Update 04/10 7:30PM: Antwan Tennell told Adam Zagoria that Ian Baker is now fully committed to Providence. Earlier this afternoon, Providence sophomore guard Bryce Cotton announced he would be leaving the program. Cotton's announcement likely sealed the deal for Baker.

On March 30th, multiple reports emerged that had one time Seton Hall target, Ian Baker, headed to Providence to serve as a career backup to Kris Dunn. However, the 2012 point guard of Arlington Country Day School (Jacksonville, FL) visited Seton Hall over Easter weekend and is no longer committed to the Friars according to his AAU Coach, Antwan Tennell via William Gunter of 247Sports.

Following Gunter's tweet, Tennell also spoke with Adam Zagoria telling him that Baker is reevaluating his options after learning Providence point guard, Vincent Council is not leaving school for the NBA Draft. Tennell added that Baker's ACDS teammate, 2012 SG Carlos Morris is also hearing from Seton Hall:

He added that Carlos Morris, also of Arlington Country day, is "wide open" and is hearing from Texas A&M, South Carolina, UConn, Seton Hall, St. John's and Xavier and was waiting to take the SAT later this month.

On January 5th, I learned Seton Hall was hoping to receive a visit from the former South Carolina commit and expected they would make a strong push at securing a pledge from Baker. I was among the many surprised to learn Baker appeared content to accept a backup role instead of heading to a program where he could start and run the show, from day one.

There still seems to be a question surrounding his eligibility as he's slated to take the ACT on April 14th, however Baker doesn't foresee it being a problem, telling the Baltimore Sun:

"I'll definitely be [academically] ready. I'm not going to have any problem with" qualifying.

In other 2012 PG news:

• Former Pirates target, Madison Jones (Ravenscroft, NC) is headed to Wake Forest. The Pirates previously offered Jones, but when he announced in the fall he would sign with Seton Hall or American, the word around the Pirates was that they were not willing to accept a commitment. However, Seton Hall stayed in communication with Jones and the player continued to list the Pirates throughout his entire recruitment all the way up until his decision.
• Daiquan Walker (Constitution High, PA) and his teammates won the PA State title (PIAA Class A) on March 23rd in front of Kevin Willard who attended both the semi final and championship games hosted at Penn State. Last week Adam Zagoria reported the Pirates are still working hard on a commitment from Walker, however he may end up prepping next season.
• JUCO PG Trivante Bloodman (Olney CC, Illinois) took an official visit to Seton Hall in March and was recently watched by Pittsburgh and Western Kentucky. Bloomdman will visit Milwaukee on Friday according to Zagoria and possibly Western Kentucky in the days after.
• Former Mississippi State commit Josh Gray, spoke with new Bulldogs Head Coach, Rick Ray and still plans on asking for his release. Ray believes Gray is open to remaining a Bulldog and recommitting to Mississippi State for the third time. I can't wait until Gray's name lands on a dotted line, somewhere, anywhere. I've spent far too much time following his multiple recruitments. The only thing we know for certain -- Gray seems to be loving the attention as he retweets every potential secondary recruiting violation that is sent his way from multiple fan bases. Seriously, scroll through his page.

Derrick Gordon, a freshman shooting guard from Western Kentucky has decided to transfer. The news was first reported by the WKUHerald and later confirmed by Gordon. The former St. Patrick's (NJ) star intends to choose a landing spot closer to his Plainfield, New Jersey home with Seton Hall reportedly among one of his considerations. In a statement this afternoon, Gordon said:

I have gone back-and-forth with this for many months. It is important to me that my family be able to see me play more frequently and for me to be able to visit everyone, including my brother, more regularly, and I believe it is best for me to continue my playing career closer to home.

This afternoon, Adam Zagoria caught up with St. Patrick's head coach, Chris Chavannes:

Gordon is considering Dayton, Seton Hall, Penn State and Virginia Tech, St. Patrick coach Chris Chavannes told SNY.tv.

However, Gordon then told Jeff Goodman there is no list, though he would like to land in New Jersey at a school where he can refine his point guard skills. He also spoke on the reason behind the transfer:

"It honestly had nothing to do with the coaching staff," Gordon told CBSSports.com. "I want to get back towards New Jersey, so my family can watch me play and so I can see my brother."

