.”

On using Kadary Richmond off the bench:

“More than anything, I’m just trying to get Kadary to be a little bit more comfortable as the game goes, and I think the last few games, I think he’s really started to get a little bit more comfortable, get a little bit more rhythm on the offensive end, but that's not going to be the way it is all year long.”

On playing Bryce Aiken and Richmond together:

“Well, guards are all kind of small so we’re kind of matching up small guys with small guys, big guys with big guys, and with Bryce and Kadary, you can kind of have — they had their two point guards out there for about 25 minutes of the game — so we tried to match up with them a little bit, and for us, it was more or less trying to get Kadary and Bryce out there together and see what they can do together.”

On Jahari Long:

“You know what? I’m just trying to bring him along, get him out there to where he doesn’t have to do too much. He’s out there with Jared and either Bryce or Kadary, so I’m just trying to get his legs back under him. He missed almost three months in rehab, so I’m just trying to get him some confidence back and some rhythm back, and get him back into some sort of game shape. That’s kind of what I’m looking for. I thought he played really well in the first half. The second half, I sat him too long, but in the first half, he played well. He’s worked hard to get back. He was working hard in the summer — again, he was one of our better players in the summer before he had a setback — for him to work, that’s why I’m trying to get him out there and just get him back into, just get him some game reps more than anything, because practice is so totally different than a game.”

On goals over next two games:

“I’m still trying to figure out my rotation, Adam. I really am. Like, who I can play together, who complements well, what I can run with each group out there, who to get the ball when. I’m still a work in progress when it comes to that, because we’re literally playing nine to ten guys. More than anything, I’m trying to figure out lineups, plays with lineups, certain defenses with lineups. We’re a long way from being a smooth, cohesive group, that’s for sure.”

On free throw shooting:

“For the most part, everyone that goes to the line is a good free throw shooter, even Ikey. Ikey’s worked hard at it. All these guys are good, even though we’re not shooting the ball good, these guys are good shooters, so when they get up there, they should be making their free throws.”

On Ryan Conway, Brandon Weston and Myles Cale:

“Ryan’s on the path to being a redshirt. B-Wes is still recovering from injury. B-Wes could definitely play when he gets cleared by the doctors. I don’t know when that is, don’t ask. MC’s looking much better. He definitely won’t play Wednesday, but after that, it’ll probably be game-to-game.”

On his halftime message:

“We watch film at halftime. We just make corrections on what we’re doing wrong, so we just kind of watch ten clips of our offense and five clips of their offense at halftime. Sometimes we flip-flop depending on what it is, so more or less, I try to just make corrections. I don’t try to reinvent the wheel at halftime, I just make game adjustments at halftime, so I think that was it. That’s all I really do at halftime. I’m not a yeller, it’s not worth it.”

On marquee non-conference games:

“At 10:30 at night, no. I wish those games were at 8:30 Eastern time, or even 9:00 Eastern time, then I would make it. I wake up at 5:00 every morning, I don’t make it past 10. I think college basketball’s in a great spot. I have watched a lot of college basketball, that’s all I did on Thanksgiving. There’s a lot of good basketball, top to bottom, in every conference. I look at Oakland, I wouldn’t want to play them, they’ve got some transfers — Jamal Cain, they’re really good — then you look at what Coach Pitino’s doing at Iona, beating Alabama, you look at a team like — who’d they lose to? — Belmont, who’s really good, veteran experience, and obviously Duke and Gonzaga. I just think college basketball’s in a good — it’s been exciting — I love the fact that we’ve played a lot of away games in college basketball. I wish we would do more away games, true instead of neutral sites. It’s fun. It’s not fun when their crowds are in it and you’re trying to win a game, but even our Ohio State game, we had 1,500 and 1,500, it was an unbelievable atmosphere. So I think college basketball’s in a great spot.”

Silverio’s career day pushes Hofstra past Detroit

 

Omar Silverio’s 28 points and school record-tying eight 3-pointers were enough for Hofstra to win second straight game Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — There was an offensive explosion in The Mack Sports Complex Saturday afternoon, and the charge was led by a senior coming off the bench for what would be the best performance of his career. 

It was the Omar Silverio show and nothing short of it, as he erupted for a career-high 28 points and eight 3-point field goals, the latter tying a school record, as Hofstra scored a 98-84 victory over Detroit-Mercy for the Pride’s second straight victory and head coach Speedy Claxton’s first over a Division I opponent on his home floor.

By the third media timeout of the opening half, Silverio had already scored 16 points, doubling his regular season average entering the game. When it was all said and done, the senior credited the slow start to his season as a key to his breakout performance.

“The first game (against Houston), I shot 3-for-15, so I said to myself that I have to put more shots up and I have to be efficient,” Silverio said. “I’ve been focusing on my shot and trusting myself.”

Getting contributions like today from players outside of Jalen Ray, Aaron Estrada and Zach Cooks make Hofstra that much more of a threat, and the Pride needs to sustain that scoring depth to give it that extra edge over everybody else. While it was easy going heading into halftime, as Hofstra (3-4) found itself sitting comfortably with a 24 point lead, the trend of momentarily taking its foot off the gas showed its face yet again. 

At the 11:29 mark of the second stanza, Hofstra found its lead cut to single digits as Detroit blitzed Hofstra on a 30-15 run, pulling the visiting Titans within nine points of the Pride. Hofstra had no answer for Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Antoine Davis, who dropped a game-high 39 points and led the near-comeback. But unlike prior games, Hofstra found a way through the storm. 

After a timeout called by Claxton, it was all Pride from that point forward, as Hofstra went on a 22-11 run over the next seven minutes to fire the final dagger to Detroit, extending its lead back up to 20.

In a game with so many points being scored, the defensive aspect will get overlooked, but Hofstra was able to score 32 points on 20 turnovers to the delight of a visibly pleased head coach.

“That’s our backbone, our defense,” Claxton said. “We barely played our offense during practice. I’m not worried about us offensively, and these kids bought in. We have to be a good defensive team if we want to win a championship. We’re getting close.”

“We have to be mature and be able to play with a big lead. That’s the second time we had a big lead at halftime and we let the team come back, so once we clean that up I think we’ll be in a good place.”

Monmouth’s maturation, motivation has positioned Hawks as prime threat in MAAC

Two points away from a 5-0 start, Monmouth has inside track toward emerging as Iona’s biggest competition in MAAC. (Photo by Monmouth University Athletics)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — After Rick Pitino led Iona to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in last year’s abbreviated season and having a full offseason to tailor his roster into one of his more typical outfits, it came as no surprise to see the Gaels recognized as the unanimous preseason MAAC favorite, with visions of NCAA Tournament grandeur from the fan base in New Rochelle accompanying the opinions of the pundits.

And with five wins in as many games, Iona’s hype has proven to be justified through the first fortnight of the young season, but those who predicted a coronation before the ball was even tipped for the first time may want to look closely at one of the Gaels’ main rivals over the past several campaigns.

