BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SETON HALL @ SYRACUSE

December 30, 2008


Syracuse begins conference play at the Carrier Dome tonight when they host Seton Hall at 7 PM.

The 13th-ranked Orange are expected to have Eric Devendorf back in their line-up tonight. Devendorf, who missed the entire conference season last year with a knee injury, missed the last two games (wins at Memphis and vs. Coppin State) after a student judiciary board suspended him for the remainder of the academic year (through Spring of '09) for an altercation with a female student in the early morning hours of November 1st. The Syracuse Appeals Board withheld his suspension, however, they ammended the length and allowed Devendorf to apply for reinstatement after completing community service and other requirements. It appears as everything is in order and Devendorf, who averages 14 points a game, will return to action tonight.

For Seton Hall, their depleted line-up takes a new twist tonight as head coach Bobby Gonzalez will serve a one-game suspension following his outbursts in a regular season loss last season to Rutgers in the final game of Big East conference play in the 2007-2008 campaign. Gonzo's sideline antics have always been a point of contention with officials and administrators and his post-game remarks infuriated Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. Before the conference acted, the SHU athletic department imposed a one-game Big East suspension on their coach.

Here are some pregame previews and stories found on the web this morning:

Syracuse Hosts Seton Hall in Big East Opener (Syracuse.com)
SU's Second Season Gets Started Tonight (Syracuse Post-Standard)
Orange Scouting Report: SU vs. SHU (Post-Standard)
Beasts of the East (Mycentraljersey.com) - with a SHU-SU preview about halfway in

The odds makers have the Orange listed as 13 1/2-point favorites to run away from the Pirates.

Seton Hall is a painfully think team and with the injury to John Garcia that is likely to keep him out of action tonight, they have virtually no inside game. Paul Harris and Arinze Omuaku should dominate the boards and with SU having athletic options off the bench that include freshmen Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph, they can go smaller, but still be quite a bit bigger than SHU. The emergence of sophomore Rick Jackson also makes the SU zone longer and bigger on the baseline.

The Pirates will most likely be forced by the SU zone to sit on the perimeter and launch three-pointers. Sophomore Jeremy Hazell might find that to his liking and the streak shooter gets more than enough shots to find a groove in nearly every game with the limited options of the Pirates. The key will be how point guard Eugene Harvey attacks the zone and manages the offense, which at times, you wonder if the Pirates have an offensive system, especially in the half court, and that does not bode well against the zone defense of SU, unless they are hitting a high volume of three's.

After losses last week to IUPUI and James Madison, the SHU faithful got something to cheer about with a blowout of in-state foe FDU on Saturday, 101-70, when Jeremy Hazell pumped in 35 points. SHU finished the pre-conference schedule at 9-3 and the fanbase would love a reason to begin scooping up Seton Hall tickets for future games. it will be a tough task to give them a reason with a win tonight in the Dome.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Syracuse 84
Seton Hall 68

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GONZO LOOKING TO BRING PIRATES BACK

By Zach Smart

Bobby Gonzalez’ proclivity for scouring the New York hotbeds for talent was quite palpable during his stay at Manhattan College.

Gonzalez, who recruited a number of highly-touted stallions and got them to stay local—even if it meant a MAAC school in the heart of Riverdale—knows New York like he’s piloting a yellow taxi cab for tourists.

Only Gonzalez’ cab captures coveted players and features stops at Rice High School, Xavierian, St. Raymond’s, Christ The King, Lincoln, and all of the other home city hotbeds.

Gonzalez was also at the helm during Manhattan College’s version of Pax Romana, when a tough-as-nails 6-foot-2 guard named Luis Flores lifted the program from under the bridge of obscurity and gave them the national visibility that the Public Relations dudes would kill for.

In seven seasons at Manhattan, Gonzalez left a lasting legacy. He posted an overall record of 129-77, punctuated by two berths in the NCAA tournament. In 2004, the Jaspers pulled off a mammoth, Godzilla-slaying 75-60 upset over no.5-ranked Florida in the first round.

Four seasons ago, the Seton Hall called for more change than Barack Obama vows to provide for the United States.

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Disgruntled fans become boo birds, hurling out “Fire Louie!” chants, calling for head coach Louis Orr’s job. Despite the fact that Orr piloted the Hall to two NCAA tourney berths and one NIT appearance during his five-year stay, he was treated to an ashcanning during his fifth year.

