Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard focused on players’ safety, next year’s roster amid coronavirus pandemic

Under normal circumstances, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard would have been in front of a television with his players watching the Selection Sunday Show on Sunday evening.

He and his players would have then celebrated their high seed — likely a 3 or 4 — and would have prepared to play their first opponent in the NCAA Tournament, probably in Albany.

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Instead, Willard was home with his wife Julie watching a movie and enjoying a glass of wine.

“Something on Netflix, I don’t know,” he told NJ Advance Media Monday by phone, adding that he couldn’t remember the name of the film. “It was alright.”

Things escalated quickly last week. At first, the NCAA Tournament was going to be held without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. By Thursday afternoon, the Big East Tournament had been canceled. And by Friday, the NCAA Tournament was off.

Willard said it dawned on him Thursday night that he might never get to see how far his best team ever could go during March Madness.

“Thursday night, I kind of realized for the first time all season where we were as a program and what we did this year and I was really proud of my kids,” he said.

Seton Hall (21-9, 13-5 Big East) was picked to win the Big East and finished in a three-way tie atop the conference with Creighton and Villanova. The Pirates also notched 10 Quad-1 wins heading into the postseason.

“When you look at the big picture, everybody made the right call,” Willard said. “So from that standpoint, I think it changes your perspective of what could’ve been. It’s more about understanding what’s going on, and right now the only thought process is making sure my players are safe and they have places to go and they have everything they need. That’s really my only thought process right now.”

Willard said his American players like Myles Powell are going home, but that foreign players like Sandro Mamukelashvili (Georgia) Ike Obiagu (Nigeria) can’t travel. Mamukelashvili has an older brother, David, who teaches at Blair Academy in Blairstown, but it’s unclear where he will stay for the time being.

“I got a couple international guys that can’t go home, but most of the local guys are in the process of packing up and going home,” Willard said.

Some analysts, including Dick Vitale and Fran Fraschilla, have come out in favor of the NCAA granting a waiver to senior basketball players allowing them to receive an extra year of eligibility. The NCAA has already approved granting such a waiver to those playing spring sports.

“I think it’s something that I would be in favor for, but I think it’s a complicated issue,” Willard said. “I mean, there’s so many seniors that actually got to play the full season and there’s some that got to play in their conference tournament and then 68 teams’ seniors who didn’t get to play in the NCAA Tournament. If you’re going to do it for one, you’ve got to do it for all, but not all seniors are the same. I don’t think any of my seniors would come back but I’d be in favor for it.”

For now, Willard said he’s met with his players to discuss the future and is already thinking ahead to next year.

Seniors Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill were invited to the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational where they would’ve had a chance to perform in front of NBA scouts, but now that event won’t happen as the NBA is suspended.

Willard also thinks the NBA Draft Combine in May won’t happen, meaning Powell won’t get to perform there. A year ago, he impressed at the G League Combine in Chicago but didn’t receive an invite to the more prestigious NBA Combine.

“It’s going to be a new process because I’m sure the NBA’s not going to do combines and all that stuff,” Willard said. “So it’s more or less just finishing up the school year strong and taking some time to get your body ready to start your professional career.”

As for Powell, Willard said he heard from NBA personnel all year, but “I think they’re all trying to figure out where to go and what to do right now.”

All in-person recruiting has been suspended until April 15. But Willard is already focusing on next year, and said he wants to add a guard and a big man for the 2020-21 season.

“At least two more,” he said. “Definitely a guard and a big.”

The Pirates are involved with several guards including Zion Harmon, who will announce his plans March 24, and Femi Odukale, who recently visited Seton Hall.

As for big men, Seton Hall has been actively involved with Adama Sanogo, the 6-10 big man from The Patrick School who is also considering UConn and Nebraska among others.

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.

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