Just two points shy of a 5-0 start of its own, Monmouth — off to its best beginning to a season since 1990 — has gained steam and ridden an experienced core fused with the arrival of graduate transfers Walker Miller and Shavar Reynolds to a wave of momentum that began last March when the Hawks earned a share of the MAAC’s regular season crown. Despite the tangible success, Monmouth was still picked a surprising fourth in October’s preseason poll, which begs the question:

Is there something to prove in West Long Branch?

“For sure,” said George Papas, the senior guard who carried a preseason first team all-MAAC recognition into his fifth year. “I’ve just been working my tail off. When the preseason stuff came out, I was just in shock. I expect that from myself, but there’s a lot of stuff on social media talking about, ‘what the heck is Papas doing up there?’ I’m simply just going to show them why I was picked. It’s pretty simple.”

Rebounding off their only loss, an opening night heartbreaker on the road in Charlotte, the Hawks have since authored authoritative victories over Towson, Lehigh, Saint Joseph’s and Princeton, the latter coming in a defensive clampdown in which Monmouth allowed just one field goal over the final eight-plus minutes of regulation to further illustrate the incremental progress being made both during and between games.

“I think we’ve been building each day,” Reynolds revealed. “You can see each game that we’re weathering adversity. That’s what championship teams are made of. We don’t change. We stay even-keeled, we stay steady and we just keep going.”

“That’s how championship teams are made. You can’t argue or bicker, you can’t get down, you just have to keep going because in that adversity, that’s when you find out what your team is made of. So I think we’ve been doing very good in that aspect.”

With the most experience in the program since the days of Justin Robinson, Josh James and Je’lon Hornbeak among others, Monmouth has the added luxury of allowing its elder statesmen to simply do what they do, a key attribute for a veteran group that has been on the doorstep and may not need to be coached up as hard as a younger roster still finding its way.

“These guys are grown-ups,” head coach King Rice reiterated. “When you have older guys, I’m not going to be yelling at them and telling them. I’m drawing up stuff and asking them, ‘if you don’t like it, guys, tell me and we’ll come up with some new stuff.’ Because they’re grown-ups, they’ve seen every situation and I’d be a fool not to lean on them. They’re running the locker room, they’re running stuff, I get to step back and help them when they need it.”

“This has been great so far, and they’re leading the young guys. We don’t have a lot of bickering, we don’t have bad stuff in our locker room like we’ve had the last couple years. It’s clean, everybody’s pulling in one direction, and I think you can see that on the floor.”

Shavar Reynolds relishing his final collegiate chapter as Monmouth’s leader

With his confidence restored and his conscience clear, Shavar Reynolds is embracing change of pace in his graduate season at Monmouth. (Photo by Monmouth University Athletics)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — The story of Shavar Reynolds and his rise from Big East walk-on to indispensable part of Kevin Willard’s program the past several years at Seton Hall has been told so many times to a point where nearly every New Jersey basketball fan has committed it to memory. But what has remained unwritten in some circles is how the modern-day college basketball rags-to-riches saga has been allowed to close as Reynolds, now a graduate transfer at Monmouth, is unwinding his career on his terms in perhaps the most prosperous environment the Manchester Township native has been exposed to and permitted to infiltrate.

Reynolds’ impact is still felt almost instantaneously, just as it was less than an hour to the north when he served as a wing man to the likes of Myles Powell, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jared Rhoden and Myles Cale at Seton Hall, helping quarterback the Pirates to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. However, the starting point guard role that has come with the ability to play looser and more freely at Monmouth has given him free rein to impart his wisdom and lead by example at the same time.

“It’s been lovely,” Reynolds said of his experience to date with the Hawks, fresh off a 76-64 victory over in-state rival Princeton Wednesday night. “It’s a totally different experience. It’s more personal because I just get to play. I don’t want to get too in depth, but I just get to play basketball again and enjoy it, have fun again.”

“I just love the group. Everybody wants to get better. There’s no egos, no selfishness, I just enjoy it again. There’s no pressure, I don’t have to look over my shoulder, I just have fun. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, because I think in all this, you can really lose that because you’re trying to pursue a dream for so long that you lose it. Go out there and just play, enjoy the game, because you’ve been doing this your whole life.”

Reynolds’ eyes lit up when he spoke of the freedom he has to play his game and not worry about doing too much, a byproduct of his relationship with head coach King Rice, a former point guard in his own right who has learned — like most others — that his newest player’s intangibles are truly impossible to quantify in finite values.

“It’s everything,” Rice said of Reynolds and the effect his leadership has provided to the Hawks as a whole. “And I’ve told this story, when we first talked on the phone, we FaceTimed, and I did the calling on him. Usually, the other guys do, but I called him, he answered, we were looking at each other, I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s happening?’ And his first thing was, “Coach, I want to lead the country in assists. I said, ‘Okay, what else?’ Because I’m waiting for him to tell me he needs the ball in his hands, he needs this many shots because that’s what every super senior does, especially coming down a little bit. And then he goes, ‘Coach, I just need someone to really believe in me as a coach.”

“And now, I started thinking someone put him up to this. That’s who I am. I’m going to make you believe in yourself on the basketball court, and when you show me you can do it, I’m going to let you rock and you’re going to know I’m behind you and I got your back. Then he asked me about Sam Chaput and Myles Ruth, and he was like, ‘how are they gonna feel with me coming in as an older dude?’ And right then, I knew I needed this guy on my team because of those qualities, and he’s been ten times better than all the things that he said.”

Monmouth stifles Princeton, drives away to convincing Thanksgiving Eve win

Walker Miller blocks a layup attempt by Princeton's Jaelin Llewellyn as Monmouth locked down Tigers in second half Wednesday. (Photo by Monmouth University Athletics)

By Jaden Daly (@DalyDoseOfHoops)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — With two of its top six players under the weather and a third medically compromised enough to have to come off the bench, Monmouth played a shorter rotation than normal Wednesday night.

The lack of depth was merely a footnote to a second half that flipped the script in more ways than one.

Trailing by as many as 14 points against Princeton in the first half, Monmouth turned the battle of New Jersey mid-majors on its head after halftime, conceding just one field goal in the final 8:39 of regulation and allowing a meager 18 second-half markers to the visiting Tigers, using its defense to create offense while pulling away to a decisive 76-64 victory — the Hawks’ fourth straight after a two-point loss to Charlotte in their season opener — at the OceanFirst Bank Center.

“I thought our defense ramped up in the second half,” head coach King Rice remarked as Monmouth (4-1) limited a Princeton team with high-major victories against Oregon State and South Carolina on its ledger to just 24 percent shooting over the game’s final 20 minutes. “They were just working us and we talked about it, because we were half a step slow on everything, and then our defense of talking to each other — communication — was so good in the second half, I think that got into their legs and they were a little bit tired, and we were able to get away from them.”

