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The Seton Hall Pirates were aiming to bring 2016 four-star power forward Taurean Thompson in to join their already loaded frontcourt, which featured Ismael Sanogo, Michael Nzei, and 2015 Big East Freshman of the Year Angel Delgado, among others.
Despite their best efforts however, Thompson has elected to go to Syracuse University. Thompson, an attendee of Brewster Academy, is ranked in the Top 100 amongst his peers in the 247 Sports Composite Rankings and had it coming from all angles from schools in his area. ‘Cuse, aforementioned Seton Hall, and Michigan State were the biggest pursuers of Thompson down to the end.
The report of Thompson’s commitment first came from Syracuse.com and Post-Standard writer Mike Waters. We wish the best of luck to Thompson in his collegiate career in upstate New York with our former Big East brethren.
Taurean Thompson has decided to attend Syracuse, per his mom. Story coming soon.
— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) July 1, 2016
How does this affect Seton Hall?
Not too much in the short or longterm. If they added Thompson, at this point, he would have been the icing on the proverbial cake in the frontcourt. The Pirates are already filled to the gills in that area of the floor with the aforementioned Delgado, Nzei, and Sanogo as well as Myles Carter, Braeden Anderson and Rashed Anderson. That’s not to say that Thompson’s addition wouldn’t have given the Pirates more talent in the frontcourt. It certainly would’ve. However, it’s not like they were chasing a major need. Willard still has plenty of frontcourt players to work with, all of whom are eligible to play in 2016 as he and the Pirates look to get to the NCAA Tournament once again despite losing their best player to the pros.
Where does Seton Hall go from here?
In the same route they were likely headed to anyway. Seton Hall’s main priority heading into this offseason was to shore up their backcourt. The departure of Isaiah Whitehead to the NBA only compounded that need with only a couple of players lined up for the 2016 season and beyond. Kevin Willard & Co. responded by snagging a verbal commit from guard Eron Gordon who joins fellow guard Myles Powell in the Hall’s 2016 class. Additionally, Madison Jones, formerly of Wake Forest, transferred to Seton Hall earlier this spring and will join the Pirates this year as a grad transfer. So, they took care of business as it needed to be taken care of.