That Seton Hall blockbuster recruiting class just got even better.
Kevin Willard and Co. landed a sixth member of the vaunted group Monday, when Long Island big man Mike Nzei picked the Pirates, filling a major need.
Nzei, a 6-foot-8 rebounding machine originally from Nigeria, joins the best haul of incoming players at Seton Hall in 14 years. The group is headlined by McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Whitehead, a five-star shooting guard out of Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and New York’s Mr. Basketball.
While the future looks bright, the present took a slight hit. According to Gannett New Jersey, key forward Patrik Auda is considering forgoing his last year to play pro in his native Czech Republic. The 6-foot-9 lefty graduated on Monday from Seton Hall, but has a year of eligibility remaining.
The addition of Nzei is a significant one, particularly if Auda doesn’t return. He picked Seton Hall over Dayton, South Florida, Manhattan, Iowa and Virginia Tech. Eric Jaklitsch, an assistant coach at Our Savior, credited Seton Hall associate head coach Shaheen Holloway for his work recruiting Nzei.
“He’s improved a lot since last year,” Scout.com national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels said. “He’s a very good rebounder and will contest shots.”
The consensus top-10 class also includes Brooklyn native Khadeen Carrington, a shooting guard who became the all-time leading scorer at Bishop Loughlin this winter, athletically gifted wing Desi Rodriguez of Lincoln, and New Jerseys standouts Angel Delgado, a rebounding dynamo from The Patrick School, and Newark East Side wing Ismael Sanogo.
Though Seton Hall returns guards Sterling Gibbs and Jaren Sina, in addition to forward Brandon Mobley, the program’s buzz and suddenly bright future is tied directly to its crop of freshmen. And that group just got better.
They are just names right now, names Seton Hall fans have been anxiously reading about and waiting to see in action. Soon, they will be the face of the program, and Willard hopes, NCAA Tournament berths.