With Nikkei Rutty (flu) and Myles Ruth (pinkeye) unavailable, the Hawks found themselves victimized by Princeton’s trademark backdoor cuts and precise, timely 3-point shooting in the opening stanza, qualities that manifested themselves most notably in the latter stages of the first half, when the Tigers ripped off a 13-2 run to open up their largest advantage of the game, at 44-30. But Monmouth — paced by Shavar Reynolds after the senior’s own flu-like symptoms were controlled enough for him to enter the game — unleashed a 9-2 spurt before the end of the half, cutting its deficit in half to a more manageable seven points entering the locker room.

“In the first half, we were a little lax,” Reynolds admitted. “We weren’t as aggressive as we usually were. In the second half, we made more of an effort to pick up 94 feet, try to push them out more, don’t let them be so comfortable. Before we were switching, we were giving them more lanes, spreading them out and just leaving Walker (Miller) on an island, so we just tightened up a little more and then we contested shots a little more.”

Reynolds not only spearheaded the defensive rally, he also led the offensive charge with his patented clutch shot prowess. The Seton Hall transfer buried a 3-pointer almost six minutes removed from the intermission to tie the score at 55 apiece, and after the Tigers and Hawks traded baskets, drained back-to-back triples to fuel a 21-5 outburst that gave Monmouth a lead it would never relinquish.

“I was just shooting it,” Reynolds casually said. “My teammates believed in me, they just kept looking for me. That’s another test to Coach Rice. You don’t have to worry with him, you don’t have to second-guess your shot, you could just play. As long as you give him that same effort defensively, he’ll let you just play your game. Coach Rice allowed me to be myself.”

Monmouth embarks upon a five-game road trip beginning Saturday against Cincinnati, but does so with renewed momentum, optimism, and overall positive energy after making perhaps its most resonant statement two weeks into the young season.

“The fact that we rallied and beat them as much as we did, that just shows how good our team is and how together we are,” said George Papas. “This is, for sure, among the top three happiest moments I’ve ever felt after a win. It was just a battle and I’m so happy with our guys.”

Rutgers left to reflect and reassess after colossal upset loss to Lafayette

Cliff Omoruyi was one of few bright spots for Rutgers Monday as Scarlet Knights suffered unexpected upset loss to Lafayette. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers had been living dangerously in each of its first four games, needing overtime to survive Lehigh in the season opener, then shaking off slow starts against Merrimack and NJIT before being outdueled late on the road at DePaul.

Monday night proved more of the same.

Unable to shake Lafayette, an 0-4 team ranked 315th of 358 in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and one who suffered losses of 28 points or more in all but one of its contests — including trips to Syracuse and Duke — on the young season, the Scarlet Knights were life and death to put the pesky Leopards away, not getting breathing room until Ron Harper, Jr. stripped a cutting Neal Quinn and then converted Paul Mulcahy’s dish for a straightaway 3-pointer to give Rutgers the lead inside the final minute.

But as the old adage states, play with fire long enough and you will get burned.

Lafayette proved the time-tested axiom right when Kyle Jenkins confidently shot an early dagger into a season rife with high hopes, the expectation that the Scarlet Knights would add to their renaissance of the past two seasons, by draining a three with two seconds to play. A desperation heave by Mulcahy caromed off the backboard, and there was Rutgers, left to pick itself up off the ground following a shocking 53-51 defeat, perhaps one of the more glaring losses under Steve Pikiell’s six-year watch on the banks.

“Disappointing,” was all Pikiell could say in the aftermath of a night where Rutgers (3-2) shot just 29 percent from the field and connected on only four of its 26 3-point field goals. “But I’m going to give Lafayette credit. When they needed to make a big play down the stretch, they made the big shot. The last two games have come down to a couple of stops, and we weren’t able to get it. We obviously have to play much better, we have to figure out a way to keep improving, but you certainly can’t shoot that percentage from three when you’re getting open looks.”

“We’ve just gotta play better, more energy. And it’s on me. It’s on me as the coach, I’m fully aware of that and I stand by (that) I like this team a lot. I really do.”

His point guard, who shouldered more responsibility in the wake of Geo Baker being forced off the court by a hamstring injury and Harper fighting back issues, affirmed the optimism.

“I’m not happy, but I’m not worried,” Mulcahy reiterated. “We have a really good team and we’ve shown a lot of flashes of that, so I’m not satisfied (with) where we are, but I’m not worried. We’re gonna figure it out. I’m trying my best with my leadership and I’m working on that to help us, but we’re gonna figure it out.”

“I don’t know who’s shooting well right now. Coach says sometimes that affects our entire game, but all of us work our tails off. Everybody’s always in the gym, so we all kind of still trust each other and believe in each other, so it doesn’t really matter right now. They’re gonna fall.”

Glossing over what could be a major issue can only last so long, however. Rutgers’ next contest comes Saturday at UMass, followed by a rematch of its first-round NCAA victory over Clemson a week from Tuesday at the building formerly known as the RAC. And not only is Rutgers struggling offensively, but the rebounding aspect of this year’s roster that Pikiell highlighted and praised so effusively in the preseason was demolished to the tune of a 45-32 Lafayette domination on the glass.

“We kind of addressed it, and I thought we did a good job on the backboards against a really good rebounding team (DePaul),” Pikiell reflected. “I thought we were kind of headed in that area, but I really was disappointed. I thought we could have had 18 offensive rebounds today, but we just didn’t have it when we needed it. We need to bring it on that end of the floor, we need to rebound better, and we will.”

Mulcahy was even more succinct.

“We need to do a better job coming out and punching teams in their mouth,” he admitted. “We’re gonna get there. This isn’t real adversity, it’s just basketball. We lost two games early that everyone expected us to win, but it’s (about) how we collect ourselves and bounce back.”

“I think we’re a lot better than this, obviously,” Pikiell reiterated. “I’d like to be 5-0. That’s where I thought we’d be, but we’re not there and there’s nothing you can do about the past. You can only work on what you need to do to get better in the future. Lafayette ran us around, you’ve got to give them credit. We’ve just got to get them playing a lot better together, and we will. That’s what my job is.”

Hofstra battles, falls short late against Iona

Jalen Ray led Hofstra with 20 points in season debut as Pride suffered narrow loss to Iona. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The third leg of the grueling nationwide tour that is the Hofstra non- conference schedule took place Tuesday, as the Pride fell short to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason favorite Iona by the final of 82-74, bringing its record to 1-2.

Hofstra started the game a step behind Iona, as the Gaels quickly jumped to a 12-2 lead by the first media timeout of the game. Despite the slow beginning, the Pride maintained composure and did not fold, cutting Iona’s lead to six by halftime. Nelly Junior Joseph was not much of a factor in the first half for Iona, only playing six minutes due to foul trouble, but Tyson Jolly picked up the slack, scoring 11 of his game-high 21 points before the break. Aaron Estrada led the Pride with eight points in the opening stanza.

