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Seton Hall Pirates
Seton Hall Pirates
	2024–25 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team
University	Seton Hall University
First season	1903–04
All-time record	1612–1145 (.585)
Head coach	Shaheen Holloway (3rd season)
Conference	Big East
Location	Newark, New Jersey;; South Orange, New Jersey
Arena	Prudential Center;; Walsh Gymnasium ; (capacity: 10,481/18,711; 1,316)
Nickname	Pirates
Colors	Blue and white;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament runner-up
	1989
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1989
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1989, 1991
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1989, 1991, 1992, 2000
NCAA tournament round of 32
	1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2018
NCAA tournament appearances
	1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Conference tournament champions
	1991, 1993, 2016
Conference regular season champions
	1977, 1992, 1993, 2020

The Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. The team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. 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. 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.^[2] Seton Hall became a charter member of the Big East Conference in 1979, where they are still a member to this day.

The 1908–09 Seton Hall basketball team recorded the school's first winning record in its second season of play

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. 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 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, and Big East Regular Season and Big East tournament Championships in 1993. Carlesimo left to coach in the NBA following the 1993–94 season, but Seton Hall returned to the Sweet Sixteen in 2000 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 Prudential Center in 2007.^[3] 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.^[4] Seton Hall then hired Kevin Willard for the 2010–11 season.^[5]

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, 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 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-Big10 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.^[6]

All-time coaching records

Name	Years	Record	Win pct.
William Caffrey	1908–09	10–4	(.714)
Dick McDonough	1909–10	6–2	(.750)
Jim Flanagan	1910–11	4–0	(1.000)
Frank Hill	1911–30	192–75	(.719)
Dan Steinberg	1930–31	12–11	(.522)
Les Fries	1931–33	18–13	(.581)
John Colrick	1933–35	8–22	(.267)
Bob Davies	1946–47	24–3	(.889)
Jack Reitemeier	1947–49	34–12	(.739)
John Russell	1936–43 1949-60	295–129	(.696)
Richard Regan	1960–70	112–131	(.461)
Bill Raftery	1970–81	154–141	(.522)
Hoddy Mahon	1981–82	11–16	(.407)
P.J. Carlesimo	1982–94	212–166	(.561)
George Blaney	1994–97	38–48	(.442)
Tommy Amaker	1997–01	68–55	(.540)
Louis Orr	2001–06	80–69	(.537)
Bobby Gonzalez	2006–10	66–59	(.528)
Kevin Willard	2010–22	225–161	(.583)
Shaheen Holloway	2022–present	42–28	(.600)

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

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

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1988	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 UTEP #1 Arizona	W 80–64 L 55–84
1989	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	#14 Southwest Missouri State #11 Evansville #2 Indiana #4 UNLV #2 Duke #3 Michigan	W 60–51 W 87–73 W 78–65 W 84–61 W 95–78 L 79–80 ^OT
1991	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Pepperdine #11 Creighton #2 Arizona #1 UNLV	W 71–51 W 81–69 W 81–77 L 65–77
1992	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 La Salle #5 Missouri #1 Duke	W 78–76 W 88–71 L 69–81
1993	#2	First Round Second Round	#15 Tennessee State #7 WKU	W 81–59 L 68–72
1994	#10	First Round	#7 Michigan State	L 73–84
2000	#10	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#7 Oregon #2 Temple #3 Oklahoma State	W 72–71 ^OT W 67–65 ^OT L 66–68
2004	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Arizona #1 Duke	W 80–76 L 62–90
2006	#10	First Round	#7 Wichita State	L 66–86
2016	#6	First Round	#11 Gonzaga	L 52–68
2017	#9	First Round	#8 Arkansas	L 71–77
2018	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 NC State #1 Kansas	W 94–83 L 79–83
2019	#10	First Round	#7 Wofford	L 68–84
2022	#8	First Round	#9 TCU	L 42–69