Enter, the Gonzalez Era.

Gonzalez’ wild sideline antics, gung-ho attitude, and promise of superior recruiting (highly-touted freshman Jordan Theodore has become a major presence in the passing lines thus far, who’s showed promise during games in which he’s played 25 plus minutes) has renewed firepower and confidence in the Hall.

He’s made it clear that he does not want to become another middle-of-the-pack Big East program and that new heights and uncharted territory need to be explored. He knows what upper-tier he wants the program at and the fans have bought into their game general.
It’s why they were chanting “Bobby G” 20 minutes before tip-off during last season’s Big East tournament.

After a signature early-season upset over USC, the Hall has slid recently. They dropped games to James Madison and IUPUI, which has one of most underrated freshman in the country in 6-foot-5 shootist Alex Young (19 points, 4-for-8 from beyond the arc against Arizona State).

Right now, the Pirates have an established go-to-guy in Jeremy Hazell. The 6-5 guard is averaging a sizzling 22.5 points. Hazell hung 32 in a loss at Memphis and hit up instate foe Farleigh Dickinson for 35 (15-for-26 fg) during a 101-70 blowout.

The Harlem World product averaged 19.5 points and six boards during SHU's back-to-back wins the week of Dec. 15 and is already drawing Terry Dehere comparisons.
The top three scorers—Hazell, 6-5 Robert Mitchell, and Eugene Harvey are all products of the city and Bobby G’s recruits.

The trio helps restore credibility to the Hall, but will they improve on the 30-31 record that Gonzalez has posted in his first two seasons? Is a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006 (see Copeland, Donald, the pint-sized point guard, for more on that one) and a return to the March Madness betting pools as an upset special in the cards this season for Gonzo?

The Dec. 30 game at Syracuse, which is back in full force now that Eric “Halloween” Devendorf has returned, will be the first test of that. Unfortunately for the animated SHU head coach, he will only be watching on television most fans as he will be serving his one-game suspension imposed by SHU for behavior following a loss to Rutgers in the regular season finale last season.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: SETON HALL

December 21, 2008



Verbal Commitment Commitment Alert: DeAndre Kane, 6'4 G from Patterson (NC) School


2009-2010 Projected Roster

Seniors: Eugene Harvey (PG), John Garcia (C), Keon Lawrence (G)*
Juniors: Jeremy Hazell (G/F), Brandon Walters (BF/C), Mike Davis (PF/C), Robert Mitchell (G/F)
Sophomores: Jordan Theodore (PG), Herb Pope (PF)
Freshmen: Melvyn Oliver** (C), DeAndre Kane

* currently applying for a hardship waiver that would have him on the court in December for the 2008-2009 season. If granted, he will be a senior on the 2009-2010 roster. If denied, he will be listed as a junior

** Oliver is ineligible to compete in the 2008-2009 season, but will have four years of eligibility beginning in 2009-2010 per the NCAA

*** Will sit out the 2008-2009 season per NCAA Transfer rule, having three years of eligibility beginning with the 2009-2010 season


It was looking like a lump of coal was being left in the Seton Hall stocking this holiday season as Cliff Dixon de-committed from the Pirates, Melvyn Oliver was declared ineligible for the 2008-2009 season, John Garcia will miss up to three weeks with a knee injury and the Pirates lost Saturday night at home to IUPUI. Now, there is news that a Top Recruit is Headed to Seton Hall (MSG.com) with Patterson (NC) School guard DeAndre reportedly verballing to the Pirates after a visit to the school this weekend.



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With at least three scholarships open for the 2009 recruiting class, Seton Hall has might have finally found a taker for one of the scholarships with DeAndre Kane committing to SHU this weekend. Previously, Cliff Dixon was their lone commitment, but he had backed off that pledge, which never seemed to be a commitment set in stone, when the 6-foot-10 Hutchinson CC big man, originally from Maryland, re-opened his recruitment last week.

Kane is a physical and tough guard who is currently at the Patterson School in North Carolina. The school is also where Bobby Gonzalez landed current SHU guard Jeremy Hazell.

Kane was a high school teammate at Schenley High School in Pittsburgh with current Pitt big man DeJuan Blair and St. John's forward DJ Kennedy. Kane had long seemed destined to follow Blair to Pitt, and it was the Panthers coaching staff that helped him find his way to Patterson after he was not able to qualify out of Schenley. However, Pitt is currently out of scholarships and that could have played a role in his looking at other options, which also included schools such as Marquette, Baylor and others with his strong play this fall at Patterson.

