How Kevin Willard steered Seton Hall past COVID-19 and a key injury and into NCAA Tournament – NJ.com

NEW YORK UConn coach Dan Hurley had just coached his team to victory over Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night when he began his press conference by crediting the Pirates coach Kevin Willard. They are, after all, similar characters. Both are in their 40s, prone to sharp-witted sarcasm and have a burning desire to dominate the hyper-competitive Big East.

Credit Seton Hall, said Hurley, the Jersey City native and former Seton Hall guard. What Kevin has done with those guys this year through, just through losing guys and the type of season hes had in the Big East this year, and [I] just want to wish those guys good luck next week in the [NCAA] Tournament.

Willard, 45, has Seton Hall (21-10, 11-8 Big East) into the Big Dance for the fifth time in the last six tournaments. They are the No. 8 seed in the South Regional and will face No. 9 TCU on Friday night in San Diego (9:57 p.m. ET, truTV).

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Willard is back in the Big Dance despite losing one of his key players, Bryce Aiken, for the season due to a second concussion, and despite a COVID pause in December that impacted the team for several weeks afterward. It should actually be Willards sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years, but the 2020 event -- where the Myles Powell-led Pirates were a potential Final Four team -- was canceled by the pandemic.

My staff did a great job this year, Willard said Sunday on a Zoom. They really did. I have Grant Billmeier, who should be a head coach pretty soon. I think the fact that I had such a good staff and we were able to navigate the disruptions much better than we have in the past, I think that was huge.

And I think having a veteran group, guys that had been through it, I think they helped me navigate it tremendously. They helped me navigate it. They were able to get back into the swing of things after the COVID pause and I think their leadership was really good. I think it was overall an unbelievable team effort from top to bottom.

The genesis of Willards success this season goes back to last year, when they came up short of making the NCAA Tournament despite featuring Sandro Mamukelashvili, who won a share of Big East Player of the Year honors and now plays for the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Knowing that his team desperately needed help at the point guard position, Willard hit the NCAA transfer portal hard, adding North Brunswick native and former Patrick School guard Jamir Harris and Syracuse transfer Kadary Richmond. Willard bolstered his front court by nabbing South Florida transfer Alexis Yetna to join Missouri transfer Tray Jackson and returning big men Ike Obiagu and Tyrese Samuel.

Willard had arguably the deepest and most experienced team of his Seton Hall tenure, which began in 2010. The Pirates average age of 21.3 made them the 10th-oldest team in Division I this season.

They charged out of the gates going 9-1 in the non-conference with wins over Texas, Michigan, Rutgers, Wagner (which ended up playing in the Northeast Conference championship game) and Yale (which won the Ivy Leagues automatic bid by beating Princeton on Sunday). They peaked at No. 15 in the AP poll.

Then COVID struck.

The Pirates had to cancel games in December with local rivals Iona and St. Johns due to COVID hitting the team. Jared Rhoden, the teams best player and a first-team All-Big East selection, was struck by the virus and said he was stuck in a room at home on Long Island for about 10 days. He was able to do push-ups and lift weights, but he couldnt run much or do many cardio exercises.

Im a very hard-working dude so for me it was just driving me insane being in that one room for quite a while, Rhoden said.

Samuel, meantime, had to quarantine at home in Canada for a couple of weeks.

I know weve all had our own individual battles, Rhoden said, but I think collectively it kind of derailed us a little bit. Just not being able to practice, not being able to physically see each other, it was kind of rough for us. It was kind of a dark period for us because a lot of us probably had PTSD affecting us from the previous years with COVID and I think that kind of derailed us again so we were kind of scared about what the effects could be.

When the Pirates finally returned to the court on Dec. 29, 17 days after the Rutgers win, they were reduced to eight players because Obiagu and Samuel remained in COVID protocols. They lost by just five points, 70-65, to Providence, the eventual Big East regular-season champs.