This season, Gordon averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in 33 minutes for the Hilltoppers despite shooting just 37% and 27% from deep. Due to their scholarship situation, the Pirates aren't in a position to hand out schollies to many transfers, especially those who will not be granted a hardship waiver. That said, there will always be exceptions and Gordon may just be one of them.

Gordon's poor 3PT shooting doesn't exactly fit Coach Willard's system, but the possibility of adding a scoring/rebounding guard to the Pirates backcourt in 2013 can not be overlooked. Of course, whether the Pirates choose to target Gordon will depend on how quickly he decides on his next school and what other 2012 recruiting options the Pirates are faced with. If they can bring in a player who will contribute immediately, they have an easy decision on their hands. However, if they need to decide between a player that will take a couple years to develop and Derrick Gordon, it might be wise to roll with the latter. That all said, a 2012 point guard is this program's number one priority and we will have a recruiting roundup focusing on the search later this weekend.

Derrick Gordon St. Patrick's Highlights:

Update 3/28, 2pm: The Star Ledger is reporting that St. Patrick High School will attempt to stay open at year's end by reclassifying as a private school. The school plans to keep the name, but move to a new, undetermined site in Elizabeth.

Original Story: Aquille Carr raised many eyebrows last week as he announced that he would be transferring to St. Patrick's. Today, it became official as Carr transferred from Patterson (MD) to the basketball powerhouse, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Of course, the move comes as a surprise to many as the school is expected to close at year's end due to poor enrollment and financial struggles.

Why would Carr enroll at St. Pat's if they plan on locking up the doors? Well, the Baltimore Sun reports that Carr made the move to catch up on core classes that will allow him to graduate after his senior season. It gets stranger, Carr proceeded to tell the sun that he plans on returning to Baltimore, next year:

"I'm coming back to the city," Carr said. "I don't know where -- most likely Patterson."

I know Carr is loyal to his city and all, but that just doesn't make very much sense academically or on the court. No matter what the case may be, hopefully the future Pirate gets his academics in order at St. Patrick's so we don't find outselves guessing where he will play in 2013.

In a post to Zagsblog this afternoon, Adam Zagoria reports on Seton Hall's involvement with 2012 JUCO PG Trivante Bloodman (Olney Central College, IL), who will be taking an official visit on Sunday. Zags caught up with Olney Assistant, Dan Matic who spoke on his player's upcoming visit to Seton Hall:

"He’s doing the official this weekend to Seton Hall," Olney assistant Dan Matic told SNY.tv by phone. "He gets there tomorrow [Sunday]."

Since Bloodman was a qualifier coming out of high school (Wadleigh, NY), he can transfer to Seton Hall after just one year at Junior College, leaving three years of eligibility remaining. This season for Olney, Bloodman averaged 15.4pts/2.6reb/3ast/1.8stl & 2.7 turnovers over the course of 28 games.

Currently, Bloodman holds offers from Texas Tech, Cleveland State, Nebraska - Omaha, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Missouri State and Utah State and plans on visiting Cleveland State and Texas Tech in the weeks following his visit to Seton Hall.

Highlights of Trivante Bloodman playing for Wadleigh High:

Seton Hall commit, 2013 PG Aquille Carr (Patterson HS, MD), announced this morning that he will transfer for his senior year of high school. Although a landing spot has not been determined at this time, Carr did tweet (and has since deleted), "St. Patrick's, NJ," the New Jersey powerhouse that is expected to close at year's end. That said, it would be of no surprise to see Carr land at a destination in New Jersey, one year before he plans to enroll at Seton Hall.

National Invitational Tournament - Round 2
	vs.
(23-11)		(21-12)
March 17th, 2012
Walsh Gymnasium, South Orange, NJ
11:00AM
ESPN
Probable Starters
Chaz Williams	PG	Jordan Theodore
Jesse Morgan	SG	Aaron Cosby
Terrell Vinson	SF	Fuquan Edwin
Raphiael Putney	PF	Patrik Auda
Sean Carter	C	Herb Pope
Twitter
@SOrangeJuice, @JPGuerette, @robertmanganaro
Opening Line (Seton Hall -8.5)

The Seton Hall season has lasted longer than Duke and Missouri's. Ok, so that argument doesn't hold up when considering the NIT, but after a crazy opening round of the NCAA Tournament we're settling in waking up to Round 2 of the National Invitational. It's St. Patrick's Day and what better way to begin your celebrations this Saturday than with another Seton Hall postseason victory.

