2020–21 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by eleventh-year head coach Kevin Willard. The Pirates played their home games at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey as members of the Big East Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 14–13, 10–9 in Big East play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East tournament, they defeated St. John's in the quarterfinals before losing to Georgetown in the semifinals.

2020–21 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	14–13 (10–9 Big East)
Head coach	Kevin Willard (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Grant Billmeier Tony Skinn Duane Woodward
Home arena	Prudential Center Walsh Gymnasium

2020–21 Big East men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 18 Villanova	11	–	4		.733			18	–	7		.720
No. 19 Creighton	14	–	6		.700			22	–	9		.710
UConn	11	–	6		.647			15	–	8		.652
St. John's	10	–	9		.526			16	–	11		.593
Seton Hall	10	–	9		.526			14	–	13		.519
Providence	9	–	10		.474			13	–	13		.500
Xavier	6	–	7		.462			13	–	8		.619
Georgetown †	7	–	9		.438			13	–	13		.500
Marquette	8	–	11		.421			13	–	14		.481
Butler	8	–	12		.400			10	–	15		.400
DePaul	2	–	13		.133			5	–	14		.263
† 2021 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Pirates finished the 2019–20 season 21–9, 13–5 in Big East play to finish in a three-way tie for first place; the program's first regular season title since 1992–93. However, the season ended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prior to playing a game in the Big East tournament, which was canceled during the first quarterfinal round game, following a campaign in which the Pirates were projected to receive an at-large bid to the also-canceled 2020 NCAA tournament regardless of how they fared in the Big East tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Quincy McKnight	0	G	6'4"	185	Senior	Bridgeport, Connecticut	Graduated
Anthony Nelson	2	G	6'4"	180	Sophomore	New York City, New York	Transferred to Manhattan
Myles Powell	13	G	6'2"	195	Senior	Trenton, New Jersey	Graduated
Taurean Thompson	15	F	6'11"	235	Senior	New York City, New York	Transferred to Detroit Mercy
Asiah Avent	30	G	6'3"	190	Senior	Springfield, New Jersey	Graduated
Darnell Brodie	32	F	6'9"	265	Sophomore	Newark, New Jersey	Transferred to Drake
Romaro Gill	35	C	7'2"	255	Senior	St. Thomas, Jamaica	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Bryce Aiken	1	G	6'0"	180	Graduate Student	Randolph, New Jersey	Graduate transfer from Harvard. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.
Tray Jackson	2	F	6'9"	205	Sophomore	Detroit, Michigan	Transferred from Missouri. Under NCAA transfer rules, Jackson was initially to sit out 2020–21 season, however due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic the NCAA ruled on December 16, 2020 that all transfers are immediately eligible. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jahari Long PG	Houston, TX	Episcopal HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jul 20, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports:
Dimingus Stevens SG	Washington, DC	Bishop Walsh School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jan 6, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G/F 0 Dimingus Stevens 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Bishop Walsh School Washington, D.C. G 1 Bryce Aiken 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Harvard Randolph, New Jersey F 2 Tray Jackson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Missouri Detroit, Michigan F 4 Tyrese Samuel 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Orangeville Prep Montreal, Quebec G/F 14 Jared Rhoden 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Our Saviour Lutheran School Baldwin, New York G 15 Takal Molson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Canisius Buffalo, New York C 21 Ike Obiagu 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 270 lb (122 kg) RS Jr Florida State Abuja, Nigeria G/F 22 Myles Cale 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Appoquinimink High School Middletown, Delaware F 23 Sandro Mamukelashvili 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Montverde Academy Tbilisi, Georgia G 25 Jahari Long 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Episcopal High School Houston, Texas G 30 Sylwester Granda (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr High School for Environmental Studies Brooklyn, New York C 32 Jeff Ngandu 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Orangeville Prep DR Congo G 33 Shavar Reynolds Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Manchester Township High School Manchester, New Jersey	Head coach Kevin Willard (Pittsburgh) Assistant coach(es) Grant Billmeier (Seton Hall) Tony Skinn (George Mason) Duane Woodward (Boston College) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 12, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 27, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN2		at Louisville	L 70–71	0–1	22 – Mamukelashvili	10 – Mamukelashvili	3 – Tied	KFC Yum! Center  Louisville, KY
