Seton Hall made big moves on the transfer market this offseason
Kevin Willard starts the post-Sandro Mamukelashvili era leaning heavily on three key transfers. See video of all three new Pirates.
Perhaps no Big East program took advantage of the transfer portal more effectively than Seton Hall last offseason. While the Pirates lost the league’s most versatile player in Sandro Mamukelashvili, the Hall could very well be in the fight for a top 3-4 finish in the Big East thanks to the work Kevin Willard and staff did in the transfer market.
The headliner is Syracuse transfer Kadary Richmond. Richmond’s numbers from his freshman season in Orange won’t pop out at you (6.3 points, 3.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds in 23 minutes per game), but this quote from the typically cantankerous Jim Boehim certainly does, “Outstanding,” he said of Richmond early last season. “He’s really good. We’ve had some really good freshman point guards, and he’s right there with all of them. He’s one of the best point guards in the country, one of the best young guards in the country. He’s one of the best freshman point guards we’ve had in a long time, and we’ve had some good ones.”
The 6’5 Richmond wasn’t always viewed as a star. He was under the radar when he took home MVP honors at the 2018 Providence Jamfest, and his stock slowly began to rise as he made his way from Brooklyn to Brewster Academy to an eventual top 100 national ranking.
Syracuse fans were livid at losing Richmond, but he apparently didn’t want to wait behind the backcourt of Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim.
Richmond become known as one of the best defenders in the ACC, even as a freshman, and he said he looks forward to showcasing more of his offensive game at Seton Hall, “I just felt like I wanted to go somewhere I could play without restrictions and have a chance to showcase my game,” Richmond told The Athletic. “Like, not having to think about certain things out there on the basketball court. More freedom. I learned a lot of things here. One thing I can show people now is that I actually have the ability to shoot the basketball.”
Boeheim called into ESPN Radio in Syracuse and said Richmond hadn’t been restricted, but rather he didn’t want a “10%” three pointer shooter taking threes (Richmond shot 33% last season from deep).
All entertaining drama aside, Seton Hall is getting the transfer with perhaps the highest upside of any newcomer to the league this season. Providence tried to make a push for Richmond, but ultimately they will have to see him at least twice a year going forward.
Richmond showed some of his talent against Duke and NC State a year ago.
Willard also added another transfer guard in Jamir Harris, who started his college career at Minnesota before taking off last year at American. The 6’2 New Jersey native played in just ten games last season due to the pandemic (all of American’s games), but he was terrific when he was on the floor — averaging 20.5 points per game on nearly 44% shooting from three point range. Those numbers were a huge jump for Harris, who put up 10.9 points per game in his first year at American.
As his three point figure from a year ago indicates, Harris is a shooter. Further proof: he shot 93.2% at the free throw line (55-59) during his first season at American.
Last season, he scored 30+ points twice, and went for 18 or more in eight of his ten games. This included games in which he shot 9-15, 5-8, 4-8, and 4-8 from beyond the arc.
Harris has two years of eligibility remaining, and could team with his younger brother, JaQuan, who is committed to the Hall and will be a senior in high school this season.
Seton Hall added a third potential impact transfer in April when former USF big man Alexis Yetna committed. Yetna, a former Putnam Science star, is a native of France who certainly brings experience (he’s 24 years old). He is a former American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, after a rookie season in which he put up 12.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
Yetna has battled injuries over his career, but he provides Willard with good interior options alongside 7’2 Ike Obiagu and the talented tease Tyrese Samuel. Yetna had some huge games this past season, including efforts of 16 points and 15 rebounds versus UCF, 11 points and 14 boards against Wichita State, and 16 and 12 when USF went to Cincinnati.
Here he is going for 26 and 13 against DePaul as a freshman.
Seton Hall certainly has important pieces to replace from last season’s 14-13 club, notably Mamukelashvili and starting point guard Shavar Reynolds (who transferred to Monmouth). Yet, they do return a lot of experience in Jared Rhoden (14.9 points, 6.7 rebounds), Myles Cale (11.6 points), Samuel, and Obiagu — plus, they’ll hope that former Harvard transfer Bryce Aiken (once upon a time an All Ivy performer) can return to form after battling through injuries.
If things break right with the three transfers, Willard will have one of the deeper teams in the Big East next season, and potentially a top 3-4 group in the league.