Winning their first NIT contest in the last 56 years, Seton Hall was able to sleep walk past a pesky Stony Brook team that missed game winning AND tying attempts allowing the Pirates to advance to weekend play. If the Pirates expect to see the quarterfinals, they'll need a 40-minute effort against a very good and high scoring (23rd) UMass team who has defeated 3 tournament teams this season. Enjoy your kegs and eggs folks and remember to get loud in Walsh!

As always, Let's Go Hall.

Pre Game Extras:

Seton Hall C Aaron Geramipoor is expected to miss his 6th straight game as he continues to battle a sports hernia.

Mississippi State signee, 2012 PG Josh Gray (Wheatley, TX), has requested a release from his LOI following the resignation of head coach, Rick Stansbury. After originally committing to the Bulldogs, Gray re-opened his recruitment and considered Seton Hall, Memphis and Houston before he ended up signing a letter of intent with Mississippi State. It's unlikely that he'd receive his release until a new coach is hired, but I'm told the Pirates will indeed reach out to Gray if and when that happens. Connecticut (and their postseason ban) is also showing interest in Gray following his request to open up his recruitment.

Seton Hall won their first NIT game in nearly 56 years on Tuesday night, defeating Stony Brook 63-61, to draw UMass at Walsh Gymnasium in the second round. With 59 seconds remaining in regulation and the Pirates leading by two, Seton Hall had little desire to execute a two-for-one possession and were forced into a well-defended Theodore jumper with 19 seconds remaining. Stony Brook ripped down the rebound as the ball clanked off the rim and called timeout to set up the final possession.

Everyone watching was aware of Stony Brook's one intention - get the ball to Bryan Dougher (12pts/5reb/3ast) for the game winning 3-point attempt. Sure enough, Dougher took the ball at the top of the key, but took most of the air out of the clock before passing to the wing, receiving the return pass at the top and firing a 28-footer. I was certain the shot was going to fall as Dougher's range is incredible, having hit 4 deep ones earlier in the night. Fortunately, the shot attempt missed badly, but a failed Pirates box out left Tommy Brenton (13 rebounds) wide open for a tip-in. Luckily, the attempt didn't find the net and the Pirates survived.

The Pirates opened the game FULL of energy against a visibly intimidated Seawolves team, building a 12-2 lead over the first 9 minutes. Fuquan Edwin (4pts/6stl) recorded FIVE steals in the first ten minutes and the Pirates had Stony Brook on the ropes before they could even record their second field goal of the game. The 'wolves refused to lay and die, answering Seton Hall's 12-0 run with a 16-8 run of their own as the Pirates once inspired play quickly turned flat. With a ball game on their hands, the two teams traded buckets culminating with Pope and Rouse hitting from distance in the closing seconds to give Seton Hall a slim 32-30 cushion at the break.

If Stony Brook fans have a gripe with this ballgame, it's a legitimate one. With the Wolves trailing by 5, and 8 minutes remaining in the game, their starting point guard Dave Coley drove and extended his arm into Theodore and was called for his fourth foul. When he realized he didn't receive the block he was expecting, he waved one hands at the officials and turned his back. The zebras called a technical foul on what I assume, was deemed a, "demonstrative" expression, which accounted for Coley's 5th, fouling him out. The officials have to look the other way in that situation, unless Coley said something extreme that we're not aware of, the refs made an absolutely horrendous call there. Taking anyone's starting PG out of the game with 8 minutes to go in a tournament setting will severely cripple a team, however, the 'Wolves were able to adjust and take this one to the wire.

As has been the case for the majority of the season, the Pirates were led by monster stat-lines from their seniors Jordan Theodore (21pts/6ast/3reb/3stl) and Herb Pope (20pts/9reb/4stl/4blk) who combined for an efficient 15-of-27 from the floor. For large stretches of the night, it appeared as the two seniors were the only Pirates interested in extending their season as they received little help from their teammates. Luckily, Aaron Cosby recovered from the flu and his 0-for-7 shooting night against Louisville to contribute 10 points and added two triples, which will surely help the shooter's confidence going forward.

