Zielonka: Rhoden, Cale, other seniors are leaving Seton Hall in a great spot
"I'm grateful for that forever," Jared Rhoden said. "Seton Hall basketball changed my life."
NEWARK – I always listen when Jared Rhoden opens his mouth to speak. There are few college athletes I know as thoughtful and well-spoken in interviews and press conference settings as the Seton Hall senior star.
This season, Rhoden had to step up in a role previously occupied by Sandro Mamukelashvili and Myles Powell before that. Not only the Pirates’ leading scorer, but the face of the program, the role model for underclassmen on their way up.
Now Rhoden, Myles Cale and Ike Obiagu have played their final game at the Prudential Center, a 73-68 win over a hungry Georgetown team aiming for its first league win. These Pirates wouldn’t let the Hoyas spoil their night.
“It means the world to us. I just think it’s a testament to what Seton Hall is about,” Rhoden said. “All the long, hard work we’ve had here, all the times, the good times, the bad times.
“It’s sad... I’m just at a loss for words.”
Cale pointed out something else: The Pirates didn’t win last year’s Senior Night game for Sandro. They didn’t win the year before for Powell. “We didn’t want to go out like that,” Cale said.
They won’t. Whatever happens from here on out, the Rhoden/Cale class has brought Seton Hall basketball back to its pre-pandemic heights.
Don’t forget, the 2019-20 Pirates won a share of the regular-season Big East title and were viewed as a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament the week the pandemic shut everything down. Last season, they faded down the stretch and missed the field of 68.
No fading in 2022. The Pirates are 7-2 since the start of February. Their nonconference wins over Texas, Michigan and Rutgers hold up – in all likelihood, those are three fellow tournament teams we’re talking about.
To the senior class, and to coach Kevin Willard, everything they did week after week was about maintaining the culture established by players who came before.
“Consistent effort, consistent attitude, consistent work ethic,” Willard said of his seniors. “I never had an issue with these guys from the standpoint of, they all came in when the program started to really take off. They took a lot of pride in keeping it where the program is. I think that’s what I love about this group, is that they took a lot of pride in keeping the program to where the guys before had gotten it.”
As long as the tradition stays intact, Rhoden said, he feels the program will always be in great hands.
“When we came in there was an established culture that we just had to follow,” he said. “There was a path that we just followed the steps in. So many great players before us that we just had an opportunity to look up to, to learn from. I think that’s what Seton Hall is about – the next guy coming in, filling in. The next players coming in and learning the culture, learning the way. It goes a long way. I think that lasts forever.”
Earlier this season, Cale broke Michael Nzei’s program record for games played. Obiagu beat Samuel Dalembert’s Hall record for blocked shots in a career.
They were joined in the senior night festivities by three more seniors, relative newcomers by comparison. Alexis Yetna and Jamir Harris, transfers from South Florida and American, respectively, were celebrated after fine seasons, as was Bryce Aiken. PA announcer Tim McLoone confirmed during Aiken’s moment that his concussion will keep him out for the rest of the season, another unfair blow to his promising playing career.
Though Aiken can’t get back on the court, he’ll be there supporting the Pirates the rest of the way. Seton Hall’s regular-season finale is Saturday at a very tough Creighton team, and even if it loses there and early on in New York next week, it’s a lock for March Madness any way you slice it.
The next step for this program is to win some tournament games; the Pirates have only won one since 2004, a 2018 8-9 game against NC State. We’ll need to sit tight and see if that step arrives this year, or maybe in the near future, one where Kadary Richmond and Tyrese Samuel and Tray Jackson and the next group of freshmen (including Jamir Harris’ younger brother Jaquan) uphold what Jamir called “the Seton Hall way.”
“I always say it takes a community to raise a man,” Rhoden said. “For me, I feel like that’s what (Seton Hall) did. ... To the fans, I’m so thankful for the constant support, the constant engagements whether it’s on social media or at the games, just always supporting us. It’s been a long career for me. Since I stepped on the court my freshman year it’s been nothing but positive, good thoughts, good energy, good voice.
“I’m grateful for that forever. Seton Hall basketball changed my life.”
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As always, thanks for reading. Let’s clean the glass with one more note on the Pirates before diving into Rutgers’ heroics in Bloomington last night.
It was always going to take a while for Seton Hall to adjust to life without Aiken, given how important a role he played off the bench. But consider the Pirates there now. Willard explained Wednesday that when they realized Aiken was continuing to struggle with his concussion, that it wasn’t getting better anytime soon, the solution would have to include more of Jamir Harris at backup point guard. Willard cut out half his play card and added eight new plays. “Having an older team, our concepts didn’t change dramatically, but the plays did. And they did a great job of understanding how we had to play a little bit differently without Bryce and with (Richmond) out there as much as we were gonna have him,” Willard said. “I had a little more confidence in the fact that they can pick up what we were going to change.”
Being at Seton Hall meant I didn’t catch the crazy ending to Rutgers-Indiana live, but I wish I had. A big, emotional mistake by Paul Mulcahy in the heat of the moment let Indiana stay within firing distance and eventually begat its game-tying three. But you just never count this team out. We all agree, right? We’ve learned that much by now? Ron Harper Jr. ruined Purdue’s night back in December, the first game the Boilermakers were No. 1 in the country, and now he’s done it to the state’s other Big Ten program, one with much different stakes – the Hoosiers should be out of the field of 68 given the way their resume has turned lately. Anyway, join me in enjoying Harper’s choice of celebration here. First the onions, then the bow. Memorable stuff.
The win snapped Rutgers’ three-game losing streak, tallied a sixth Quadrant 1 win and got some bracketologists talking again. “Not sure that's even a bubble team anymore,” Seth Davis tweeted. It got me thinking – what’s Rutgers’ worst-case scenario now that it has that Indiana road win in the bag? If it loses at home to Penn State on Sunday, the committee would have to balance those six Quad 1 wins with four losses spread across Quads 3 and 4. The NET isn’t the be-all, end-all, but the Scarlet Knights’ NET is only 81 after the Indiana win. It can get worse. Then say Rutgers gets the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and loses to whoever’s at No. 10... Penn State again? Maybe a Maryland team getting hot late in the year? Unlike Seton Hall, Rutgers’ dance ticket isn’t punched yet.
I’ll be back Monday morning with takeaways from Monmouth-Rider, Penn State-Rutgers and a concise preview of the Big Ten, Big East, Ivy and MAAC tourneys. Have a good weekend, and once again, happy March!