Pirates to Open 2014-15 with Exhibition vs. Caldwell
11/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Prospectus
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team gets its final tune-up for the 2014-15 season on Sunday, November 9 when the Pirates will welcome Caldwell University to Historic Walsh Gymnasium for an exhibition contest.
Doors will open and single game tickets will go on-sale at 11:00 a.m. for the 12:00 p.m. tip. Tickets to the exhibition contest will be priced at $10 each.
Last seen making its first BIG EAST Tournament semifinal appearance since 2001, The Hall will enter its fifth season under head coach Kevin Willard with a distinctly different look than the squad that posted 17 victories a year ago.
Back in blue & white are standout guards Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) who both excelled in their first season in the BIG EAST to help lead the Pirates in 2013-14.
A Seton Hall Prep product, Gibbs provided a steadying presence on the ball, finding a balance between facilitating the attack and asserting himself offensively. While his debut campaign in South Orange will most likely be remembered for the iconic shot that led to him scaling the Madison Square Garden scorer's table following a win over #3 Villanova, he logged more than 30 minutes and finished fourth in the conference with 4.2 per game.
The Pirates' first BIG EAST All-Rookie Team honoree since 2007-08, Sina posted the second-most assists on the squad in his first collegiate season. When league play arrived, the Lake Hopatcong native elevated his game, knocking down over 40 percent of his 3-point attempts and logging a 1.54 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Sina and Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) were the only two team members to appear in all 34 games last season and Mobley responded with the most productive campaign of what has been a career characterized by consistency. One of the BIG EAST leaders in blocked shots, the versatile 6-foot-9 forward registered career-highs in eight different statistical categories.
Veterans Haralds Karlis (Riga, Latvia) and Stephane Manga (Orleans, France) provide added depth on the wing, having combined each spent time in the starting lineup a season ago. Karlis notched several single-game career-highs in key victories for The Hall while Manga emerged as one of the Pirates' most efficient options on the offensive end where he connected on over 52 percent of his attempts in 26 appearances.
Gone however are nine players that suited up in at least one contest for the Pirates last season. Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the most highly-touted class of newcomers to join The Hall in recent memory. Headlined by McDonald's All-American Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the group features a collection of prep stars hailing from the tri-state including Whitehead's Abraham Lincoln running-mate Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) , Bishop Loughlin product Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.), noted rebounder Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) and Newark native Ismael Sanogo.
Also entering the fray with a year on campus under his belt is big man Rashed Anthony (Orangeburg, S.C.) who will provide added support up front.
Unlike the Pirates regular season contests, which will all be televised for the second-straight season, a broadcast of the game will not be available to the public. Fans who cannot attend can listen in on WSOU.net and 89.5 FM.