The Pirates escaped this evening despite not putting forth anything resembling a great effort, but the old adage stands, a win is a win. Although they were abused and nearly doubled up (42-22) on the glass, they relied on their seniors to extend their season and Theodore and Pope came through offensively. Will the same effort be enough to defeat the Massachusetts Minuteman in round-2 of the NIT? That's unlikely, but it will be the second time these two teams meet this season. The Pirates held a closed-door scrimmage against UMass in early November also at Walsh gym, when the Pirates reportedly hung a 30-spot on them. It goes without saying, we'll have a much closer contest the second time around as the winner will advance to the Quarterfinals and find themselves one game from the Garden.

We'll have much more to come tomorrow on SOJ with JP's 5 thoughts.

National Invitational Tournament - Round 1
	vs.
(22-9)		(20-12)
March 13th, 2012
Walsh Gymnasium, South Orange, NJ
7:15PM
ESPN3
Probable Starters
Dave Coley	PG	Jordan Theodore
Bryan Dougher	SG	Aaron Cosby
Tommy Brenton	SF	Fuquan Edwin
Dallis Joyner	PF	Patrik Auda
Al Rapier	C	Herb Pope
Twitter
@SOrangeJuice, @JPGuerette, @robertmanganaro
Opening Line (Seton Hall -12.5)

On Tuesday evening, Seton Hall will return to Walsh, their on-campus gymnasium for the first time in 11.5 years and will attempt to win it's first NIT contest in nearly 56. After narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament, the Pirates have been invited back to the NIT for the second time in the last three years. Of course, we know what happened against Texas Tech, so there's no need to re-hash the awful memories, let's just focus on the present, shall we? Should the Pirates handle business against Steve Pikiell's Stony Brook Seawolves, they'll host at least one more game at Walsh, sometime between, Thursday and Sunday.

Obviously, the biggest question of the evening is, "Which Pirates team will show up?" Consistency has been the Pirates biggest achilles heel this season and I'm certainly wondering whether the, "NCAA-Snub," will weigh on their minds and present itself in their performance, this evening. Will Coach Willard have the players mentally prepared and focused to take care of business against a clearly inferior (on paper) team? The NIT can and should be a tremendous learning experience for our young guys. Hopefully, that learning experience is a positive one.

As always, Let's go Hall!

The Pirates are in!

Despite the NCAA declaring that Seton Hall was their fifth team out, they received a # 1 seed in the National Invitational Tournament and will take on the Stony Brook Seawolves (22-9, 14-2) on Tuesday night (7:15) at Walsh Gymnasium. The Seawolves won the regular season America East championship, before falling to Vermont in the tournament championship. If Seton Hall advances, they will face the winner of Mississippi State and UMass in the second round. St. Joe's (2), along with future Big East member, UCF (6), Drexel (3) and Northern Iowa (7) make up the bottom half of Seton Hall's region. The Pirates could potentially host three home games, before the Final Four is held at Madison Square Garden.

After drawing an attendance of just 1,829 in their last NIT appearance against Texas Tech, Seton Hall has decided that it will host the game at historic, Walsh Gymnasium. About 2600 can be packed into Seton Hall's on-campus arena, which will hold it's first non-exhibition mens game in over a decade. The game falls during Seton Hall's spring break, however, if the students decide to show up, the Pirates could potentially have a raucous home court advantage on their hands.

As always, Let's Go Hall.

VOTE!

If the Seton Hall Pirates (20-11, 9-10) miss the NCAA Tournament this year, they'll be just the 6th Big East team out of 153 to do so after winning 20 contests. After falling behind 9-0 in the first 5 minutes of the game, Seton Hall swung back and took the legs out of the Friars, delivering an early knockout en route to a 79-47 first round laugher Tuesday night. Rebounding from one of his worst performances of the season at DePaul, Jordan Theodore may have just tuned in his best. Not of the year, but the best of his Seton Hall career. In the biggest game of his life, a literal, 'win-or-end your collegiate career' scenario, Theodore DAZZLED under the Madison Square Garden lights.