NIT results

The Pirates have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 19 times. Their combined record is 13–19. They were NIT champions in 1953 and 2024.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1941	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Rhode Island Long Island CCNY	W 70–54 L 26–49 L 27–42
1951	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Beloit NC State BYU St. John's	W 71–57 W 71–59 L 59–69 L 68–70
1952	First Round	La Salle	L 76–80
1953	Quarterfinals Semifinals Final	Niagara Manhattan St. John's	W 79–74 W 74–56 W 58–46
1955	First Round	Saint Francis (PA)	L 78–89
1956	First Round Quarterfinals	Marquette Saint Joseph's	W 96–78 L 65–74
1957	First Round	Xavier	L 79–85
1974	First Round	Memphis	L 72–73
1977	First Round	Massachusetts	L 85–86
1987	First Round	Niagara	L 65–74
1995	First Round	Canisius	L 71–83
1998	First Round	Georgia Tech	L 70–88
1999	First Round	Old Dominion	L 56–75
2001	First Round	Alabama	L 79–85
2003	First Round	Rhode Island	L 60–61
2010	First Round	Texas Tech	L 69–87
2012	First Round Second Round	Stony Brook Massachusetts	W 63–61 L 67–77
2023	First Round	Colorado	L 64–65
2024	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final	Saint Joseph’s North Texas UNLV Georgia Indiana State	W 75–72 W 72–58 W 91–68 W 84–67 W 79–77

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 tournament.^[7]

Honored and retired jerseys

No.	Player	Position	Career
Seton Hall Pirates retired numbers
3	Frank Saul	G/F	1942–43, 1946–49
5	Walter Dukes	C	1950–53
8	Bobby Wanzer	G	1942–43, 1946–47
11	Bob Davies	G	1939–42
12	Richie Regan	G	1950–53
24	Terry Dehere	SG	1989–93
34	Glenn Mosley	PF	1973-77
44	Nick Werkman	G	1961–64^[8]

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Year Inducted	Name	Position	Years at Seton Hall
1964	John "Honey" Russell	Coach	1936–1943, 1949–60
1970	Bob Davies	Player/Coach	1939–1942, 1946–47
1987	Bobby Wanzer	Player	1942–1943, 1946–47
2017	Nikos Galis	Player	1975–1979

FIBA Hall of Fame

Year Inducted	Name	Years at Seton Hall
2007	Nikos Galis	1975–1979
2013	Andrew Gaze	1988–1989

Pirates in the NBA

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

Name	Draft Year	Draft Team
Anthony Avent	1991	Atlanta Hawks
Andre Barrett	2004	Undrafted
Mark Bryant	1988	Portland Trail Blazers
Tommy Byrnes	1946	Undrafted
Chuck Connors	1946	Undrafted
Marcus Cousin	2010	Undrafted
Samuel Dalembert	2001	Philadelphia 76ers
Bob Davies	1948	Undrafted
Terry Dehere	1993	Los Angeles Clippers
Ángel Delgado	2018	Undrafted
Walter Dukes	1953	New York Knicks
Bob Fitzgerald	1946	Undrafted
Andrew Gaze	1993	Undrafted
Adrian Griffin	1999	Undrafted
Eddie Griffin	2001	New Jersey Nets
Howie Janotta	1949	Baltimore Bullets
Johnny Macknowski	1948	Rochester Royals
Sandro Mamukelashvili	2021	Indiana Pacers
Mike McCarron	1946	Undrafted
John Morton	1989	Cleveland Cavaliers
Glenn Mosley	1977	Philadelphia 76ers
Al Negratti	1946	Undrafted
Myles Powell	2021	Undrafted
Richie Regan	1953	Rochester Royals
Jared Rhoden	2022	Undrafted
Ed Sadowski	1946	Undrafted
Pep Saul	1949	Rochester Royals
Ben Scharnus	1946	Undrafted
Bobby Wanzer	1948	Rochester Royals
Isaiah Whitehead	2016	Utah Jazz
Luther Wright	1993	Utah Jazz