Sports

From Seton Hall savior to pariah: How phenom Whitehead wants to silence critics

It’s only been a year since Isaiah Whitehead arrived at Seton Hall, hailed as the program’s savior. Only a year since the blue-chip prospect and McDonald’s All-American from Coney Island went from the toast of South Orange to the poster child of what so many experts felt went terribly wrong for the Pirates.

It just seems like so much longer because of how everything unfolded in Whitehead’s topsy-turvy freshman year that started so well and ended so meekly. But it seems to have had a profound effect on him.

“I’m crazy motivated,” the 6-foot-4 Whitehead told The Post in a recent interview at the team’s practice facility. “I’m very determined. There’s nothing I won’t do to turn the program around.”

Whitehead is back for his sophomore year ready to change last season’s ending, feeling equipped to lead Seton Hall where some say he failed last year. He dedicated the entire summer to that, hoping to develop into the point guard the Pirates desperately need, spending a month training in Las Vegas with Clippers guard Lance Stephenson — himself a one-time Coney Island phenom who has dealt with plenty of negative attention — and getting personal pointers from NBA MVP Stephen Curry at his showcase camp, advice about his at-times questionable shot selection and how to properly running a team.

The time with Stephenson was important for a variety of reasons, from basketball to Whitehead’s mental health. They worked out with NBA players, training several hours a day. But they also talked about what went wrong for Whitehead last season, and Stephenson made a few suggestions Whitehead plans to follow, such as limiting the time he spends on social media and tuning out his detractors.

“Make everything positive,” Stephenson told him.

The move to point guard remains a work in progress. He’s never played the position full time. He spent large portions of his summer watching film of NBA floor generals and is often in coach Kevin Willard’s office, before and after practice, talking about the transition. He’s learning how, as the point guard, he is now responsible for everyone on the floor, not just himself.

“He’s here too much,” Willard joked. “He’s here all the time.”

Kevin WillardBill Kostroun

Whitehead first season at Seton Hall was heavily hyped. He was selected as the Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year, expected by some to lead the Pirates’ return to the NCAA Tournament with the snap of his fingers. He got off to a fine start, a major cog in the Hall’s 9-1 start. But in a Dec. 18 win over South Florida, it began to fall apart.

He suffered a stress fracture in his right foot, costing him 10 games and nearly six weeks. Without Whitehead, the Pirates initially thrived, notching big victories over St. John’s and Villanova. But the team, nationally ranked for three weeks, began to sag, and after Whitehead returned, it went into a free-fall, losing 12 of 15 games to close the season and missing out on the postseason completely. He didn’t play well, either, shooting 34 percent from the field and averaging 12.1 points per game upon his return.

“It was really a mental thing,” said Whitehead, who finished his freshman year with averages of 12 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, but also 3.3 turnovers and a 36 percent shooting clip. “I never got hurt for a long period of time. I didn’t know how to come back.”

Even worse, Whitehead was blamed by media and fans alike for the collapse. Chemistry problems arose, leading to the in-season transfer of guard Jaren Sina and ultimately the departure of leading scorer Sterling Gibbs. Whitehead didn’t seem happy on the court, though that was the result of losing, he said.

He was singled out as selfish, unwilling to share the spotlight with the two veteran guards, contradictions to the player who acted as a cheerleader when he was hurt, according to Willard, and was known in high school as being too unselfish. The narrative spun out of control, with one reporter suggesting Whitehead had a “posse” that contributed to the problem, ironic considering the shy and quiet Brooklyn native prefers to keep to himself.

“A couple of times he called me, and said, ‘Mom, why do they think I’m a bad person?’ ” his mother, Ericka Rambert, recalled in a phone interview. “He never had been talked about like that in the media. They were bashing him. One second he’s the best thing, then Jaren and Sterling are leaving [and it’s his fault].

WhiteheadCharles Wenzelberg

“It upset him a lot because it wasn’t his issue — it was portrayed as his issue.”

Whitehead took the high road, saying he didn’t want Sina and Gibbs to leave, but they made the best decision for themselves. He figured at some point all the positive reviews he received throughout high school would eventually turn up. He was an easy target, the star freshman.

“I’ve had a lot of good pointed towards my way, so it was a matter of time before some bad hit me,” Whitehead said. “I think when you give off a positive image, some people try to find some negative.”

Despite the defections and his detractors voicing criticisms of his play and blaming him for the chemistry issues, Whitehead never considered leaving the Pirates. Transferring wasn’t an option. When Whitehead committed to Seton Hall the fall of his senior year of high school, his mission was to make the program a winner again, to lead the Pirates back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.

That hasn’t changed.

“If I pick you, I’m going to stick with you,” he said.

Though moving over to point guard comes with an eye toward the NBA — he’ll have to play that position at the next level — Whitehead isn’t thinking about next year. All that matters is winning. If all goes right, if Seton Hall makes the NCAA Tournament, it likely would mean he would have played well enough to elevate himself in the eyes of NBA scouts.

Whitehead said the plan is to make the big dance, though he wouldn’t make any guarantees. Privately, however, he’s extremely confident the season ahead will be vastly different than the one that preceded it, that it will result in a big March and an even bigger June.

“He said, ‘I have no other plan,’ ” his mom said, referring to the NCAA Tournament and NBA draft. “ ‘It’s what’s going to happen.’ ”