Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Building each program’s Mount Rushmore

By Brian Foley

KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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WICHITA, KS – MARCH 17: Angel Delgado
WICHITA, KS – MARCH 17: Angel Delgado /

Mount Pirate

Seton Hall History: 1 Final Four, 1 Elite Eight, 2 Sweet 16’s

G Bob Davies (1939-42)
Stats: 11.2 points

Davies’ stats won’t jump off the page, but his impact goes well beyond the box score. Bob Cousy gets credit for inventing the behind-the-back dribble, but it was actually Davies who popularized the move. The ball-handling wizard led Seton Hall to 43 straight wins between 1939 and 1941 and a 55-5 overall record across his three seasons. Both Seton Hall and the Sacramento Kings retired Davies’ No. 11. He won the 1951 NBA title with the Rochester Royals and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

G Terry Dehere (1989-93)
Stats: 19.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals

Dehere was an impact scorer from day one at Seton Hall and he led the charge for the most successful period in school history. Dehere joined the Pirates the year after the program’s run to the National Championship game, and immediately filled the scoring void left by five graduating seniors. Seton Hall advanced to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in his sophomore and junior campaigns and won the Big East during his senior season. Dehere was named Big East Player of the Year as a senior and was a three-time first-team All-Big East honoree.

C Angel Delgado (2014-18)
Stats: 12.1 points, 11.0 rebounds 1.7 assists, 0.8 blocks

When Seton Hall’s 2014 recruiting class got started in South Orange, the Pirates had not made the NCAA Tournament since 2006. Four years later, Seton Hall is fresh off three consecutive tourney appearances as well as a Big East tournament title in 2016. That freshman class included stalwarts like Desi Rodriguez, Khadeen Carrington, and Isaiah Whitehead, but no one grabbed more headlines than Delgado, the double-double machine on the low block for four years. Delgado leaves as the conference’s all-time rebounding leader, a first and second-team All-Big East honoree and the 2015 Rookie of the Year.

HC John “Honey” Russell (1936-43, 1949-60)
Record: 295-129 (.696 winning percentage), 7 NIT appearances

Russell coached Seton Hall for seven years until three straight seasons were cancelled around World War II. He eventually returned to the Seton Hall sidelines in 1949 and led the Pirates on a pair of deep NIT runs, winning the title in 1953. Seton Hall jumped into the rankings several times during Russell’s second stint with the program, including no. 1 overall during the 1952-53 season. Russell was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964.

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