The senior point guard declared he would have the Pirates ready for Tuesday night and ONCE AGAIN, backed up his words. Earlier in the season, Theodore made a similar guarantee before leading the Pirates to a road win at Piscataway. JT set a new career high in assists and finished one shy of the Big East Tournament record, dishing out 13 dimes versus just one turnover. Theo also made good on 5-of-11 from the floor to finish his night with 13 points and 4 rebounds.

His teammates fed off his energy and hustle throughout the night, the Captain even took his patented on the ball charge with 8 minutes left and Seton Hall leading by TWENTY-THREE! His effort was contagious, the Seton Hall defensive rotations were crisp late in the ballgame, even in the midst of a blow-out. Obviously, all good signs for a team that will possibly play multiple back-to-back games in this tournament setting. What a difference from the effort at DePaul, they showed up at the Garden FOCUSED. Prior to the game, I noted that we would need to see the Jordan Theodore that willed the Pirates to victories over RU and PU one month ago if they wanted to advance in the BET. Instead, we got a leader who refused to play his last basketball game for our Seton Hall Pirates. One week after falling on his face in Chicago, Theodore defined perfection in Manhattan.

Trailing 9-0 early, Fuquan Edwin stopped the bleeding hitting a three and sparking a 21-3 Seton Hall run, en route to closing out the half with a 36-14 advantage over the final 15 minutes. Brandon Mobley was pivotal in the Pirates turnaround, hitting his first 5 FG attempts to lead all scorers (tied with Pope) with 16 points and 9 rebounds. I'd be surprised if Mobley didn't regain his starting nod after he was forced into early action due to Patrik Auda's (11pts/4reb) foul trouble. I've always been a believer of starting your best 5 players and in this setting, it's absolutely necessary. We can't get off to another slow start tomorrow, (apologize for flashbacks of UL, last year), or we may not be able to recover.

The flu and a 103-degree fever earlier in the day wouldn't be enough to keep fellow freshman, Aaron Cosby out of action tonight. Cos' came off the bench to sink two big 3-pointers for the Pirates in the first half, his first make tied the game at 11, his second extended the Pirates lead to 19-11. He wouldn't score the rest of the way as he only logged 17 minutes, but he left his mark on the game when the Pirates started to pull away. Hopefully he feels better tomorrow and is able to give a few additional minutes against Louisville. Starting for Cosby, Haralds Karlis added 3 points in 29 minutes, but to be fair, his offense wasn't exactly needed, he played well defensively and also recorded a steal.

Fresh off being robbed for Big East defensive player of the year, Fuquan Edwin turned in another outstanding and stat-filled performance contributing 12 points to go along with his 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists. Herb Pope was also efficient on offense this evening, hitting 6-of-10 from the field on his way to 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Turf toe and all, Pope went to the rim as hard as we've seen him all season. Despite getting into a bit of foul trouble early, he played smart basketball over the course of the final 30 minutes and was able to record 24 minutes of action tonight despite the foul trouble and toe injury. This team will only go as far as Theodore and Pope can take them and when Herb's getting the ball inside and getting off clean looks, the team will find themselves in position to win a few here at MSG.

Well, Rick Pitino has declared the Seton Hall Pirates "IN," so, there's that. Lunardi, Palm, all of us, Jay Williams and his eye test, should just relax and breath easy for the rest of the week. Ok, not quite. The Pirates are not in the clear as of yet, but they're a hell of a lot closer than they were a few hours ago. Literally speaking, their RPI has jumped from 60 before the game, to 53 afterwards. As I mentioned during the game, this team has responded best with their backs against the wall and they've faltered when confidence has been highest. By the time this post is published, hopefully the team has finished tonight's celebration and started their game preparation in advance of Louisville. Heads down, remain focused and just win one more and there will be time to celebrate later this week. On Sunday evening.

Big East Tournament - Round 1
	vs.
(15-16, 4-14)		(19-11, 8-10)
March 6th, 2012
Madison Square Garden, NY, NY
7:00PM
ESPNU
Probable Starters
Vincent Council	PG	Jordan Theodore
Bryce Cotton	SG	Aaron Cosby
Gerard Coleman	SF	Fuquan Edwin
LaDontae Helton	PF	Patrik Auda
Bilal Dixon	C	Herb Pope
Twitter
@SOrangeJuice, @JPGuerette, @robertmanganaro
Opening Line (Seton Hall -4)

With a victory, the Pirates survive and advance to take on Louisville tomorrow evening. With a loss, they'll play host to an NIT game in front of a sparse Prudential Center crowd next Tuesday or Wednesday. Multiple opportunities to earn their first NCAA berth since 2006 have already been squandered.

