It’s the start of another year full of new faces when Seton Hall hosts Saint Peter’s Monday night in Newark, N.J., in the season opener for both teams.
“I don’t want to have a new lineup every year — that’s the worst thing in the world,” said veteran Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway. “To bring in 13 new guys … you guys have no idea how hard that is. And I had four guys who came when school started.”
Holloway authored one of college basketball’s biggest turnarounds last season, taking the Pirates to an 11-1 start, a 21-12 finish and fourth place in the Big East. After their NCAA Tournament bubble was popped, the team declined any other postseason bid.
Now the Pirates are breaking in a new group. Standout big man Najai Hines transferred to UConn and point guard Budd Clark left for Ole Miss.
The Pirates were active in the transfer portal, bringing in guard Del Jones, who averaged 17.2 points last season for Radford, and Simeon Wilcher, once a high-rated high school recruit from New Jersey who put up 5.6 points off the bench at Texas last year.
Seton Hall has another intriguing prospect in Terry Copeland, who was the NJCAA Division I Men’s Player of the Year last season at Howard College in Texas. Copeland is from nearby Orange and played high school ball in New Jersey.
Seton Hall was picked ninth in the Big East Conference preseason coaches’ poll.
Saint Peter’s is a member of the Metro Conference after it rebranded from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Last season, the Peacocks finished 17-12 and second in the regular-season standings before being upset in the first round of the conference tournament by Fairfield.
The Peacocks have five players back from last year, including guard Bryce Eaton, who averaged 11.1 points last season and was named Preseason All-Metro First Team.
“I just slowed my mind down,” Eaton said at Metro Conference Tipoff Day when asked how he’s improved. “I move fast so I want to be able to see the court, but stay sharp.”
The Peacocks were picked to finish seventh in the Metro coaches’ poll, but did get a first-place vote.
This will be the fourth season in a row these two teams have opened up against one another. Seton Hall has won the previous three, including a 77-50 win last season.