Seton Hall Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Pirates

Seton Hall Basketball has seen a major uptick in their performance over the last five or so years under Kevin Willard. The Pirates have finished 3rd or better in the Big East in all but one season since 2015 prior to last season. Seton Hall had a disappointing end to the season last year after dropping 5 of their last 6 games and missing out on the NCAA tournament.

The Pirates finished 4th in the league, tied with St. John’s, and ended up as the 5-seed in the Big East Tournament where they lost in the second round to eventual champs, Georgetown. The year of COVID is tough to analyze for any team, but Seton Hall had previously made the NCAA tournament each year going back to 2016. Can Kevin Willard and co bounce back and return to the NCAA tournament?

Kevin Willard has reloaded his roster but lost two key starters. Not much needs to be said about Sandro Mamukelashvili. Mamu led the team in minutes (35.5), points (17.5), and rebounds (7.6) per game and is now playing on the Bucks. He also was second on the team in assists per game (3.2, although he also averaged 3.3 turnovers), only behind starting point guard Shavar Reynolds.

Reynolds transferred to Monmouth this offseason but chipped in 7.7 PPG, 4.2 APG, and 1.8 steals a game while shooting just under 38% from deep, on a team that otherwise struggled from outside (32.1% as a team).

All that said, Seton Hall does return nearly 60% of their minutes from last season and has some good size and depth at most positions, particularly in the backcourt. Will this depth, experience, the addition of some talented transfers, a potentially healthy Bryce Aiken, and the 28th ranked recruiting class be enough to propel them back to postseason play? I think it should; let’s take a look at the probable starters.