Kane made an official visit to Seton Hall this past weekend, taking in their game with IUPUI and also seeing friend Herb Pope, a former AAU teammate. Kane is a streak shooter who can score some points in a hurry and is getting more experience at playing high level competition night in and night out at Patterson. He is definitely a Big East caliber guard with a Big East-type of game.

At the time of his commitment, Cliff Dixon had been recently suspended by HCC head coach Ryan Swanson for a violation of team rules. With his future uncertain, Dixon tells Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com he made a hasty decision.

``I got worried and Seton Hall tried to rush me into saying I was committed,” Dixon told Goodman. “They pressured me into it and I panicked.”

Even though Dixon Decommits from Seton Hall (ZagsBlog.com), he will still consider the Pirates, however, it is our understanding that Seton Hall will not be continuing their effort to land Dixon.

With Kane in the fold, the Pirates are also likely to have three other new faces in their line-up next season.

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.

Currently, Lawrence is in the process of applying for a hardship waiver that will allow him to play during the 2008-2009 season instead of having to sit out the entire year as a normal NCAA transfer student. The central position of the waiver is that Lawrence decided to leave Missouri because of a need to be closer to home because of family issues. If the NCAA finds that the reasons of his leaving Missouri were not because of basketball, but because of these family issues, that there is a good chance of a waiver. However, the NCAA usually relies quite heavily on the input from the former school on the reason for the transfer, and it is unclear if Mizzou will completely agree with that reasoning for his transfer. We will see...

Also, Lawrence would not have been eligible to compete in the first semester of the 2008-2009 season as he would not be transferring with enough credits to be eligible as a junior student. That is a common issue for transfers as not all credits are transferable and is one of the reasons for the residency rule making so much sense in regards to transfers.

While the Pirates wait on the Lawrence waiver decision, due any day now (12/21/08), they already have gone through the process with New Mexico State transfer Herb Pope, but were denied the original waiver and the appeal. Pope is the mega-talented forward from Aliquippa (PA) but has run into trouble on more than one occasion in recent years. Pope was sent home from his final AAU Tournament as a member of the Pittsburgh Jots for an altercation with a coach, an incident that did not seem to surprise many familiar with his past. Things actually got worse from there as Pope was shot several times outside a party in the Pittsburgh-area in April of his senior year of high school after being in an altercation outside the party. Pope survived the gunfire and headed off to school at New Mexico State. While at New Mexico State, Pope was having trouble clearing the NCAA eligibility department as an online course he took in high school as a core course was challenged by the NCAA. While NM State worked to get him cleared, Pope was arrested for DUI when police found him asleep behind the wheel of a car with the engine running in a traffic lane.

Pope finally did make it onto the court at NM State after a court order was issued. Pope played well after all of the trials and tribulations that followed him in the recent past and he averaged 11 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game in the 16 games he was deemed eligible for at New Mexico State.

Pope then decided to leave New Mexico late this past summer to be closer to home. He ended up enrolling at Seton Hall and hoped to be granted a hardship waiver to play this season. However, that was denied by the NCAA and Pope will sit out the 2008-2009 season and be ready to suit up next year, giving the Pirates a much needed talent boost at power forward next year.

Melvyn Oliver's long wait on his qualifying status from the NCAA is finally over. Oliver was declared ineligible for the 2008-2009 season, however, the NCAA did rule he was eligible for a scholarship and after sitting out this season, he will have four years of eligibility left. The situation is similar to Louisville redshirt freshman George Goode, who had a similar ruling from the NCAA last season. it is unclear how these two situations get around the Big East rule on partial qualifiers, but apparently it does.

For now, it looks like the Pirates will become very active in the spring signing period filling out their roster. They have been the leader for Westchester CC 7-footer Jarrid Famous for an extended period of time, but Famous has decided to wait until the spring before signing a letter of intent and the interested schools in his talents continue to grow at a rapid pace. Former South Florida commitment Eugene Teague, a 6'7 power forward, has also made it onto the SHU radar. Teague, who failed to qualify as a 2008 recruit, is now enrolled at the Apex Academies for another year of prep and recently took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall for an exhibition game. SHU has an attractive offer to spring recruits of playing time and a chance to play in the Big East.

