Seton Hall Basketball: Early profile of current class of 2021 Pirate commits

With the 2020-21 season on deck, the Seton Hall Pirates’ 2021 recruiting class is off to a great start.

Over the past few years, one of the knocks on Seton Hall Basketball head coach Kevin Willard has been his success from a recruiting standpoint.

While it can be debated that his recruiting has consisted of finding the right fits for the program rather than reeling in the top recruits, many Pirates fans have been concerned with his recruiting since his major 2014 recruiting class that brought in the likes of Isaiah Whitehead, Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez, and Ismael Sanogo. The 2021 recruiting class has begun like no other Kevin Willard recruiting class since 2014, even amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

On May 4th, 6-1 PG Ryan Conway from Maryland announced his verbal commitment to Seton Hall. Conway is a dynamic point guard who can score the ball, while also distributing to his teammates. He will bring a strong work ethic, along with a winning prowess to the Hall in 2021.

Conway is currently ranked 142nd in the nation by 247 Sports. When asked about why he chose Seton Hall in an article with the Asbury Park Press’ Jerry Carino, Conway said, “It’s incredible what they’ve done with guards, especially Myles Powell, but just in general, guards seem to excel there. I would love to be the next great guard to come out of there”.

With a strong point guard already committed, Kevin Willard and his coaching staff turned their focus to 2021 wings. On August 8th, Tyler Powell, a 6-6 SF from California, informed the Pirates of his intention to commit to Seton Hall. As a rather unexpected commitment, Seton Hall landed another top player in the 2021 class, with Powell being ranked 131st in the country by 247 Sports.

Powell cited his relationship with Seton Hall assistant coach Grant Billmeier as a major reason for why he chose Seton Hall. Powell is expected to bring his leadership skills to the Pirates, along with his strong work ethic and elite defensive and scoring skills.

Despite already having a very good 2021 wing already committed, the coaching staff did not shy away from other wings in the class. They were able to land the commitment of top-75 wing, Brandon Weston, to their already strong recruiting class. Weston’s commitment helped Seton Hall’s 2021 recruiting class rise to 13th in the nation on 247 Sports.

As the Pirates’ highest-ranked commit since Isaiah Whitehead in 2014, Weston will bring his tough NYC guard skills to the Pirates on all three scoring levels. Weston will be an impact player for the Pirates from the day that he steps on campus in the summer of 2021.

When highlighting why he committed to Seton Hall, Weston mentioned a time when Kevin Willard was on vacation and drove an hour away just to get a good signal in order to go on a Zoom call with Brandon Weston and his family.

While the Pirates already have the 13th ranked recruiting class, they are not done with their 2021 class. With at least two scholarships left to fill, Seton Hall has turned their attention to big men.

Some of their top targets are currently 6-11 center Sam Ayomide, 6-9 forward Ashton Smith, and 6-10 center Micawber Etienne. Ashton Smith recently tweeted that he will be announcing his college decision on October 31st.

Stay tuned to see who the Seton Hall coaching staff will land next in their quest to build one of their best-recruiting classes in the Kevin Willard era.