After ending their season with two bad losses, it's remarkable that the Pirates still have one (two, if they win tonight) chance to hear their name on Selection Sunday. Winning twice won't be easy, as evidenced by the outcomes of last week's games, but nonetheless, here we are. Where there's a will, there's a way, we just haven't seen that will in two chances already. Third time's a charm.

As always, LET'S GO HALL!

After a potential season crushing loss at DePaul, the Pirates were sent back to New Jersey understandably reeling, both emotionally and physically. Failing to take advantage of two golden opportunities to lock up a bid against Rutgers or DePaul last week, Seton Hall is left with work to do in the Big East Tournament. Unfortunately, if they're going to help their cause at MSG beginning Tuesday against Providence, they'll likely have to do so with a limited rotation.

Today, we learned that Aaron Cosby is battling the flu. He'll be a game-time decision tomorrow evening, but I'm hearing, "it is not looking good." Later in the afternoon, Herb Pope was spotted at the University's Recreation Center, sporting an aircast walking boot, nursing a toe injury he sustained at the end of the first half on Saturday. Pope was able to play through the pain in the second half against DePaul. One source tells me, he's "absolutely 100%" playing tomorrow, while another expects him to play, but it's, "still too early to know."

Even if Pope can go against Providence, you have to wonder about his effectiveness and whether or not he'll be able to give extended minutes. Should the Pirates advance, there's obviously the concern of how Pope will hold up through back-to-back(s). Making matters worse, Aaron Geramipoor is not expected to play, meaning Patrik Auda and Brandon Mobley will have to continue spelling Pope down low. I think Pope will give it a go, but first and foremost, Seton Hall needs to start playing a brand of team basketball that has been absent for over a week. Whether they can get that done with a rotation of just seven or eight players remains to be seen.

Ding-dong, the NCAA dream is DEAD.

D-E-A-D. Present me as many ridiculously absurd, unconventional Big East Tournament miracle scenarios that you can think of. Seriously, it will be COMICAL. After an 86-58 loss at DePaul on Saturday evening, the Pirates do not even deserve a berth to the BIG EAST TOURNAMENT. Some dude, a freshman named JAMEE, "the King of the Wild Frontier" Crockett, came off the bench to bury Seton Hall's season and any kind of NCAA tournament hope that remained. Seton Hall allowed Crockett to camp around the perimeter throughout the evening, drilling 5-of-7 three-pointers to finish with 21 points. A freshmen, off the bench and with nothing on the line, outplayed TWO Seton Hall seniors who were playing for an NCAA berth. And it wasn't even close.

Herb Pope (16pts/5reb) had his way inside early on, but for some strange reason, he spent entirely too much time around the perimeter once again. Despite making 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, Pope and Seton Hall had an opportunity to take advantage inside against DePaul's front line, but declined. Another game brought us more missed layups and bunnies from Pope who only finished with 5-rebounds against an undersized team in the biggest game of his life. Unbelievable.

Jordan Theodore (10pts/3ast/5 TURNOVERS), wanted to dance so bad that he could 'smell-taste-hear it,' but he played tight and timid, often having difficulty just handling the basketball. Seriously, he dribbled off his own foot in the open floor. Jordan's mind wasn't in the game in what was also HIS biggest game of his career. Never did I imagine Theodore would fall on his face in a huge spot, but he did.

This loss was absolutely deflating, the Pirates surprisingly overachieved this season and found themselves in a terrific position to beat either Rutgers at home or DePaul on the road to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. A talented team no doubt, and there's no doubt, they failed. Their fate is sealed and they'll be headed to the NIT Tournament for the second time in three years, though I've got absolutely no confidence that they'll make any noise once they get there. It will be interesting to see how many fans show up at the Rock for the NIT; as one caller put it on Hall Line, if the players don't care, why should we? Seton Hall's has at least one game in the Big East Tournament (if SJU beats RU, it'll be DePaul again) and one game in the NIT remaining, if it can get any worse than this, fortunately, there won't be many more games for us to witness it. There will be much more to come on SOJ in the coming days and we kindly remind you to please keep it clean in the comments, folks.

