Walker, Gordon Transfers Force Seton Hall Newcomers into Action

When the final buzzer sounded in the Seton Hall Pirates’ 83-79 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, it was the end of an era. This was no secret either. Star seniors Angel Delgado, Desi Rodriguez, Khadeen Carrington and Ismael Sanogo were all set to graduate, and the roster would face a major overhaul heading into 2018-2019.

However, those four are not the only departures for the Pirates heading into next season. The Pirates lost two point guards last week with the transfers of sophomore Eron Gordon and freshman Jordan Walker.

The announcement of Walker’s transfer was supposedly in the works for a while, especially after the report that he quit the team in December, only to return days later. The Gordon news came as a surprise to those in Pirate Nation, however. Reports are Gordon wants to play closer to his home in Indiana. Both Walker and Gordon didn’t receive a ton of playing time in their careers in South Orange, but both were slated to become focal parts of Kevin Willard’s rotation next season.

The Pirates now have two open roster spots for next season. But more importantly, they also have a gaping hole at the point guard position. The only two point guards on the current roster are both newcomers in transfer from Sacred Heart Quincy McKnight as well as freshman Anthony Nelson.

McKnight is known more for his scoring, much like Carrington was over his tenure with Seton Hall, in which he finished in the Top 10 in scoring in program history. Willard has noted McKnight’s ability to defend both guard positions, and given he already has a year under his belt within the system, he will likely get the bulk of the minutes come November.

However, this situation puts a lot of immediate pressure on freshman Anthony Nelson. A 3-star recruit out of South Kent School in New York, the freshman will take on the primary backup role behind McKnight, granted the coaching staff doesn’t land any backcourt-mates to join the duo.

After the transfer decisions, which also include guard Philip Flory who saw limited action last season, Seton Hall’s roster will only have four holdovers from last season: Myles Powell, Myles Cale, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Michael Nzei.

It’s safe to say that there will be a learning curve to begin the season for this Pirates team. The silver lining to this situation is the two roster spots that open up, in which the coaching staff, which includes new assistant coach Tony Skinn, could be players in some grad transfers as they have in the past.

Practice in the fall is sure to be full of hard work to get the bevy of newcomers ready to go for the season opener in November.