This game also saw the season debut of senior guard Jalen Ray, who had a quiet 6 points in the first half as he returned from a sprained ankle, but was sure to make his presence felt after the intermission. Ray was the focal point of the Pride offense, as he had a team high 20 points, 14 of which coming in the second half, and shot 6-of-8 overall from behind the arc.

The inside size of Iona was definitely felt by Hofstra, who struggled to score in the paint. Iona’s 10 blocked shots had the Hynes Athletics Center crowd on its feet every time Hofstra attacked the zone. Hofstra's shooting kept the Pride in the game, as Hofstra was within two points at the under-8 timeout in the second half and tied the score twice after that, but could not manage to ever take the lead. Heading into the final media timeout of the game, The Pride had back-to-back turnovers, which essentially sealed the game as Iona would close the game out. Head coach Speedy Claxton made it a point that the Pride's slow start to the game was the biggest detriment to the Pride Tuesday night. 

“We kind of spotted them a pretty good lead to start the game,” he conceded. “That was pretty much hard to overcome. We didn’t come to play from the start. I think we eventually picked it up, but that deficit was hard to come back from.”

Claxton’s counterpart, Rick Pitino, said this was his favorite win so far of this young season, praising Hofstra in the process. 

“That’s not a usual Hofstra team,” Pitino said. “That is a good Hofstra team, and I’d be very surprised if they don’t win 22 or 23 games.”

The acid test will not get any easier for Hofstra, who heads to Maryland Friday for a matchup with the 20th-ranked Terrapins, but this team showed it can hang with anyone so far. Now, it becomes a matter of closing out games, and Claxton insists the Pride is in good shape by and large.

“We’ve got a good team,” he said, reassuringly. “We definitely have one of the hardest non-conference schedules, but that’s by design. I’m not worried about it. We’re going to peak at the right time. It’s still early in the year, I’m not worried about these guys. I know I have a good group, and we’re new. There’s a lot of new faces in that locker room, and it’s going to take time to build that team chemistry.”

“This was J-Ray’s first game. We’ve gotta get in sync with him now. We kind of had it going, but now we’ve got to incorporate J-Ray into that mix and we’ve got to start all over, but we’ll be fine. We will be fine, mark my words. We’ll be fine. This is going to make us better when it’s all said and done, I promise you that.”

Elijah Joiner rediscovers his love for basketball as his new coach falls for simple charm of Iona

Elijah Joiner has put his past behind him, soaring to new heights and uplifting himself and his teammates at Iona. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — In one corner stands a four-year player, broken in some ways, humbled in others. He, like so many others both in and out of his chosen profession, has fought battles within himself to remain where he is, scarred but still standing.

In another corner stands a legend of the coaching ranks, the only man in history to win national championships at multiple schools. Ostracized and cast aside after scandals left his reputation sullied and turned an immortal into a pariah, he was tossed a life preserver to once again do what he loves and end his storied career his way, on his terms.

Both player and coach crossed paths in the spring, uniting to go to war together. Bound by a common desire, their connection was forged by a rekindling of what attracted them to the same walk of life.

Elijah Joiner came to Iona from Chicago by way of the University of Tulsa, and at an emotional crossroads having grown up without his father around to watch him develop from boy to man, as Broderick Joiner was stationed in Iraq during a tour of duty in the United States Army. The two reunited when the elder Joiner returned stateside, and shared a memorable moment in 2020, when Elijah’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer helped Tulsa defeat Wichita State.

“When you’re in college, it’s a lot of mental health that goes along with things, and I’m a big believer in mental health,” Elijah said of his life experiences and the brightened outlook he has had since signing with Iona, where he runs the Gaels’ offense as the point guard and primary ball handler. “A lot of people don’t understand it from the outside looking in, so sometimes that can be something that can hold you back from something that you love, and it kind of held me back from basketball.”

“Being able to come to New York, which is a new place, meeting new people, having new teammates and just being comfortable having my own mental health right is making me fall in love with the game again, and I’m just happy that I’m able to do that. When you’re comfortable within yourself, you’re going to be comfortable doing anything that you do. I’m comfortable with my mental health and everything that I’ve been through in my life, so now I’m at the point where I’m just having fun. I’ve got a smile on my face at all times, my teammates are making me laugh, so I’m just enjoying myself out there.”

Playing point guard carries with it a grueling set of demands, which only intensify at a place like Iona under a Hall of Fame coach in Rick Pitino. That does not matter to Joiner, who is not only unfazed by the specter of being the extension of a coach with six decades worth of experience, but buoyed by effusive and overflowing confidence that has enabled him to thrive in his current situation.

“I feel like I gotta make a lot of decisions,” Joiner said of the marriage between his game and Iona’s style. “That’s a situation that I’m comfortable in. This is my fifth year and I’m a grad transfer, and Coach Pitino trusts me with the ball. Having the trust from a guy like that is only going to give you confidence, so whenever I’m out there, I’m comfortable having it.”

Rick Pitino looks on as Iona battles Hofstra. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Rick Pitino, much like Elijah Joiner, fought through his own adversity after his acrimonious departure from the University of Louisville in 2017.

What some may consider a penance, Pitino simply calls another way to share his vast basketball knowledge and passion for the game, that being his Euroleague stint with Greek club Panathinaikos, where he coached before being lured back to the college game by Iona athletic director Matt Glovaski to replace the ailing Tim Cluess, who had to abdicate his title as head coach due to health reasons.

It took only four months for the Hall of Famer to make an impact in his new line of work, authoring perhaps one of his more impressive turnarounds by taking an Iona team limited to just 12 regular-season games by virtue of four separate COVID-19-related shutdowns — one of which was a program-record 51 days — to an improbable Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship and subsequent automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. But while a younger Pitino may have consumed himself more with the accolades, the current version of the longtime coach has grown to enjoy simply being around his players, finding mere joy in the little things that make the game great for people of all ages.

“This is the best attitude team,” Pitino gushed after Iona defeated Hofstra in the third game of its season. “I took Quinn (Slazinski) out of the game after he made a great move, and he was the best cheerleader on the bench. He was up like the biggest cheerleader on the court, so for me, it’s a great treat coaching these guys.”

“They’re such great people and they pull for each other so much that they all look up to Elijah. He’s the leader. Dylan (van Eyck) is a leader, we’ve got great leadership out there. My whole postgame speech was how lucky I am as a coach, after 40-some-odd years, to coach you guys because of your attitude. You don’t see this today in most kids, and then Quinn did this: After I told them how proud of them I was, he said, ‘Guys, you see the stat sheet?’ And he ripped it in half. We don’t care about that. We care about winning.”

Winning off the court carries as much value to Pitino as his team’s victories on the hardwood, and his presence in the locker room and as an influence for better or worse has helped him view every place he has been as a triumph of sorts, his coda to an historic tenure included.