With transfer students Robert Mitchell, Lawrence and Pope, SHU coach Bobby Gonzalez is not afraid to bring in transfers to increase the NCAA Basketball Odds of his program winning more in the Big East. Another potential transfer this season is Jamie Skeen, a 6-foot-8, 250 lb forward. Skeen Leaves Wake (Huntersville Herald) Forest. Skeen was declared ineligible by Wake for the fall semester after violating university academic policy last spring. Earlier this month, he elected not to file the appeal necessary to return for the upcoming semester and look for a new home for the spring semester. Skeen has visited Seton Hall, VCU and South Florida. A decision shoudl be forthcoming at any moment. He would likely have to sit out the next two semesters and be eligible next spring with a season and a half of eligibility remaining.

**********Late edit: word is that Skeen has chosen VCU...per ZagsBlog.

Skeen attended high school at North Mecklenburg (NC) High, which is also the home of athletic 6-foot-7 forward Andre Marhold who has Seton Hall on his radar for a spring period decision. The 2009 recruit did not sign with a school in the fall signing period and should find plenty of schools interested in his services as a late recruiting addition.

Continuing the transfer theme, former UAB forward Terrence Roderick could be looking at Seton Hall. Apparently Roderick to Seton Hall (Allentown Morning Call) is something he is telling people, but no official word has been announced. Roderick is a big time talent, but academics and other issues has sidetracked his career a few times and looks to have done so once again...

Also, Memphis forward Jeff Robinson is to transfer (ZagsBlog.net), possibly. The former star at Elizabeth (NJ) St Patrick High School would look strongly at Seton Hall if he does leave Memphis.

The Pirates have also been quite active in the class of 2010 already, being among the leaders for local standouts Jayon James, Fuquan Edwin and Shaquille Thomas, all of whom were teammates of current Pirate Jordan Theodore last season at Paterson (NJ) Catholic. St. Anthony's big man Derrick Williams as well as Plainfield's Isaiah Epps are on the Pirates' watch list as well.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: SETON HALL

December 17, 2008


De-commitment Commitment Alert: Cliff Dixon, 6'10 PF/C from Hutchinson (KS) Community College


2009-2010 Projected Roster

Seniors: Eugene Harvey (PG), John Garcia (C), Keon Lawrence (G)*
Juniors: Jeremy Hazell (G/F), Brandon Walters (BF/C), Mike Davis (PF/C), Robert Mitchell (G/F)
Sophomores: Jordan Theodore (PG), Melvyn Oliver** (C), Herb Pope (PF)
Freshmen: None

* currently applying for a hardship waiver that would have him on the court in December for the 2008-2009 season. If granted, he will be a senior on the 2009-2010 roster. If denied, he will be listed as a junior

** Has yet to be cleared by the NCAA (as of 12/17/08) to be eligible to compete

*** Will sit out the 2008-2009 season per NCAA Transfer rule, having three years of eligibility beginning with the 2009-2010 season


The verbal commitment of Cliff Dixon to Seton Hall has lasted one month as Cliff Dixon is Back Open (FoxSports.com) as he claims the Pirate staff pressured him into a commitment. Now that he has been reinstated as a member of the Hutchinson CC basketball team, he wants to see what other options will arise into the spring.

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With at least three scholarships open for the 2009 recruiting class, Seton Hall has still not found any takers for their offers. Cliff Dixon was their lone commitment, but he has backed off that pledge, which never seemed to be a commitment set in stone from the 6-foot-10 Hutchinson big man originally from Maryland.

At the time of his commitment, Dixon was recently suspended by HCC head coach Ryan Swanson for a violation of team rules. With his future uncertain, Dixon tells Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com he made a hasty decision.

``I got worried and Seton Hall tried to rush me into saying I was committed,” Dixon told Goodman. “They pressured me into it and I panicked.”

Even though Dixon Decommits from Seton Hall (ZagsBlog.com), he will still consider the Pirates.

“It’s a good school,” Dixon said of Seton Hall in a phone interview with Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. “I’m not saying I’m not going to go there. I’m saying my options are open."

“I’m looking at Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Missouri, Miami, the list just goes on. I got offers from every school.”

With our without Dixon, the Pirates should have two, maybe three new faces on the court next year.

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.

