They weren’t supposed to be here. So there’s that.
Sticking around Madison Square Garden a day or two longer than most expected them to is something the Seton Hall Pirates can take pride in. A day earlier, they knocked top-seeded Villanova out of the Big East Tournament, stunning the college basketball world — a .500 team sending a 28-4 opponent packing.
“That game will stay with me for a long time,” said Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall’s senior guard out of Paterson, N.J. “I’ll have to tell my kids about it.’’
The problem for Edwin, his three fellow senior teammates and Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard is this: That’s about all they had to hang on to once their season ended with Friday night’s 80-74 semifinal loss to Providence.
When it ended for Seton Hall, which finished 17-17, the quiet locker room in the bowels of the Garden had the vibe of a confusing place, because it was difficult to grasp a hold of exactly what they should have been feeling.
Sure, they advanced to the conference tournament semifinal for the first time since 2001 and had a chance to make history with a run to the final. But when it ended, there was the dreadful feeling of coming so close and falling short.
“It’s a lot of mixed emotions, knowing what we could have done, make history, shock the world,’’ Edwin said. “We didn’t complete our goal, but I think we definitely left a print on the program. We tried our best. We don’t regret anything. We threw our punch and Providence threw their punch back.’’
When the players and coaches shook hands after the game, Providence coach Ed Cooley embraced Edwin, who led the Pirates with 20 points.
“He told me I’m a great player and I played my butt off and he loved me,’’ Edwin said.
So, too, did Edwin’s teammates, recognizing the profound effect he had on the program as it moves to the future with what’s regarded as one of the best recruiting classes in the country, highlighted by Coney Island star guard Isaiah Whitehead and Dominican power forward Angel Delgado.
“I told the seniors that unfortunately their win-loss record hasn’t been phenomenal, but over the last two years they’ve provided a solid foundation for us to build on the future,’’ Willard said. “These guys have been instrumental in helping us go from a very unstable situation to a pretty stable situation.’’
Yes, but is mere stability enough for Seton Hall, a team that in Willard’s four years has not played itself into the NCAA Tournament?
“I remember being in the same building some three short years ago and that same organization [Seton Hall] beat us by 31 points when we first came here,’’ Cooley recalled. “So when you reflect, you see how far you’ve come in a short period of time.’’
Cooley likely was not trying to stick it to Willard and Seton Hall, but his words were — perhaps — unwittingly damning.
Why did Seton Hall not take those same steps to get to Saturday’s tournament final — with an NCAA Tournament berth forthcoming on Selection Sunday — the way Providence did and does in the same period of time?
“I think we put the program back on the map,’’ Edwin said. “Now everyone really has something to look to for the future here. I think this team is going to go far. … This team can go all the way.’’
If it does, that is probably the best satisfaction Edwin can take from his Seton Hall career — he helped build a foundation for that.
As he sat quietly on an uncomfortable-looking folding chair in the locker room afterward, Edwin called the realization his college career is over “shocking.’’
“It’s hit me right now, but it’s going to hit me more when I’m alone in my room,’’ he said. “I might shed some tears, because I’m not waking up for practice anymore, I won’t be meeting with my guys anymore.’’
Maybe, a year or two down the road if Seton Hall gets to the place it felt it should have gotten this March — to the Big East final and the NCAA Tournament — Edwin can take solace his hard work to resurrect a fallen program actually did lead to something big. Even though he won’t be in uniform to enjoy it.