2008 Seton Hall Basketball Predictions & Season Preview

Written October 21, 2008 by Jack Jones

Head coach Bobby Gonzalez is more known for his antics on the sidelines than he is for the performance of his Seton Hall basketball team and we don’t really see that changing much this year. This is one of those team’s that will probably find themselves in the middle of the Big East pack if they play well, and towards the bottom if they don’t. However, the team should improve down the road with a talented recruit at point guard in Jordan Theodore and a big man down low in center Melvyn Oliver. The NCAA basketball odds makers still think this team needs time though, as BetUS lists Seton Hall at 20-to-1 to win the Big East.

The knock on Oliver is that he comes in at 6′11″ but with 340 pounds to carry around. Still Gonzalez is confident that if the kid can lose some weight he could be dynamite. He’s got great footwork, soft hands, and a soft touch. The good news is that he won’t be thrown in the mix right away since the Pirates actually do have some depth down low. John Garcia has some chronic knee problems that limit him to 20 or so minutes per game, but he’s efficient in his time on the floor. Mike Davis should continue to develop as a sophomore, but is still a project. Robert Mitchell comes over from Duquesne and the fans are excited about it. He put up 16.5 points per game for them back in 2006-07.

Point guard should be set with Theodore learning the ropes from the once highly-touted recruit Eugene Harvey. Harvey had a down year last year but still managed 13.3 points and 4.9 assists per game. A big problem came from the 37 minutes a night he was asked to play, which shouldn’t be a problem with Theodore able to spell him on occasion. Jeremy Hazell will start at the wing after averaging almost 13 points per game, but he needs to be more consistent with his outside shot. Jamel Jackson is a junio college transfer out of Brooklyn. Paul Gause gives the Pirates their defensive stopped on the perimeter. He should be healthy again after breaking a bone in his non-shooting hand and he was second in the nation two years ago in steals.

Final Analysis

This team does have a lot of question marks and will rely on their two young players quite a bit. Some people forget that this team started off 15-6 before their 2-9 late season dive took them to 17-15 and 7-11 in the conference. This team could sneak up on some people and do some damage, but we see Seton Hall ending up in the NIT. That means that the 200-to-1 odds on them winning that national title are not a real solid bet.

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