BIG EAST RECRUITING REPORT: SETON HALL

July 2006



2007-2008 Projected Roster

Seniors: Brian Laing (G/F), Jamar Nutter (G)
Juniors: Paul Gause (G)
Sophomores: Kashif Pratt (G), Eugene Harvey (PG), Larry Davis (SG), Joey Cameron (F), John Garcia (C/F)
Freshmen: Michael Glover (F)


The days of apathetic area recruiting for Seton Hall are over as Louis Orr has been replaced by Bobby Gonzalez. Orr was always a gentleman in his days as Pirate coach and brought SHU to a pair of NCAA Tournaments in his last three seasons at the helm of the Pirate ship, including last year's surprising effort. However, the new Big East brings with it a year round competition to not only succeed on the court during the season, but to succeed and get a leg up on the competition in the off-season on the recruiting trail, something, especially locally in the NYC/NJ area that Louis Orr was, at least in terms of perception, unable, or unwilling, to do. So, out with the Orr and in with the new-age, gym-rat and ultra-aggressive and fast-talking Bobby Gonzalez, the former coach of Manhattan College in the Bronx.


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With neighboring NJ rival Rutgers firing the first shot in upping the ante in recruiting the NYC/NJ-area with the hiring of Fred Hill as an assistant coach, the pressure was on Louis Orr. With no long term commitment from the University, Orr was seemingly hung out to dry from last summer until the time he and Seton Hall parted ways last spring. During that time, he was able to accrue verbal commitments from Malcolm Grant, Orlando Allen and Quincy Owens, however none of them look to be on the SHU radar with Bobby Gonzalez.

Gonzalez hit the ground running last spring garnering commitments from PG Eugene Harvey and G Kashif Pratt from the local area and caught a bit of a break when SG Larry Davis became available after Herb Sendek left North Carolina St and Davis decided to attend school closer to his NYC home and chose the Pirates. In just weeks Gonzalez gave the Pirate faithul the kind of local recruiting hope they craved with those three commitments. Gonzalez also was able to woo Auburn transfer Joey Cameron to the fold. Cameron will sit out the upcoming season and then have three years of eligibility left.

Gonzalez pursuit of local talent has not let up as he has a commitment from 6'6 PF Michael Glover, a NYC native who is attending school at Boys to Men Academy in Chicago. Glover is an undersized forward that plays tough and gives every ounce of energy he can, much like his older brother, former St. John's standout Anthony Glover.

With the commitment from Glover, the Pirates still look to have four scholarships to distribute in the class of 2007. The glaring needs for the SHU roster include frontcourt help and talent on the wing. With just Cameron and John Garcia currently on the roster with any size over 6'6, adding a couple of big men to the mix is priority #1 and #1-A for the SHU staff. Late in the process for the class of 2006 they are still connected with 6'9 NYC big man Mike Davis who must first overcome some academic obstacles. They also continue to try and pursue Tyrone Nash for either 2006 or 2007 to fill a forward spot as well.

In the class of 2007, big men such as Hamidu Rahman, Michael Eric, Brandon Walters and Idris Hilliard have been on their radar and have seen some SHU staff take in some of their action. The Pirates would love to get in the mix for Glover's prep teammate, Mac Koshwal, but that would be a tough race to make up ground on. The list of big men names are almost definitely to grow on the SHU radar as the summer evaluation period comes to a close. At this point, I really do not have a good grasp on any they are in really good shape with. This will be a difficult area to recruit as the competition for big men is always tough.

At the wing position, NYC-native Jamine "Greedy" Peterson is an athletic specimen that SHU has been seen checking out several times. Another target the staff has seemed to aggressively evaluate lately is Rashad Bishop whose strong season last year put him on the high-major radar and his play this summer has only enhanced it. Now, he is taking his game to St. Benedict's where he hopes to nail down the acadmics to pave his road to the Big East. The staff also has shown interest in twins Jerrell and Terrell Williams. The NJ natives have opted for Northfield Mount Hermon School to raise their profiles and are the younger brothers of former SU player DeShaun Williams. Corey Raji is another forward that SHU is in the mix for.

With the final scholarship, SHU will probably look for the best available player willing to commit. With a class ahead of the 2007 group that includes five unique players (Harvey, Davis, Pratt, Cameron and Garcia) it might be hard to be able to recruit over a player since they have a solid group at each position. The Pirates have been mentioned lately by a couple PG's, like Chris Wright and Malik Boothe, and NJ SG Chris Smith also has SHU on his radar as well.


No doubt a lot has changed for Seton Hall on the recruiting trail in the last year. With an experienced and proven NYC recruiter in Bobby Gonzalez with a staff put together to make a big impact in the NYC/NJ area, the excitement on the recruiting trail is back for the Pirate fans. Expect to see many new names coming and going this summer and fall for the Pirates as they look to solidify a roster that has, at least, four more openings.