The Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball program is the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

intercollegiate men's basketball program of Seton Hall University in

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. The team competes in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

and plays their home games in the

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. The Pirates are currently coached by Shaheen Holloway. Seton Hall has appeared 14 times in the NCAA tournament and were national runners-up in 1989.

History

Seton Hall's first season of basketball occurred in 1903–04, but the school did not field a team again until 1908–09, the year in which the university achieved its first winning season. The school adopted the Pirate mascot in 1931, and the teams soon gained national prominence with the arrival of John "Honey" Russell in 1936. During an 18-year span, the Pirates racked up a 295–129 record that included an undefeated 19–0 record in 1939–40 as part of a 41-game unbeaten streak. Walsh Gymnasium was opened in 1941 to house the basketball team permanently and featured one of the best Seton Hall teams of all time, termed the "Wonder Five", which led by All-American Bob Davies, earned the school's first NIT bid in 1941. Following World War II, the Pirates were led by stars Frank Saul and Bobby Wanzer and regularly played games at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. The peak of this era occurred in 1953 when Richie Regan and Walter Dukes defeated rival St. John's University for the NIT title. Perhaps the low point for the team occurred in 1961 when a point shaving scandal sullied the program, but the Pirates rebounded to return to the NIT in 1974 under coach Bill Raftery. Seton Hall became a charter member of the

in 1979, where they are still a member to this day. Although Seton Hall did have a lengthy American Football Team, The high point of the Big East era for Seton Hall came when P. J. Carlesimo was hired in 1982 and the team began playing in the

Meadowlands Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...

. By 1988, Carlesimo led the Pirates to the school's first NCAA tournament appearance, and in 1989, he led the Hall to an unexpected tournament run to the NCAA Championship game, where they were defeated by

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in overtime. Success under Carlesimo continued with a Big East tournament championship and an Elite Eight appearance in 1991, a regular season Big East Championship and Sweet Sixteen appearance in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, and Big East Regular Season and Big East tournament Championships in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. Carlesimo left to coach in the NBA following the 1993–94 season, but Seton Hall returned to the Sweet Sixteen in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

guided by coach Tommy Amaker, and appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2004 and 2006 coached by Louis Orr. In 2006–07, Bobby Gonzalez was hired to lead the Pirates, which moved its home games into the

in 2007. Gonzalez amassed a 66–59 record at Seton Hall but was fired at the conclusion of the 2009–10 after a first-round NIT loss to Texas Tech. Concerns were raised in-house about the direction Gonzalez was taking the program, punctuated by several incidents, some involving Gonzalez and others involving student athletes. Shortly after his dismissal Gonzalez was arrested for shoplifting. Seton Hall then hired Kevin Willard for the 2010–11 season. Khadeen Carrington vs

After struggling to maintain a .500 record through his first five seasons with the program, Willard's Pirates finally broke through in the 2015–16 season, as they won the Big East tournament Championship over the eventual national champion Villanova Wildcats. With the win, Seton Hall secured the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006 and the first Big East tournament Championship since 1993. However, the magic could not continue in the NCAA tournament, as the team was defeated by the 11th-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs in the First Round. In 2017, the Pirates were again eliminated in the First Round of the NCAA tournament by the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

, but the Pirates would win their first tournament game in fourteen years upon defeating the NC State Wolfpack in 2018's first round before being defeated by the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

in the Second Round. Following the graduation of starting seniors Khadeen Carrington, Ángel Delgado, Desi Rodriguez, and Ismael Sanogo, the Pirates would appear in their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament for the second time in program history in 2019. Led by the play of standout junior guard Myles Powell, the Pirates, at risk of missing the tournament sitting on a 16–12 overall and 7–9 Big East record, won their final two regular season games at home against 16th-ranked Marquette and 23rd-ranked Villanova and advanced to the Big East Final where they lost a rematch to Villanova by two points. Ultimately, they secured a #10 seed in the tournament following their performance down the stretch, and fell to the Wofford Terriers in a first round game in which Fletcher Magee would break Division I's all-time three-point scoring record. In November 2021, Seton Hall traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play the then #4 ranked Michigan Wolverines as part of the Big East-Big 10 Gavitt Games. Of note was that the game was the first time the two programs had met since the 1989 NCAA National Championship Game when Michigan beat Seton Hall by one on a controversial foul call. In the 2021 version, Seton Hall upset Michigan, making it the first time Seton Hall had won a road game against a non-conference AP top-five team in university history. They were 0–5 prior.

All-time coaching records

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Pirates have appeared in the NCAA tournament 14 times. Their combined record is 16–14.

NIT results

The Pirates have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) 19 times. Their combined record is 13–19. They were NIT champions in 1953 and 2024.

Notable players and coaches

In 2016, while playing for the Pirates, Derrick Gordon became the first openly gay man to play in the

March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

tournament.