“The one thing I’ve done throughout my lifetime is I consider every job between the lines a great job. I thought Panathinaikos in Greece was a great job. People would ask me, ‘Why do you think it’s a great job?’ I said, ‘that’s where I’m at.’ And I consider this an awesome job, because that’s where I’m at. I tell recruits all the time, you don’t have to worry about me leaving. I’m here because I’m from New York, and I wanted to end my career in New York. It just so happens that it’s Iona College, and I'm very lucky to have this job.”

Iona fends off Hofstra, caps off undefeated homestand

Tyson Jolly was catalyst in game-clinching run Tuesday as Iona defeated Hofstra to improve to 3-0. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Tyson Jolly summed it up best following Iona’s season-opening victory over Appalachian State, insisting that every night, you can get something different from the graduate transfer and his Gaels.

Last week, it was stifling defense in the opener, then offensive firepower that guided Iona past Harvard last Saturday. And in Tuesday’s finale of a three-game homestand inside the Hynes Athletics Center, it was veteran fortitude and experience that brought the Gaels to the finish line ahead of Hofstra, whose valiant effort fell short in an 82-74 Iona triumph.

“It feels amazing,” Jolly said after his latest game-changing heroics included a 3-pointer that started a 13-4 run after Hofstra had tied the score at 62 with 7:21 remaining in regulation, and a dunk that punctuated the spurt for the last of his game-high 21 points. “That’s what I wanted to be, and I feel like now, my teammates have the confidence in me to be that. Elijah (Joiner) was saying, ‘give Tyson the ball.’ He kept making sure he was getting it to me, so I feel like it’s great, especially for my teammates and coaches, to trust me with the ball late in the game. It’s a special feeling.”

Iona (3-0) never trailed against a Hofstra team that battled Houston to the wire and then won at Duquesne to give Speedy Claxton his first victory at the helm of his alma mater, opening a 14-2 lead as the Pride struggled to both hit shots in the initial minutes and handle Rick Pitino’s patented press, which rendered leading scorer Zach Cooks into an uncharacteristic 4-for-17 shooting night.

“We wanted to wear out Cooks,” Pitino emphatically declared. “It’s been a long time since I pressed the whole game, and all we wanted to do was just wear him out so he wouldn’t be able to have his legs shooting. I’ve done that to every great point guard I’ve gone against in 40-plus years, and I think Berrick (JeanLouis) did a fabulous job on him today. Fabulous job.”

Hofstra (1-2) did manage to crawl out of its deficit, settling into a rhythm late in the first half behind the timely shooting of Jalen Ray, who led the Pride with 20 points in his season debut after missing both of the season’s first two games due to a sprained ankle. Darlinstone Dubar added 14 points, while Cooks and Aaron Estrada each tallied 11. For Iona, Nelly Junior Joseph posted 12 points amid foul trouble, with 11 from Dylan van Eyck and 10 from Quinn Slazinski, while Elijah Joiner (9 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) came one point and two helpers shy of what would have been just the fourth triple-double in program history.

Iona now heads to Orlando, where its next five games will come in the MAAC-Atlantic Sun Challenge against Liberty and North Alabama before joining a star-studded field in the ESPN Events Invitational, and will do so having learned a valuable lesson in proving its mettle regardless of the opponent or situation.

“I just told them, ‘Don't scoreboard watch, don’t want the game to run out. Win the game,’” Pitino advised. “The win is there for you, but if you look at the clock and want it to run out, they’ll come back and you’ll lose. And they did a great job with that.”

Seton Hall, St. John’s both on parallel upswings entering stiff road tests in Gavitt Games

Jared Rhoden made his return Sunday for Seton Hall, anchoring hungry and committed Pirates heading into Michigan Tuesday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Two games into the season, Villanova may still be the class of the Big East Conference, but the Wildcats’ chief competition may very well come from either side of the Hudson River.

Seton Hall has turned heads as the Pirates welcome an influx of depth while replacing Sandro Mamukelashvili, with promising early returns in decisive victories over FDU and Yale that saw Kevin Willard’s team allow just 93 total points in its showcase as an aggressive defensive unit heading into Tuesday's pivotal battle with fourth-ranked Michigan in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.

“I just think that this team is really locked in defensively,” senior forward Jared Rhoden assessed after Seton Hall’s 80-44 lockdown of Yale Sunday afternoon. “We’re all connected and we’re all individually good defenders, and when we all come together and defend and communicate together, I think we’re unstoppable in that way.”

“One thing I did realize when we were in the locker room was nobody was too high, and I think that’s big. We expected to win (Sunday) and we expected to win by a lot, so I think that’s a testament to how good we are, and the way we practice and play is going to translate. It’s easy for us.”

The defense has come naturally for the Pirates, but the clash with the Wolverines in Ann Arbor will be instrumental in how Seton Hall deals with 7-foot-1 All-American candidate Hunter Dickinson, against whom Willard stressed defense would need to be a team effort. Nonetheless, momentum and a positive mindset are traveling from the Garden State in a long-awaited rematch of the 1989 national championship game, whose bitter ending remains a sensitive subject in and around South Orange.

“The vibe’s pretty great right now,” Alexis Yetna intimated. “We feel confident about our team and where we’re at right now. We play great together, great chemistry, so we really feel like we have great momentum leading to Michigan.”

Rhoden reiterated the step up in class, but also declared that the standard had been set in light of a fifth-place preseason ranking that he and his teammates have regarded to be a slight against Seton Hall’s potential.

“It’s a big test for us,” he echoed. “For us to come out and put on the show that we did (Sunday), I think it shows a lot about who we are and how good this team is going to be. We’re just out here trying to make statements to everybody, that we’re not nobody to play around with. We’re dogs, and we’re going to play.”

Julian Champagnie leads St. John’s into battle against Mike Woodson and Indiana Wednesday. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John’s University Athletics)

Also 2-0 in its own right, St. John’s has made an early name for itself on the offensive end of the basketball, averaging 105 points in a pair of wins against Mississippi Valley State and Saint Peter’s. But for all the firepower the Red Storm possesses in the scoring prowess of Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander, it is the collective performance at the other end of the floor — much like Seton Hall — that has been the more profound takeaway through the young season’s opening week, which leads into a meeting with Indiana in Bloomington Wednesday night.

“I think our energy on defense has really been a standout,” Champagnie said following Saturday’s 91-70 rout of Saint Peter’s. “I feel like we can score the basketball, I don’t think that’s a question, but our defense is what’s stood out to me so far. Everybody’s locked in on defense, even though we have some breakdowns. The defensive intensity has been top of the line.”

“We want to come out and fight. It just shows that we’re getting along together, becoming a real team. We still have some things to work out, but we’re getting there.”

The work-in-progress mentality in Queens has been heightened after eight players arrived either through the transfer portal or Mike Anderson’s incoming freshman class, learning the ropes from Champagnie, Alexander and sophomore guard Dylan Addae-Wusu while carving out their own niche in the Red Storm’s uptempo attack that still, at least in the purview of its architect, is far from a finished product, but in line with his ultimate vision.

