NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 team finalists for 2023 5-star guard Ja’Kobe Walter
By Ian Mumm
Seton Hall Pirates
The Pirates played very competitively last season losing 7 of their 9 regular-season losses by six points or fewer. As a result of balanced scoring throughout their roster, Seton Hall was able to contend with teams on any given night even though they were only 3-6 against ranked opponents. Leading scorer Jared Rhoden is no longer on the roster, but new head coach Shaheen Holloway is returning a lot of production next season including the addition of lead Clemson guard Al-Amir Dawes.
Beyond next season is where the Pirates roster starts to see a dropoff of talent within its ranks. Dawes, Bryce Aiken, Myles Cale, Jamir Harris, and potentially Kadary Richmond, depending on his timing in pursuing the NBA ranks, will all have moved on from the program. Seton Hall does add a pair of freshman guards next season in Jaquan Harris and Jaquan Sanders as a stop-gap, but the arrival of Walter would still leave uncertainty about how far this team can go without adding more pieces to the puzzle.
This would undeniably be Walter’s team on the other hand and he’d have full control to develop and showcase his talents on both ends of the floor in one of the most storied and respected conferences in the nation.