Currently, Lawrence is in the process of applying for a hardship waiver that will allow him to play during the 2008-2009 season instead of having to sit out the entire year as a normal NCAA transfer student. The central position of the waiver is that Lawrence decided to leave Missouri because of a need to be closer to home because of family issues. If the NCAA finds that the reasons of his leaving Missouri were not because of basketball, but because of these family issues, that there is a good chance of a waiver. However, the NCAA usually relies quite heavily on the input from the former school on the reason for the transfer, and it is unclear if Mizzou will completely agree with that reasoning for his transfer. We will see...

Also, Lawrence would not have been eligible to compete in the first semester of the 2008-2009 season as he would not be transferring with enough credits to be eligible as a junior student. That is a common issue for transfers as not all credits are transferable and is one of the reasons for the residency rule making so much sense in regards to transfers.

While the Pirates wait on the Lawrence waiver decision, due any day now (12/17/08), they already have gone through the process with New Mexico State transfer Herb Pope, but were denied the original waiver and the appeal. Pope is the mega-talented forward from Aliquippa (PA) but has run into trouble on more than one occasion in recent years. Pope was sent home from his final AAU Tournament as a member of the Pittsburgh Jots for an altercation with a coach, an incident that did not seem to surprise many familiar with his past. Things actually got worse from there as Pope was shot several times outside a party in the Pittsburgh-area in April of his senior year of high school after being in an altercation outside the party. Pope survived the gunfire and headed off to school at New Mexico State. While at New Mexico State, Pope was having trouble clearing the NCAA eligibility department as an online course he took in high school as a core course was challenged by the NCAA. While NM State worked to get him cleared, Pope was arrested for DUI when police found him asleep behind the wheel of a car with the engine running in a traffic lane.

Pope finally did make it onto the court at NM State after a court order was issued. Pope played well after all of the trials and tribulations that followed him in the recent past and he averaged 11 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game in the 16 games he was deemed eligible for at New Mexico State.

Pope then decided to leave New Mexico late this past summer to be closer to home. He ended up enrolling at Seton Hall and hoped to be granted a hardship waiver to play this season. However, that was denied by the NCAA and Pope will sit out the 2008-2009 season and be ready to suit up next year, giving the Pirates a much needed talent boost at power forward next year.

With the the additions of Lawrence and Pope, the Pirates still have three scholarships open. That number could increase depending on the status of Melvyn Oliver who, as of December 17th, still has not been cleared by the NCAA to be eligible. Oliver has recently been allowed by the NCAA to practice with SHU for the first time in the process. Also, John Garcia will be a 5th year senior in 2009-2010, but chronic knee problems has led to some public speculation that he might not return. However, Garcia's knees seem to be doing well early this season.

For now, it looks like the Pirates will become very active in the spring signing period filling out their roster. They have been the leader for Westchester CC 7-footer Jarrid Famous for an extended period of time, but Famous has decided to wait until the spring before signing a letter of intent and the interested schools in his talents continue to grow at a rapid pace. Former South Florida commitment Eugene Teague, a 6'7 power forward, has also made it onto the SHU radar. Teague, who failed to qualify as a 2008 recruit, is now enrolled at the Apex Academies for another year of prep and recently took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall for an exhibition game. SHU has an attractive offer to spring recruits of playing time and a chance to play in the Big East.

Seton Hall is expected to receive an official visit from Patterson (NC) School guard DeAndre Kane, a native of Pittsburgh and friend of Herb Pope's, this weekend. Kane is a tough wing guard known as a talented scorer.

With transfer students Robert Mitchell, Lawrence and Pope, SHU coach Bobby Gonzalez is not afraid to bring in transfers to increase the college basketball odd of his program winning more in the Big East. Another potential transfer this season is Jamie Skeen, a 6-foot-8, 250 lb forward. Skeen Leaves Wake (Huntersville Herald) Forest. Skeen was declared ineligible by Wake for the fall semester after violating university academic policy last spring. Earlier this month, he elected not to file the appeal necessary to return for the upcoming semester and look for a new home for the spring semester. Skeen has visited Seton Hall and VCU and is taking a trip to South Floride this weekend. He would likely have to sit out the next two semesters and be eligible next spring with a season and a half of eligibility remaining.