“We’ve got to continue to get better,” said Anderson. “That’s the biggest key. We’ve got to get better in a lot of departments. With the depth that we have, we should be able to plug guys in and keep the momentum going. I think they’re buying into what we’re trying to do. They’re very unselfish individuals.”

“We’ve been together since June, so we’ve had time to mesh, learn our weaknesses, our strengths,” Joel Soriano, the Fordham transfer and former Stepinac star, added. “When we work, we work hard, every day. I feel like the amount of work we put in, it shows. The harder we work, the harder we’re going to play, and Coach emphasizes that.”

What sets the two local rivals apart is the manner in which each goes about its business. Seton Hall’s modus operandi is clearer, a defensive boa constrictor of sorts out to suffocate its opposition, whereas the multifaceted St. John’s roster does not have a defined identity, says Champagnie, who dismissed any comparisons to the teams of his first two years on the corner of Union and Utopia.

“I feel like the way we’ve played the past two years, considering it was a different team each year, I think we did the best we could,” he assessed. “Honestly this year, we’re just looking to improve as a new team and find our identity. We don’t have one from last year.”

“Obviously, Coach speaks on wanting to be a defensive team, a gritty team, a New York team. That’s going to be our main identity, but we have to find ourselves as players within our team. I just see a team that wants to come out and win. We want to do what we do and be the best version of ourselves that day. Every day, we want to come out and execute like our life’s depending on it. We’re going to run through brick walls for our fans, and we’re also going to run through brick walls for our teammates and our coaches.”

Kevin Willard quote book: Yale

On Seton Hall’s defense:

“That’s kind of been our real thought process for the first two games, to really take FDU and Yale out of the 3-point line, and so we were really aggressive. And again, you can be aggressive when you have a big guy down low like Ike, so what I was really happy with today was both these games, we really stressed on letting guys get going, their best players, and I thought Myles Cale came out and was terrific. And then again, when you have Ikey down below, it’s a nice thing that you can be aggressive — switch and be aggressive — if you get beat, you still have to deal with him.”

On defensive improvement due to depth:

“Where it really is a big difference is with our big guys. (Isaiah) Kelly and (Jalen) Gabbidon, who I love — I think Gabbidon’s a phenomenal player — I looked at them at the 9-minute mark and they were shot. You come out and you start with Lex and Ikey, who are both, big physical guys, and then Tray and Tyrese come in, they’re still both pretty big guys and it gives us a chance to wear down — it starts hurting pick-and-roll coverage for them defensively. I think those guys have really been key so far, and I think for them — everybody wants to play 40 minutes — come January, they’re not going to be as beat down and worn down because of the fact that they don’t have to play so many minutes.”

On Seton Hall’s depth and differences in coaching it:

“This is kind of how I envisioned this team, especially when Myles Cale came back and Bryce came back. You’re going to get the same amount of possessions and shots, it’s just the fact that there’s not so much pressure on anyone on the court at any time, and I think that’s the biggest difference with this team than probably all my teams besides Isaiah, Khadeen, Angel and Desi, is no one has to stress about playing great every night. They all know that ‘hey, if it’s not my night, someone’s there to pick me up,’ and that’s a really nice thing for a player to have. Every time you go into the game, you don’t have to stress about ‘I need to play great for us to win.’”

On Seton Hall’s rotation:

“It’s going to be a work in progress until December, I’m sure. But I like the fact that — I’d like to see Bryce and Kadary on the court a little bit more, just to give a two-guard look at different times, I’d like to see Jamir out there with Bryce a little bit more just to kind of, again, two-guard look, different looks, two guys shooting, open up the court. As of right now, I think it’s progressing the way I want to.”

On Kadary Richmond:

“Yeah, Kadary’s been phenomenal. His attitude is off the charts, he’s working really hard to get in better shape, and as he gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands, you’re going to see more and more nights where, nine assists to turnovers. He’s progressing that way, he’s that talented, and he’s working really hard to just understand what I want from him offensively and defensively.”

On frontcourt play Tuesday at Michigan:

“I don’t know if you can just ask those guys to play well. You have to play well really team defensively against a guy like (Hunter) Dickinson because they do a phenomenal job of short-rolling him where they set a pick-and-roll, they space out two guys on the opposite side and they hit him early. If you rotate to him, he’s one of the best passing big men I’ve seen in a while, and he makes the right decision every time. If you don’t roll to him, he’s going to score, so it’s going to have to be a real team effort in how we want to stop him, and obviously stop them.”

On toughness of 48-hour turnaround between Yale and Michigan:

“It is tough. It’s tough from a mental aspect of getting ready — you’re not allowed to do anything tonight, if you could do stuff with the team, it would probably make things a little bit easier — from a mental side, it’s challenging because now you have to kind of figure out what you’re going to do on a scouting report. So for them, UMass doesn’t have enough size, I think unfortunately for Yale, our size really wore them down. For us, it’s going to be more of a mental, quick turnaround.”

On having Jared Rhoden back:

“He moved great, he practiced great all week. He was only allowed to play 22 minutes, so I was right where I wanted him to be. He moved great, he looked great. It was important for me to make sure he got a little bit of game action going into Tuesday because if he didn’t play tonight, I wasn’t going to play him Tuesday because I did not want that big of a game to be his first game and maybe re-injure himself, so it was important for me moving forward to get him in there. He’ll be on somewhat of a time restriction (Tuesday), I have to talk to my trainer and see what he wants.”

On the history between Seton Hall and Michigan:

“I was 14 years old, I know the history of this program better than anybody. I play enough golf with P.J. to know how much it stung for the most part, but Michigan’s a great program, we’re a great program. I think it’s going to be a great early preseason game. I loved watching Texas-Gonzaga, I love true college basketball games, not the neutral-site ones, I love the home crowd — I probably won’t be saying that after Tuesday — but I love the fact that early-season college basketball games on campus are being played more now than, I think, any of that time.”

“Jerry, I was 14 years old. Where was I when I was 14? Oh jeez, you want to go play-by-play? Or do you just want to talk about the foul call? I hear play-by-play from P.J. and Raf, and I hear from all our fans just about the foul call. I have watched the game, it was a phenomenal game. I’ve watched it quite a few times, actually, and every time it comes on, I watch it. It was an unbelievably coached game, it was unbelievably played, absolutely. I’m not going to argue that. I just don’t remember where I was when I was 14. I can’t remember my garage code, so I’m not going to remember what I was doing at 14.”

On opportunities against Michigan and Ohio State:

“I think the biggest way I’m looking at this, Adam, is this is going to give me a blueprint for December: What I need to work on, what we need to work on, where we need to improve, what we’re doing well. Chris Beard said it the other night, obviously he didn’t like losing, but it was also great that he understands now what he needs to go work on where he would not have had those opportunities if he didn’t go play the game.”