Game #30
	vs.
(19-10, 8-9)		(11-18, 2-15)
March 3rd, 2012
Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
6:00PM
SNY
Probable Starters
Jordan Theodore	PG	Brandon Young
Aaron Cosby	SG	Charles McKinney
Fuquan Edwin	SF	Jeremiah Kelly
Patrik Auda	PF	Cleveland Melvin
Herb Pope	C	Krys Faber
Twitter
@SOrangeJuice, @JPGuerette, @robertmanganaro
Opening Line Seton Hall (-4.5)

Welcome to March and Game #30. One week after having Rutgers spoil their Senior Night at the Rock, the Pirates will aim to do the same to the Blue Demons out in Chicago. With a victory, Seton Hall will finish their 2011-12 campaign with 20 wins and a 9-9 conference record, a feat that every single Pirates fan would have signed off on prior to the season.

More importantly, a win would move Seton Hall closer to locking up an at-large berth for the NCAA Tournament. We've continuously thrown around the stat that 49 of 55 teams finishing 9-9 in the BEAST have made the tournament, so the numbers are clearly in the Pirates' favor with a road victory today. In my eyes, the Pirates may not lock up a berth with a win this evening, but it puts them pretty damn close.

It's been a wild, exciting and sometimes stressful ride this season, but here's hoping for a little success in the second (BET) season, while the third (NCAA) is less than two weeks away.

As always, LETS GO HALL.

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Continue reading this post »

Super talented designer/illustrator and Seton Hall alumnus, Ben Douglass is at it again. The man behind the SOJ logo presents these DOPE Pirates desktops right in time for the Rutgers game and potential postseason play. I've already set two computers to these desktops and I can't think of a better way to get on the nerves of your Scarlet Knight co-workers. Visit, his website to check out his work and download either desktop formatted for both Mac & PC. Thanks Ben!

I'm excited to announce an offer exclusively for readers of South Orange Juice, 10% off XZipit's Home Office Chair:

Watch the Seton Hall Pirates from your own customized chair brought to you by XZipit.com. XZipit Furnishings from Dreamseat has an Interchangeable Logo Panel System that allows you to zip in and out custom and licensed logos on all XZipit furniture. Officially licensed logo panels include: MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, Colleges, Marvel Comics, CFL, Armed Forces, and much more.

Using promo code: pirates you will get 10% off of your total purchase from XZipit, who is also offering free shipping and one free panel with every order. The promotion is good through March, 13th. For those on the fence, I will be posting a review of my personal chair right here on SOJ, Monday evening.

The Seton Hall Pirates needed one very big win on their tournament resume before submitting it to the committee for their dancing approval. Tonight, they recorded EXACTLY that, embarrassing the Georgetown Hoyas in Newark by a score of 73-55. Georgetown was outmatched in nearly every aspect of the game as the Pirates jumped on them in the closing minutes of the first half and cruised to a laugher in the second. Led by Jordan Theodore's career high 29 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, the Hoyas had no answer for the senior-led team that simply needed this one more. Theodore's running mate, Herb Pope, did his part with 12 points and 6 boards, but the evening belonged to Jordan.

Tonight was easily the best I've ever seen Theodore shoot the ball, nailing a PERFECT 5-of-5 from long range, a PERFECT 8-of-8 from the stripe and even peppered a pair of beautiful pull up mid-range jumpers. It was an absolute perfect ball game from the senior who now has one foot squarely on the dance floor. As I mentioned after the loss to Cincinnati, there's no Pirate I trust more to will his team to victory than JT and we saw it again, this evening. In fact, we've seen it in three of the last four Pirate wins -- the St. John's massacre excluded.