Skeen attended high school at North Mecklenburg (NC) High, which is also the home of athletic 6-foot-7 forward Andre Marhold who has Seton Hall on his radar for a spring period decision. The 2009 recruit did not sign with a school in the fall signing period and should find plenty of schools interested in his services as a late recruiting addition.

The Pirates have also been quite active in the class of 2010 already, being among the leaders for local standouts Jayon James, Fuquan Edwin and Shaquille Thomas, all of whom were teammates of current Pirate Jordan Theodore last season at Paterson (NJ) Catholic. St. Anthony's big man Derrick Williams as well as Plainfield's Isaiah Epps are on the Pirates' watch list as well.

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SETON HALL SURPRISING THE PUNDITS

December 11, 2008


When the college basketball season was getting ready to tip-off, many were questioning how Seton Hall would compete with a limited roster.

With just eight eligible players, NCAA Basketball Odds were stacked against the Pirates. However, taking on coach Bobby Gonzalez's style of 'me against the world', Seton Hall has been a surprising team out of the gates this season and their start is being noticed nationally.

"I know they're short on players, but that was a pretty good USC team they beat down in Puerto Rico, and beating Virginia Tech is no automatic task either," Seth Davis of CBS Sports and SI.com told the NBE Basketball Report recently.

In fact, it was their trip to Puerto Rico that opened many eyes. Playingwith just seven available players in a match-up against nationally ranked USC, the Pirates battled back from a 15-point halftime deficit and clawed their way back for a stirring win over the Trojans. The victory was achieved without Robert Mitchell, SHU's second leading scorer and rebounder, who was suspended for breaking an NCAA rule last season when he was sitting out as a transfer from Duquesne.

With Jeremy Hazell leading the way at 23.5 points a game, Seton Hall is off to a 7-1 start.

"Jeremy Hazell is a little streaky for my tastes, but man, when he's on, he's on," remarked Davis.

Coach Gonzalez may take a lot of heat in the press for some of his sideline antics and post-game press conference demeanor, in fact, he will be serving a one-game suspension in the Big East opener at Syracuse for such behavior, but there is little doubt he is getting all he can from his players, which is a compliment to any coach. The players have responded to what he has asked for them very well this season.

"Bobby Gonzalez does a great job of motivating his players and convincing them to play hard," says Mike DeCourcey of the Sporting News. "He's got tough kids."

Jay Bilas has also taken note of the early season success of the Pirates.

"The players have been through it and are more in tune with what it takes to win, and they are more in tune with what their coach wants from them," Bilas told NBE. "Seton Hall has done a good job."


Still, there are just eight players currently eligible. There is some hope that Keon Lawrence, a transfer from Missouri, could be joining the rank of eligible players in the next week or so. The junior, a Newark (NJ) native, has applied for a waiver that would allow him to play this season instead of sitting out per the NCAA transfer rules. Lawrence is trying to show that family issues forced him to transfer from Missouri and called for him to be closer to home. Sources say Missouri rejects to that claim, but that is for the NCAA to decide.

Also, freshman big man Melvyn Oliver has been, finally, allowed to practice with the Pirates while the ongoing investigation by the NCAA into his eligibility status continues. When the rough and tumble Big East begins, the Pirates will need all the bodies they can get, something our national experts were also quick to point out.

"There’s little question that Bobby Gonzalez can coach," FoxSports.com analyst Jeff Goodman told NBE. "He just doesn’t have enough bodies to sustain it throughout the Big East slate."

With an 18-game conference schedule ahead in what some call the 'best conference ever', it will be a tough task night in and night out once the dog days of the season hits, especially if the NCAA denies Lawrence and Oliver.

"I don't know whether it can last given the Pirates' lack of depth and the Big East's strength, but you know they're going to try," added DeCourcy.

Even if the whole of the schedule is tough, look for the Pirates to be a tough out, says Davis, going forward.

"It will be very hard for them to get through the meat grinder of the Big East so short-handed, but their first seven will enable them to compete with anyone."

So, the Pirates have given fans something to be excited about. Will it last? You know Bobby Gonzalez is going to try to get his kids to believe it can and not give an inch. The more people doubt them, the more it will fuel their inner fire, from the coach right down the bench, to prove everyone wrong.

"I think Seton Hall has been better than I had thought, but much of that if probably because of lower expectations," Bilas said. "I know that their expectations are not low (of themselves)."

That belief in themselves could carry them a lot further than many had previously expected, excet of course for their coach and his players.

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