On preparing Seton Hall for its first road game:

“I think the good thing is we’ve got a bunch of old guys. It’s going to be what, almost two years since we’ve been in a true road game? Butler had 6,000 fans and that kind of shook us. I think it’s great. It’s going to prepare us for the rest of the season. It’s great being back in front of fans at home, I’ve got to shout out our student section, they were phenomenal. Our guys, the first thing they said coming out of the huddle was, ‘if they’re showing up, we gotta show up.’ So they’ve been great. I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere, they’re obviously a terrific basketball team, and it’s a great test.”

On suits vs. casual dress:

“I’ll be honest with you, I think I’m going to flip-flop, depending on my dry cleaners. I don’t fit into a lot of suits I fit into two years ago. I didn’t think I got the COVID 15, but I definitely got the COVID 15. I have like, three suits that fit me right now, so if you see us casual, it’s probably because I didn’t get the suit I’m wearing right now back in time.”

Resilient comeback win defines Manhattan, shows what Jaspers could become

Steve Masiello celebrates with Manhattan students as Jaspers used late-game comeback to defeat Fordham Friday. (Photo by Manhattan College Cheerleading)

NEW YORK — Just as true genius is sometimes misunderstood, true success lies in the intangibles, the qualities that are not always reflected in black and white for the world to see and dissect.

Steve Masiello has let that much be known through his first decade as head coach at Manhattan College, and four days into his eleventh season in Riverdale, continues to highlight the aspects that go beyond the hardwood, reiterating the ethos of leading his team on and off the floor.

“It’s bigger than basketball” has been a common refrain inside the walls of Draddy Gymnasium over the years. And with the most experience returning to the program since Masiello’s teams brought Manhattan back to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2015, the logic is easily justified.

So it was again Friday night as the Jaspers fell behind double digits in their crosstown matchup with Fordham, an annual clash shelved last year due to the pandemic, but reprised for the 113th time. Gradually, Manhattan lifted itself out of its hole, leading for only 34 seconds in a 66-60 victory over the Rams and using a 12-2 run to author a performance indicative of both who this team is and what it can ultimately morph into.

“We kept talking in timeouts about love,” Masiello remarked. “We love each other, we’ll get through this. And to the outside, it looks like we’re probably fighting, but it’s how we communicate with each other. That’s how we communicate every day.”

“Coach tells us we’re grown men, so we get to react,” Jose Perez echoed. “It looked a little hectic in there, like we were arguing, but that’s how we show love.”

Manhattan's final two minutes, starting with a Josh Roberts dunk that pulled the Jaspers within two points of Fordham, seemed as though they came straight out of the catalog of Masiello’s early years, with the Alvarados, Andujars, Beamons and Browns of the world making timely shots and answering with stops on the other end of the floor. A Warren Williams steal led to a game-tying layup by Elijah Buchanan, again fueling a late-game takeover against a team the senior said he “simply don’t like” for the second time in as many years. Yet another big shot from Samir Stewart, whose on-court resemblance to RaShawn Stores becomes increasingly similar with each passing game, and finally, Perez’s game-clinching block of an Antonio Daye layup to ice a character-building triumph Masiello insisted would probably not have happened with last year’s roster.

“We just trust each other,” Perez reiterated. “We’re family, we’re very connected. Coach Mas trusts me, the whole entire staff trusts me, my teammates trust me. I just try to make plays, get them going, then try to get myself going after. It’s more important that they shine instead of myself. I’m usually the low-motor guy. They give me the energy.”

“He’s a dominant player who shares it,” said Masiello of Perez — one of two high-major transfers, Josh Roberts being the other — and the facets of his game that complement the Manhattan style. “He’s a great playmaker, and he hasn’t played in a year and a half. He didn’t play at Marquette or the second half of the year at Gardner-Webb, so there’s some rust on his game. He’s got to stop looking for contact and finish with the basketball, but that’ll come with trust, when he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder, he has nothing to prove. It’s a process with him, but he’s in a good space.”

So too is Manhattan as a whole, regardless of whether or not the ends justify the means when looking inward from the outside. Masiello is unfazed by the confusion that may come up from those not intimately connected with he and his team, in fact, he embraces it in a sense because the unique cohesion in the bonds forged between coach and players brings everything full circle.

“You’re not us, so you’re not going to understand us and that’s okay,” Masiello insisted. “But that’s just our way. This is a special group, whether we won or lost, it’s a great feeling we had. I think we’ve got a chance to be special, but a lot goes into that. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re going to stay with it and just keep moving forward. We respect each other. It’s a two-way street, and when you’ve gotta go through a lot to get to this point, you can’t fast-forward that or fake that. And that’s why we are where we are.”

“They’ve been here four years by my side, through some tough times, never wavered once. We’ve been through a lot that no one knows about. Basketball is easy. We’re grinding on life, so the relationship is bigger and this stuff becomes easy, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot of love.”

Rutgers overcomes jitters, upset-minded Lehigh to escape season opener

Ron Harper, Jr. exults as Rutgers survived Lehigh in season opener, needing overtime to defeat Mountain Hawks. (Photo by On The Banks)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — In a sense, it was almost like starting over.

Back in front of fans at the newly christened Jersey Mike's Arena for the first time in 617 days, Rutgers shook off early jitters and an upset threat from a former Cinderella while teaching itself how to win again, play again, feel whole again.

Taking on Lehigh, known primarily for an upset of Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament behind C.J. McCollum, the Mountain Hawks looked to add Rutgers to their collection of high-major conquests, and seemed primed to do so for 39 minutes before Geo Baker connected on yet another of his patented step-back jumpers to tie the game and send it to overtime. And in that extra session, Baker helped drive the dagger into the opposing heart once more, feeding Cliff Omoruyi for an alley-oop that sealed a 73-70 victory that — despite raising stress levels — proved equal parts cathartic and instructional.

“It was great to be playing in front of people,” Steve Pikiell reflected after coaching Rutgers to a unique NCAA Tournament appearance in last season’s bubble environment. “You don’t know what the environment was last year because you saw it from television, (but) it was not where you want to be. The energy that the crowd brings — keep in mind, we were 18-1 the last time we had this court — to have fans back means a ton. Maybe we were caught up in some of that stuff, but we’ll settle in. It certainly helped us in all phases of today.”

“It’s crazy, because you go from a year without playing in front of fans, and then the next thing you know, you’ve got 8,000 people in front of you,” Ron Harper, Jr. surmised after posting a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double. “But as the game progressed, we learned to feed off the crowd energy again, we learned how to let the crowd push us through tough moments again. That’s something we missed last year and something we’re glad to have back.”

The 8,000 paying customers in the stands were just as glad to have the Scarlet Knights back, too, raising their collective voices when necessary but relegated to stunned silence for most of the night as Lehigh played the part of spoiler and assassin, leaving a lasting impression on Wednesday night’s dance partner.