Team basketball was on full display for the Pirates from the opening tip. The m/2/m and 2-3 looks that the Pirates threw out early were leagues better than what we saw in Cincinnati. Though a little slow to close out on 3-point attempts in the first half, the Hoyas were just hitting from ridiculous range, shots that clearly had little chance of carrying over into the second. The Hoyas drilled 4 from deep in the first and only one in second, finishing the night 5-of-15 from downtown.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Pirates made 25 buckets from the floor, 18 of which were assisted, an absolutely ridiculous statistic. The most remarkable stretch (other than Theodore turning the lights off) might have been from the 4:36 mark in the first half. Herb Pope picked up his 2nd personal foul and was relegated to the bench for the rest of the first with Seton Hall leading 25-23. Instead of the Pirates allowing Georgetown to take advantage and flip the momentum heading into the break, they buckled down and closed out on a 10-5 run to extend their lead to 7. The team responding to one of their seniors on the bench in foul trouble was the turning point in this one as it allowed the Pirates to ride their confidence straight into the second half.

Though Georgetown shot the ball pretty well over the first 3/4ths of the game, Seton Hall simply had the hotter hand. For every bucket Georgetown made to keep the deficit within reach, Seton Hall would answer with two of their own. The Pirates finished the night a SCORCHING 61% from the floor AND 61% from distance, I'd say those are absolutely two formulas for success.

The BIG EAST's steals leader, Fuquan Edwin chipped in another four swipes to go along with his 10 points and 5 rebounds. Patrik Auda in his regained starting role for Seton Hall was impressive despite a pair of missed layups in the first half. Auda's problem this evening was putting the ball on the floor. He had two clean looks for buckets, but putting the ball on the hardwood allowed his defenders to come in with pressure, altering Auda's layup attempts. This is a happy recap after all, so we'll focus the attention on Auda's strong play, recording 7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. Talk about well rounded play. This evening was absolutely Auda's most complete game of the season and a welcome sign as the Pirates head towards the postseason.

Despite coming off the bench for the first time in the last seven games, Brandon Mobley was impressive making 5-of-6 with his sole miss coming from behind the arc. Mobley's full offensive arsenal was on display tonight, bringing his defender out to the perimeter (although missing his attempt), a pair of mid-range jumpers and tough athletic finishes around the tin. With Auda and Mobley both playing at a high level, Kevin Willard has a phenomenal problem on his hands of who to start and who to bring off the pine. Fellow freshman, Aaron Cosby had a pair of big buckets early in the second half. First, he hit a long two that extended Seton Hall's lead to it's largest (to that point) at 9. Hollis Thompson answered with a big 3-pointer as Georgetown looked intent to hang around for the evening. Cosby immediately answered with a deep 3-pointer of his own to ensure that instead, the Hoyas would be going away, for good. Following another JT 3-pointer on Seton Hall's next possession, the Hoyas would fail to get closer than 11 in the final 17 minutes as the Pirates cruised to the finish line.

The Pirates have their dancing shoes on. The laces might be untied as of yet, but one foot is planted on the marley hardwood, while the other looks for the courage to bust a move. After watching Theodore lead his team to a crushing defeat of Georgetown this evening, I fully expect to see a repeat performance come Saturday, on senior night, against Rutgers. After that, a date at DePaul stands in the way of the Pirates first berth since 2006. As we've been saying for weeks around these parts, one game at a time. The dance will be waiting.

Game #28
	vs.
(20-5, 10-4)		(18-9, 7-8)
February 21st, 2012
The Prudential Center, Newark, NY
7:00PM
SNY
Probable Starters
Markel Starks	PG	Jordan Theodore
Jason Clark	SG	Aaron Cosby
Nate Lubick	SF	Fuquan Edwin
Hollis Thompson	PF	Brandon Mobley
Henry Sims	C	Herb Pope
Twitter
@SOrangeJuice, @JPGuerette, @robertmanganaro
Opening Line (Georgetown -2)

Despite failing to compete against Cincinnati for the better part of action Saturday, Seton Hall still controls their own NCAA Tournament destiny. In fact, many believe the Pirates can still punch a ticket regardless of what plays out during the Big East Tournament. The catch? They must win out and that begins tonight, at The Rock against the 9th ranked team in the nation, the Georgetown Hoyas.

The Pirates have been a tough out at home this year, only falling twice (ND, LOU) in consecutive losses during their six-game slide. Slow starts have been the Pirates achilles heel in the majority of their losses this season and it goes without saying, that's absolutely not an option tonight. Oh, and Herb Pope got tatted up for the game.

As always, Let's Go Hall!