Three days later, with the two bigs out yet again, they lost at home to Villanova, 73-67, at Prudential Center. The loss dropped them 0-2 in the Big East for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.

Had they split or won those two games, they probably would have had a higher seed in the Big East Tournament, and maybe would have gone deeper in the conference tournament.

Still, once Samuel and Obiagu returned and the team was at full strength, they appeared to have reverted to their pre-COVID form.

On Jan. 8, they beat Hurley and UConn, 90-87, in overtime at Prudential Center in a game in which Richmond dominated and scored a career-high 27 points and Aiken poured in 22 with seven assists.

They got a lot of depth, physically imposing, Hurley said after the game. They got a lot of firepower on the perimeter, well-coached. Theyre a title contender as are we.

A week later, the season took another disastrous turn.

In the final seconds of a game at Marquette that Mamukelashvili watched from courtside, Marquettes Greg Elliott appeared to elbow Aiken in the nose. Aiken, who was whistled for a foul, was shaken up after the play.

With 1.8 seconds left, Elliott made 1-of-2 free throws to lead Marquette to the win.

Little did anyone know at the time, but it would be the last game the 25-year-old Aiken played all season.

It turned out to be the second concussion of his Seton Hall career, and though Willard suggested in the following weeks that Aiken might return to the court, he never did. Asked if there was any chance Aiken will play in San Diego, Willard said, No.

The loss of Aiken, who remains with the team in street clothes and helps his teammates warm-up before games, may have turned the Pirates from a team capable of winning multiple games in the NCAA Tournament into a team that could be fortunate to win one. He was their closer, someone capable of taking over games late with his 3-point shooting and ability to change pace on offense. He was the Big Easts leading scorer at 19.5 points per game when he went down.

Still, the fact that the Pirates still have both Richmond, who has battled a sprained right thumb, and Harris, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Georgetown in the first round of the Big East Tournament, means they still have depth at the point. They have won nine of their last 12 games heading into the tournament.

And that goes back to Willard loading up on guards via the Transfer Portal after last season. Harris, who was the third-string point guard when the season began, has had to play a much bigger role without Aiken.

I just knew I would be prepared for any advancement I would have, but in the heat of the moment I wasnt thinking about that, Harris told NJ Advance Media, I was just thinking about [Aiken]. I know he loves the game of basketball and wants to be out there with us. So when it came official that he was out, I just wanted to be able to step into the role that he had and play more with the ball, which is definitely something Im comfortable doing.

Harris has never been to the NCAA Tournament, and one of the reasons he returned home to Seton Hall was to play in March Madness.

Definitely being able to make the tournament will be a dream come true for me, he said. I havent had that experience yet.

As for Willard, his fellow coaches fully understand how good a coach he is and what he has had to overcome this season.

He has been linked to various Power-Five conference jobs over the years, and turned down Virginia Tech in 2019 before that school hired Mike Young. (That turned out to be a brilliant move as Young led the Hokies to their first ACC Tournament championship with Saturday nights win over No. 1 seed Duke).

Willard has been linked to the Maryland job since the school fired Mark Turgeon back in December. It remains to be seen if hes even interested in the job. He has two teenage sons and his wife and family may not want to leave their home in Westfield and the life they have built there.

Asked if Seton Hall had already extended Willard or given him a raise, athletic director Bryan Felt said the school doesnt comment or confirm contract information.

Still, expect Willard to continue to be linked to higher profile jobs, especially if the Pirates win a game or two in March Madness.

Listen, I think any major opening Kevin Willards name is definitely going to be there, Iona coach Rick Pitino, Willards former boss, told NJ Advance Media last month. Hes done it, hes not afraid to play anyone, hes very creative offensively, hes sound on defense. They rebound great, theyre tough kids. His kids are tough so I think any job, no matter what level, any major, major job, I think Kevin Willard will be top three mentioned.

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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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How Kevin Willard steered Seton Hall past COVID-19 and a key injury and into NCAA Tournament - NJ.com