November 30, 2020* 9:00 pm, FS1		Iona	W 86–68	1–1	26 – Rhoden	10 – Rhoden	3 – 3 Tied	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
December 2, 2020* 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Rhode Island	L 70–83	1–2	25 – Mamukelashvili	10 – Mamukelashvili	3 – Reynolds	Ryan Center  Kingston, RI
December 4, 2020* 9:00 pm, FS1		vs. No. 21 Oregon	L 70–83	1–3	17 – Reynolds	6 – Mamukelashvili	8 – Reynolds	CHI Health Center Omaha  Omaha, NE
December 6, 2020* 8:00 pm, BTN		at Penn State	W 98–92 OT	2–3	30 – Mamukelashvili	8 – Rhoden	7 – Reynolds	Bryce Jordan Center  State College, PA
December 8, 2020* 5:00 pm, FS1		Wagner	W 78–45	3–3	22 – Rhoden	11 – Rhoden	5 – Reynolds	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
Big East regular season
December 11, 2020 4:30 pm, CBSSN		St. John's	W 77–68	4–3 (1–0)	32 – Mamukelashvili	9 – Tied	5 – Reynolds	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
December 15, 2020 8:00 pm, FS1		Xavier	Postponed due to COVID-19					Cintas Center  Cincinnati, OH
December 17, 2020 9:00 pm, FS1		at Marquette	W 70–63	5–3 (2–0)	17 – Mamukelashvili	8 – Rhoden	7 – Mamukelashvili	Fiserv Forum  Milwaukee, WI
December 20, 2020 4:30 pm, FS1		Providence	L 77–80 OT	5–4 (2–1)	20 – Mamukelashvili	9 – Obiagu	6 – Mamukelashvili	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
December 23, 2020 5:00 pm, FS1		Georgetown	W 78–67	6–4 (3–1)	30 – Cale	12 – Rhoden	6 – Aiken	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
December 30, 2020 7:00 pm, FS1		at Xavier	W 85–68	7–4 (4–1)	18 – Mamukelashvili	8 – Rhoden	6 – Reynolds	Cintas Center  Cincinnati, OH
January 2, 2021 4:30 pm, FS1		Butler	W 68–60	8–4 (5–1)	24 – Mamukelashvili	9 – Mamukelashvili	6 – Mamukelashvili	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
January 6, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1		at No. 7 Creighton	L 53–89	8–5 (5–2)	14 – Mamukelashvili	5 – Mamukelashvili	2 – Tied	CHI Health Center Omaha (1,689) Omaha, NE
January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, FS1		at DePaul	W 76–68	9–5 (6–2)	18 – Rhoden	8 – Mamukelashvili	4 – Reynolds	Wintrust Arena  Chicago, IL
January 16, 2021 3:00 pm, CBSSN		Xavier	Postponed due to COVID-19					Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
January 19, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1		at No. 3 Villanova	L 74–76	9–6 (6–3)	23 – Mamukelashvili	9 – Mamukelashvili	5 – Mamukelashvili	Finneran Pavilion  Villanova, PA
January 22, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1		at Butler	Postponed due to COVID-19					Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
January 27, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1		No. 17 Creighton	L 81–85	9–7 (6–4)	27 – Aiken	9 – Cale	6 – Reynolds	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
January 30, 2021 3:00 pm, FOX		No. 3 Villanova	L 72–80	9–8 (6–5)	13 – Reynolds	9 – Mamukelashvili	3 – 3 Tied	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
February 3, 2021 7:00 pm, FS1		at Providence	W 60–43	10–8 (7–5)	20 – Mamukelashvili	7 – Tied	4 – Reynolds	Alumni Hall  Providence, RI
February 6, 2021 12:00 pm, FOX		at UConn	W 80–73	11–8 (8–5)	22 – Mamukelashvili	7 – Mamukelashvili	3 – Tied	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, CT
February 14, 2021 3:00 pm, FS1		Marquette	W 57–51	12–8 (9–5)	20 – Rhoden	9 – Mamukelashvili	4 – Rhoden	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
February 17, 2021 8:30 pm, FS1		DePaul	W 60–52	13–8 (10–5)	25 – Mamukelashvili	11 – Mamukelashvili	5 – Reynolds	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
February 20, 2021 5:30 pm, CBSSN		at Georgetown	L 75–81	13–9 (10–6)	22 – Mamukelashvili	9 – Rhoden	4 – Tied	Capital One Arena  Washington, D.C.
February 24, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Butler	L 52–61	13–10 (10–7)	14 – Rhoden	6 – Samuel	6 – Reynolds	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,524) Indianapolis, IN
March 3, 2021 6:30 pm, FS1		UConn	L 58–69	13–11 (10–8)	20 – Mamukelashvili	10 – Mamukelashvili	4 – Reynolds	Prudential Center  Newark, NJ
March 6, 2021 7:00 pm, FS1		at St. John's	L 71–81	13–12 (10–9)	15 – Mamukelashvili	10 – Mamukelashvili	4 – Mamukelashvili	Carnesecca Arena  Queens, NY
Big East tournament
March 11, 2021 3:00 pm, FS1	(5)	vs. (4) St. John's Quarterfinals	W 77–69 OT	14–12	20 – Mamukelashvili	16 – Rhoden	4 – Mamukelashvili	Madison Square Garden  Manhattan, NY
March 12, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1	(5)	vs. (8) Georgetown Semifinals	L 58–66	14–13	22 – Rhoden	10 – Mamukelashvili	5 – Mamukelashvili	Madison Square Garden  Manhattan, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	—	—	—	—	—	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—