SETON HALL LANDS BIG TIME TRANSFER

Seton Hall University is becoming ‘Second Home’ University with the amount of transfers Bobby Gonzalez seems to be pursuing and landing for the Pirates. This season they will have Duquesne transfer Robert Mitchell suiting up and are in the process of applying for a wavier to have Missouri transfer Keon Lawrence on the floor by the second semester (has some academic work to be eligible as well). Now, it looks like the biggest name is preparing to transfer into the program: Herb Pope.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, Pope Commits to Seton Hall after a brief ‘I am going’, I am coming back’ drama that ended over the weekend when the sides officially parted ways. Pope originally notified New Mexico State he would be returning to the school, but a change of heart of at least one of the sides has now led to him coming east, closer to home.

Pope had a good freshman season at new Mexico State, averaging over 11 PPG and nearly 7 rebounds a contest for coach Marvin Menzies squad. Of course, there is baggage with Pope, from the punching of his AAU coach in his final AAU contest, to the display following their state championship loss to even more serious episodes of being shot following an altercation at a party to a DUI last December back in Pittsburgh, so it is definitely a buyer beware scenario.

The article also mentioned schools such as Pittsburgh and West Virginia showed interest, but it was Seton Hall that had a scholarship available for 6-foot-8 Aliquippa native (our records indicate both Pitt and WVU also have a scholarship open for 2008-2009 season as well).

Pope has a very strong desire to play immediately and once enrolled at SHU he will apply for a waiver to play immediately due to family issues. In his good-bye note in the Las Cruces News article to NM State, he is saying the right things in his pursuit of the waiver…we will see how that plays out…if granted, he is a big piece to helping SHU move up this season in the conference and increase their College Basketball Odds and competing in the post-season this year.