“Great teams are going to find a million different ways to win,” said Harper. “In my sophomore year on opening night, we beat Bryant by two when their best player missed a three at the end of the game that went in and out. Everybody wrote us off back then and we ended up going 18-1 at the RAC, so this is a game we’ll learn from. It’s an important win and a step forward.”

“These wins are the best type of wins to get early in the season,” Geo Baker echoed. “When you hit adversity, you see what type of team you are. Today, we realized that we can take a punch, we can react the right way. Nobody had their heads down.”

The lunchpail mentality was prevalent across the roster, but perhaps no further than in Cliff Omoruyi. In the sophomore’s first effort at replacing Myles Johnson in the starting lineup, he needed all of nine seconds to score the game’s first basket on a reverse dunk, gaining steam throughout the night and validating the effusive praise his coach heaped on him in the preseason.

“I think we don’t have to have anymore talk about the five spot,” Pikiell quipped after Omoruyi amassed 16 points and nine rebounds. “I think we’re in very good hands. I love this guy, he’s as good a worker as we’ve ever had in the program, and we’re really excited about his development. He’s come a long way, and I think he learned a lot from last year. When you play in this league, you learn some things.”

“I heard all the talk about how we would replace Myles, and I always say I believe in Cliff,” Harper proclaimed. “You guys got to see that tonight. The dude’s a monster, and he’s just getting started.”

Behind every great player is an even greater teammate, and Rutgers’ headlining trio was set up brilliantly by Paul Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell. Between Mulcahy using his size to back down Lehigh defenders and McConnell being the personification of efficiency at both ends of the floor, the pair underscored just how vital their presence is to a team intent on advancing further than last March’s coming-out party.

“They bring such great energy and such great passion to our team,” Harper proudly said. “How many teams do you cover and there’s guys saying they want to be defensive player of the year? Not many. How many times do you go into a room with a bunch of basketball players at the Division I level and you hear somebody say they want to lead the country in assists? It’s just rare, and we’re lucky to have them. They played their hearts out tonight.”

At the end of the day, heart won out, and for Rutgers, the fortitude may not silence some of the question marks, but it certainly goes a long way toward mitigating them in the eyes of its head coach.

“I knew this was going to be a really difficult game,” Pikiell conceded. “I’ve watched them play a lot the last two or three years. I love the fact that we grinded the game out, we kind of figured out a way. We’re going to be a team that continues to get better as the season goes, but I like this group a ton. (There were) a lot of obstacles we hit today, but I thought getting through them was a good thing.”

5 Thoughts: Seton Hall blows out FDU on opening night

 

Tyrese Samuel recorded first career double-double as Seton Hall routed FDU in season opener. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — After 616 days, Daly Dose Of Hoops was back at the Prudential Center for a Seton Hall game, as the Pirates, playing without star winger Jared Rhoden, rode the momentum from a strong last seven minutes of the first half to a blowout 93-49 victory over in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson in Newark.

Here are the 5 thoughts:

- Terrific Tyrese

One game ball goes to Tyrese Samuel. The versatile big man finished with his first career double-double, putting up 19 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots as well as an astounding plus-38 in 27 minutes, all of which led the team. Unlike in the past, he did it both inside and outside, posting up quite a bit against a smaller FDU front line.

Make no mistake, if Samuel can be that consistently effective, the Pirates will be one heck of a tough out this season.

"He's super talented," teammate Bryce Aiken said after the game. "This is only the beginning. We expect him to do that every night."

"He's a junior now," Myles Cale added. "This is the year that you finally come out of your shell, that you're more comfortable. That's what's happening with Tyrese right now. He knows the game better, can pick his spots, and he's a better player."

- Bryce Is Nice

The second game ball goes to Aiken. One of the reasons that the Pirates didn't have the season they planned during the pandemic last season was Aiken being largely unavailable due to injury, forcing Shavar Reynolds to play more than he probably should have.

It was a healthy Aiken that turned things around for the Pirates after a slow start to this one, netting 10 points to lead all scorers in the first half after starting point Kadary Richmond picked up a couple of fouls. Aiken ended up with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point range) before tweaking his ankle in the second half, though by all accounts, the tweak didn't seem major, as he was out on the bench cheering his teammates on later in the game.

"He had a very productive summer," head coach Kevin Willard said. "He was able to work out every day, practice every day. I just think he's in a much better spot mentally about his body than he was last year."

Given his considerable injury history (he's the sixth-oldest player in college basketball because of it), I would expect the coaching staff to be very conscious of his minutes in the early part of the season, but more performances like this one could force their hand. He would be an ideal weapon off the bench if he can stay on the court.

- Jumpin' Jackson

Another player who helped to kick-start the Pirates was Tray Jackson. The Missouri transfer drew rave reviews from the pundits who had watched him on the court prior to opening night, and he contributed four points and five rebounds to the cause in the first half, including a putback slam. He gave the team a shot of adrenaline, playing hard enough that, after a foul in transition denying a breakaway dunk, he lost a shoe in the process.

That continued in the second half when he brought the crowd to its feet with a pair of huge dunks, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds in his Seton Hall debut.

"I always knew that's the way Tray was going to play," Willard said. "The COVID summer really hurt Tray because a) he was sitting out, and b) we didn't think he was playing, so it just didn't work. Tray had a great summer, and that's kind of what we see every day in practice."

- Long And Strong

The Pirates' defense looked pretty darn good tonight. When you look at their starting lineup, Seton Hall went with four players who were 6'6" or taller, and the advantage in length shone through. The Pirates held FDU to just 28 percent shooting on the night, with no one outside of Brandon Rush (19 points) really doing much. 

They tried, but Ike Obiagu (five blocks) and Samuel (four) pretty much took care of anything the Knights tried to do inside, and they contested the perimeter well also, holding the visitors to just 1-of-15 on the night. That is something they struggled to do last year. If they can defend the perimeter well (with Obiagu holding down things inside at 7'2"), they could be very tough to score on.

- You Get A Three! And You Get a Three!

Seton Hall shot the ball very well from the outside tonight as well, with 13 makes in 24 attempts (54 percent) and six different players hitting at least one triple. Jamir Harris led the way with four 3-point makes, which is fitting because boy, is he an impressive shooter. More than once I was impressed with just how picturesque his outside shot is, and how big of a weapon he can be this season for Seton Hall.

But Cale also stuck his outside shots, sinking three of them. Ditto for Aiken, who also connected on the longest three of the night before exiting with a tweaked ankle. It was something Willard lacked last season.

"What I really needed to fix is that we really didn't shoot the ball consistently last year," Willard said. "It was a major issue. And we didn't defend the three point line, we didn't shoot it well, and we didn't defend it well, which gave us a lot of nights where we were in (close) games where maybe if we had shot it better, it wouldn't have turned out that way. Getting Bryce healthy, and getting guys like Jamir and Alexis (Yetna) who can spread the floor and make shots was the biggest thing."

The Pirates will look to build upon their opening night win when they welcome the preseason Ivy League favorites, the Yale Bulldogs, to Newark on Sunday afternoon.