Big East Basketball: Preseason conference power rankings 2023-24
8. Seton Hall Pirates
Last season: 17-16, 10-10 in the Big East
Head coach Shaheen Holloway won 10 games in the Big East to kick off his career on the Big East sidelines. While the defense ranked 44th as a team in the NCAA in scoring defense (65.1), the offense ranked 268th in scoring offense (68.4 ppg). In Year 2, he’ll have a chance to make some more noise, though he’ll have to show he can do more with less this go-round.
With nine players departing from last year’s lineup, Seton Hall returns just five players to the fold heading into a new year. They’ll add five new faces including three out of the transfer portal as Coach Holloway looks to continue building in South Orange.
Al-Amir Dawes, Dre Davis and Kadary Richmond are a trio of returners who can wreak more havoc on the Big East this season for the Pirates. Elijah Hutchins-Everett (Austin Peay) and Dylan Addae-Wusu (St. John’s) are two transfer portal acquisitions who should contribute as well.
Dawes showed he could hang in the Big East, producing 12.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg and 1.1 spg on 38.2 percent shooting from deep. He finished sixth in the conference in 3-pointers made (78). He’ll look to increase his scoring output with more shot attempts on the horizon for him in his final year of eligibility.
Davis is another presence who should continue to grow at the shooting guard role. He put up 9.6 ppg and 3.3 rpg on 51.7 percent shooting from the field as a reserve across 23 contests in his debut season. He’ll look to show he can provide starter minutes with a rotation that lacks a ton of veteran depth.
Richmond should continue his growth at the small forward/wing role. He’s a two-way playmaking menace at 6-foot-5 who finished 2022-23 with 10.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.1 apg and 2.0 spg. Look for his stock to continue to grow with this rotation.
Addae-Wusu is a name who could see time at the power forward role given his 235-pound frame. He’s shown he can hold his own already in the conference and recently put together a stat line of 9.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.6 spg across 32 appearances (19 starts) with St. John’s this past year. With his ability to rebound and make plays, look for him to play a role in the Seton Hall lineup with three years of conference experience.
Hutchins-Everett joins the Pirates after spending the past two seasons with Austin Peay. He put up 11.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg on 49.4 percent from the floor and can stretch the floor with his shooting behind the arc. The 6-foot-11 big man should shore things up at the center spot, but he’ll need to show he can protect the rim among some top talent in the conference.
After finishing in a tie for sixth place with the Villanova Wildcats, the Pirates find themselves at eighth in the preseason conference power rankings. There’s potential for the trio of Dawes, Davis and Richmond to grow but they’ll need for things to work out with Hutchins-Everett and Addae-Wusu or it could be rough sledding for them.