Three Pirates to Represent USA at Pan Am Games
6/18/2019 12:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK - The Seton Hall men's basketball team will have tremendous representation at the upcoming 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru as senior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) and Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) have been selected to represent their country on the 15-man Team USA roster, and Pirates head coach Kevin Willard has been named an assistant coach on Team USA head coach Ed Cooley's staff.
As previously announced, the Pan American Games roster was chosen from a pool of student-athletes entirely from the BIG EAST Conference, the first time a single Div. I conference is representing the United States in the sport of men's basketball in Pan American Games competition. Of the 15 student-athletes, 12 will be chosen to be active and three will be named alternates.
The men's basketball portion of the Pan Am Games takes place July 31-Aug. 4 at Eduardo Dibos Coliseum with the first game coming against the Virgin Islands. Prior to the Pan Am Games, the team will practice at the Ruane Development Center in Providence from July 21-26.
Powell, coming off an All-America season in which he dominated college basketball to the tune of 23.1 points per game, will represent his country for the first time in international competition. After finishing 13th in the nation (and second in the BIG EAST) in scoring and finishing in the top 40 in steals and three-pointers made, Powell received a slew of awards, including Associated Press All-America honorable mention, the Haggerty Award Metropolitan Player of the Year, unanimous first-team All-BIG EAST and NABC/USBWA All-District.
Now returning for his senior season at Seton Hall in 2019-20, Powell is generating National Player of the Year, Jerry West Award and BIG EAST Player of the Year buzz. He is also vaulting up the all-time scorers list at Seton Hall, currently 12th all-time with 1,663 career points in 101 games, and is approaching the school's three-pointers made record, just 59 threes shy of Jeremy Hazell's 328.
Cale, also playing for his country for the first time ever, is coming off a sophomore campaign that saw him take major strides in all areas. He more than doubled his scoring average and finished second on the team at 10.2 points per game. He greatly improved his three-point shooting, going from 28 percent as a freshman to 38 percent as a sophomore, including 41 percent in BIG EAST play, which was fifth-best in the conference. He also improved his free throw shooting by four percent, increased his rebounding average by 2.5 per game and improved his assist-to-turnover ratio by two tenths.
Cale made a habit of coming up big in major moments during Seton Hall's run to the NCAA Tournament. He hit the game-winning three-pointer to lead the Pirates past then-No. 9 Kentucky in overtime. He scored a career-high 23 points in a major road victory at Maryland two weeks later. Then he made a career-best six three-pointers on only eight attempts in a much-needed victory over then-No. 23 Villanova to help seal a tournament at-large bid.
Willard, the architect of Seton Hall's basketball renaissance, has led the Pirates to four straight NCAA Tournament bids, a feat The Hall has achieved only once before (1991-94), as well as four straight 20-win seasons, BIG EAST .500 or better seasons and third-place BIG EAST finishes, which all have never occurred before in program history.Â
For his phenomenal work in getting The Hall back to the NCAA Tournament in 2019, Willard was named the 2019 Peter A. Carlesimo Met Writers Coach of the Year, now one of only two coaches to ever win the award three times. He also was named the 2019 NABC District 5 Coach of the Year.
Entering his 10th season at the helm, Willard has the fourth-most wins in Seton Hall history with 170, just eight wins shy of matching Frank Hill, Sr., for third place. Overall, Willard's head coaching record in 12 seasons is 215-177.Â
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As previously announced, the Pan American Games roster was chosen from a pool of student-athletes entirely from the BIG EAST Conference, the first time a single Div. I conference is representing the United States in the sport of men's basketball in Pan American Games competition. Of the 15 student-athletes, 12 will be chosen to be active and three will be named alternates.
The men's basketball portion of the Pan Am Games takes place July 31-Aug. 4 at Eduardo Dibos Coliseum with the first game coming against the Virgin Islands. Prior to the Pan Am Games, the team will practice at the Ruane Development Center in Providence from July 21-26.
Powell, coming off an All-America season in which he dominated college basketball to the tune of 23.1 points per game, will represent his country for the first time in international competition. After finishing 13th in the nation (and second in the BIG EAST) in scoring and finishing in the top 40 in steals and three-pointers made, Powell received a slew of awards, including Associated Press All-America honorable mention, the Haggerty Award Metropolitan Player of the Year, unanimous first-team All-BIG EAST and NABC/USBWA All-District.
Now returning for his senior season at Seton Hall in 2019-20, Powell is generating National Player of the Year, Jerry West Award and BIG EAST Player of the Year buzz. He is also vaulting up the all-time scorers list at Seton Hall, currently 12th all-time with 1,663 career points in 101 games, and is approaching the school's three-pointers made record, just 59 threes shy of Jeremy Hazell's 328.
Cale, also playing for his country for the first time ever, is coming off a sophomore campaign that saw him take major strides in all areas. He more than doubled his scoring average and finished second on the team at 10.2 points per game. He greatly improved his three-point shooting, going from 28 percent as a freshman to 38 percent as a sophomore, including 41 percent in BIG EAST play, which was fifth-best in the conference. He also improved his free throw shooting by four percent, increased his rebounding average by 2.5 per game and improved his assist-to-turnover ratio by two tenths.
Cale made a habit of coming up big in major moments during Seton Hall's run to the NCAA Tournament. He hit the game-winning three-pointer to lead the Pirates past then-No. 9 Kentucky in overtime. He scored a career-high 23 points in a major road victory at Maryland two weeks later. Then he made a career-best six three-pointers on only eight attempts in a much-needed victory over then-No. 23 Villanova to help seal a tournament at-large bid.
Willard, the architect of Seton Hall's basketball renaissance, has led the Pirates to four straight NCAA Tournament bids, a feat The Hall has achieved only once before (1991-94), as well as four straight 20-win seasons, BIG EAST .500 or better seasons and third-place BIG EAST finishes, which all have never occurred before in program history.Â
For his phenomenal work in getting The Hall back to the NCAA Tournament in 2019, Willard was named the 2019 Peter A. Carlesimo Met Writers Coach of the Year, now one of only two coaches to ever win the award three times. He also was named the 2019 NABC District 5 Coach of the Year.
Entering his 10th season at the helm, Willard has the fourth-most wins in Seton Hall history with 170, just eight wins shy of matching Frank Hill, Sr., for third place. Overall, Willard's head coaching record in 12 seasons is 215-177.Â
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ÂFull Pan Am #BIGEASThoops Roster:@5Tyshon@Killem_Myles
— #BIGEASThoops (@BIGEASTMBB) June 18, 2019
Alpha Diallo@Duuukkeee @Colling1021 @GGroselle@Kingheron5@gmowski
Luwane Pipkins@Myles_MBP_23 @ajreeves11@J_Swizz23@TheNate156
Tyler Wideman
Head Coach: @CoachCooleyPC
Assistants: Kevin Willard, Mike Martin pic.twitter.com/qv96q1w2JP
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