BIG EAST ROSTER UPDATE: SETON HALL

Transfer Alert: Keon Lawrence, G from Missouri


2008-2009 Projected Roster

Seniors: Paul Gause (G), Austin Okosun (C)
Juniors: Eugene Harvey (PG), John Garcia (C), Keon Lawrence (G)*
Sophomores: Jeremy Hazell (G/F), Brandon Walters (BF/C), Mike Davis (PF/C), Robert Mitchell (G/F), Jamel Jackson (G)
Freshmen: Jordan Theodore (PG), Melvyn Oliver (C)

*will sit out 2008-2009 season per NCAA transfer rules and have two years eligibility beginning in 2009-2010


Keon Lawrence is coming home as Adam Zagoria reports that Keon Lawrence is Transferring to Seton Hall (zagsblog.net) from Missouri.

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Keon Lawrence probably never should have left New Jersey out of high school. The 6'2, 175 lb guard from Newark (NJ) Weequahic High School chose Missouri, although second thoughts entered his mind often. Now, after a sophomore season where he led the Tigers in minutes played (29.2) a game, starting 20 of 32 games and leading Mizzou in field goal attempts (307), Lawrence is taking his 11 points a game and going back home.

According to Alif Muhammad, who has helped Lawrence through the recruiting process out of high school and out of Missouri, stated that Bobby Gonzalez has promised to turn the ball over to Lawrence once Eugene Harvey graduates after the 2009-2010 season. Others after Lawrence, reportedly, included Marquette, Providence, Cincinnati and others.

Rutgers was considered after high school, but their roster was a little more guard heavy at this point.

While Lawrence will not be on the floor next season, the Pirates will have four new players helping try to get Bobby Gonzalez into the post season next year including Jamel Jackson, who graduated from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn in 2005 and then spent two years at the now defunct Boys to Men Academy in Chicago. This past season, Jackson played basketball at Tecnhical Career Institute where he averaged over 24 points a game. Reputed as a strong perimeter shooter, Jackson will likely take the role that Larry Davis had with the Pirates last season before transferring. Jackson adds another perimeter scoring threat to go with sophomore Jeremy Hazell. Jackson will have three years of eligibility at Seton Hall.

With big men in the spring recruiting period in high demand, Bobby Gonzalez and the Seton Hall staff have been beating the bushes looking for frontcourt help for a team that was exposed often in the paint last season. It looks as though the Pirates found their man in 6'11, 340 lb Melvyn Oliver out of Mississippi Elite Christian Academy. Oliver averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds last season for the new program in Jackson (MI).

Oliver chose the Pirates over Nebraska, Southers Miss and Baylor.. Oliver is originally from Los Angeles where he completed his eligibility at Leuzinger (CA) in Lawndale (CA), near LA and moved to the Jackson prep school as a 5th year player and consequently the Really Big O Has Had College coaches Buzzing (Clarion Ledger) this past season.

Mississippi Elite Christian Academy’s basketball program has spawned from Genesis One Christian School, which closed last year, as head coach Victor Evans moved from Genesis One to help begin the MECA hoops program. Mississippi Elite headmaster Darel Thigpen also came over from Genesis One and saw Oliver last year and told him about the new school when he heard that Oliver was looking for a post-grad home.

Mississippi Elite is adjacent to the New Dimensions Church in south Jackson. The K-12 school has about 60 students, including about 20 in high school grades (any non-basketball players?) including the 5th year prep players.

Oliver and Jackson will be joined in the incoming class by Jordan Theodore, a 5'11 point guard from Paterson Catholic, who signed last November. Theodore is a lightning quick point guard who thrives in pushing the ball and attacking defenses with the dribble. Theodore should fit in very well with Bobby Gonzalez's high octane attack on both sides of the ball and give junior Eugene Harvey more of a break with the ball-handling and playmaking duties. They could also be used together to help ice the game to beat pressure applied by the opposition.

The trio of Theodore, Jackson and Oliver will not be the only newcomers joining the Pirates next season as Robert "Stix" Mitchell, a 6'6, 185-pound sophomore G/F who was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year at Duquesne during the 2006-2007 season. Mitchell averaged 16 PPG and 5 rebounds playing in Ron Everhart's 40-minutes of chaos system. Mitchell, originally from Brooklyn, has been a basketball vagabond of late, spending one season at Genesis One Christian in Mississippi where he played for Victor Evans and the 2005-2006 season at Notre Dame Prep, where he played for Bill Barton, now an assistant at Duquesne, before spending a season in the Steel City.

Mitchell sat out the 2007-2008 season at Seton Hall and the plan is for him to step into the role that was filled by gaduating senior Brian Laing, the Pirates very productive small forward.

Mitchell had some difficulty at Duquesne, being suspended one game for violation of team rules and was criticized by Duquesne coach Ron Everhart for a lack of effort in practice and was dismissed from practice a number of times. After being informed his Leading Scorer Planned to Transfer (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Everhart was not surprised

"[Leaving] wasn't really unexpected. It didn't take me by surprise. But in the big picture I'm more excited about our basketball team and the depth and talent we have than I am disappointed about anyone going."

The Pirates currently have 12 players on their roster for the 2008-2009 season. The Mike Glover saga could re-ignite if Glover decides to take the NCAA to court to be able to play. The Pirates still desperately need to find someone to contribute at the power forward position, either from within their current roster or a player opening up late in the process (which looks less and less as July is upon us).


Seton Hall also must aggresively up their pursuit for the class of 2009 as well. The Pirates are expected to have either two or three scholarships available and, like their pursuit last year of Tyreke Evans, they are setting their sites high in the beginning by going after Lance Stephenson (no longer interested) and Dominic Cheek (slight chance) out of the gate. The Pirates are also pursuing Dalton Pepper out of Pennsbury (PA), Durand Scott of Rice (NY), Omari Lawrence of St. Raymond's (NY), Sherrod Wright of Mount Vernon (NY), Andrew Fitzgerald of Owings Mills and David Bruce of Linden (NJ). Expect more names to come and go from the list as the spring and summer recruiting periods heat up.