Honored and retired jerseys

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

Pirates in the NBA

31 Pirates have played at least one game in the NBA.

Pirates in international leagues

* Khadeen Carrington, in the Israeli Premier Basketball League * Isaiah Whitehead, in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

Awards and honors

;Big East Coach of the Year * P.J. Carlesimo – 1988, 1989 * Louis Orr – 2003 * Kevin Willard – 2016 ; Big East Player of the Year * Dan Callandrillo – 1982 * Terry Dehere – 1993 * Myles Powell – 2020 * Sandro Mamukelashvili – 2021 ; Big East tournament Most Valuable Player *Oliver Taylor – 1991 *Terry Dehere – 1993 * Isaiah Whitehead – 2016 ;Big East Most Improved Player * Shaheen Holloway – 2000 *Myles Powell – 2018 *Romaro Gill – 2020 ;Big East Defensive Player of the Year *Jerry Walker – 1993 *

Fuquan Edwin Fuquan Edwin (born September 17, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Seton Hall Pirates, where in 2011–12, he tied with Jay Threatt for the highest steals per game average (3.0) in ...

– 2014 *Romaro Gill – 2020 ;Peter A. Carlesimo Award (Metropolitan Coach of the Year) *P.J. Carlesimo – 1988, 1989 * Tommy Amaker – 2000 *Kevin Willard – 2016, 2017 ;

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the top men's college basketball player from an NCAA Division I school in the New York metropolitan area. The Haggerty Award is presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MB ...

(Metropolitan Player of the Year) * Walter Dukes – 1953 * Nick Werkman – 1964 * Nick Galis – 1979 *Dan Callandrillo – 1982 * Mark Bryant – 1988 * John Morton – 1989 * Artūras Karnišovas – 1994 * Adrian Griffin – 1996 * Andre Barrett – 2004 * Isaiah Whitehead – 2016 *Ángel Delgado – 2017 *Myles Powell – 2019, 2020 ; Big East Rookie of the Year *Eddie Griffin – 2001 * Ángel Delgado – 2015 ;Big East Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year * Ramon Ramos – 1989 *Artūras Karnišovas – 1993, 1994 *Adrian Griffin – 1996 *Michael Nzei – 2019 *Ike Obiagu – 2021 ;Metropolitan Rookie of the Year *Andre McCloud – 1983 *Terry Dehere – 1990 *Jerry Walker – 1991 *Shaheen Holloway – 1997 *Darius Lane – 2000 *Eddie Griffin – 2001 *Eugene Harvey – 2007 *Ángel Delgado – 2015 ; Wayman Tisdale Award (National Freshman of the Year) * Eddie Griffin – 2001 ; McDonald's High School All-Americans * Luther Wright – 1990 *Shaheen Holloway – 1996 *Andre Barrett – 2000 *Eddie Griffin – 2000 *Isaiah Whitehead – 2014 ;Consensus First Team All-Big East *Dan Callandrillo – 1982 *Mark Bryant – 1988 *Ramon Ramos – 1989 *Terry Dehere – 1991, 1992, 1993 *Andre Barrett – 2004 *Brian Laing – 2008 *Isaiah Whitehead – 2016 *Ángel Delgado – 2017 *Myles Powell – 2019, 2020 *Sandro Mamukelashvili – 2021 * Jared Rhoden - 2022 * Kadary Richmond - 2024 ;Consensus First Team All-Metropolitan *Dan Callandrillo – 1981, 1982 *Mark Bryant – 1988 *John Morton – 1989 *Ramon Ramos – 1989 *Michael Cooper – 1990 *Terry Dehere – 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 * Anthony Avent – 1991 *Jerry Walker – 1992 *Arturas Karnišovas – 1993, 1994 *Bryan Caver – 1994 *Adrian Griffin – 1995, 1996 * Danny Hurley – 1996 *Shaheen Holloway – 1997, 2000 *Eddie Griffin – 2001 *Andre Barrett – 2002, 2003, 2004 *Kelly Whitney – 2004, 2006 *Eugene Harvey – 2007 *Brian Laing – 2008 * Jeremy Hazell – 2009, 2010, 2011 *Herb Pope – 2012 *Jordan Theodore – 2012 *

– 2013, 2014 *Isaiah Whitehead – 2016 * Khadeen Carrington – 2017 *Ángel Delgado – 2017, 2018 * Desi Rodriguez – 2018 ;Consensus First Team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

s * Bob Davies – 1942 * Walter Dukes – 1953 * Myles Powell – 2020 ;Consensus Second Team All-Americans * Terry Dehere – 1993 ;Consensus Third Team All-Americans * Nick Werkman – 1963 * Dan Callandrillo – 1982 ;AP Honorable Mention All-Americans * Andre Barrett – 2004 * Isaiah Whitehead – 2016 * Ángel Delgado – 2017, 2018 * Myles Powell – 2019 * Sandro Mamukelashvili – 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seton Hall Pirates Men's Basketball