Seton Hall basketball: Jaquan Sanders stayed, and now he's poised for a breakout
SOUTH ORANGE – Jaquan Sanders committed to Seton Hall basketball to play for Kevin Willard. Instead, he wound up mostly riding the bench under Shaheen Holloway as a freshman.
In 2023, that usually means a sprint into the transfer portal.
Not for Sanders.
When the 6-foot-4 shooting guard met with Holloway at season’s end, he got a list of things he did wrong, a list of things he did right, and a list of steps to take for a bigger role.
“I appreciate the coaches telling me all that,” Sanders said Friday, during the program’s media day. “They didn’t lie to me. They felt like I could help this team. That’s why I didn’t put my name in the portal – the relationships I have here are great.”
To Sanders’ credit, by all accounts, he’s gone down the list and checked all the boxes. Now Holloway cites “Stacks,” as he’s known, as the Pirates’ most improved player. The coach isn’t the only one who feels that way.
“Stacks is going to take a jump this year,” senior point guard Kadary Richmond said. “He understands what he went through last year is his fault, that it’s on him. Nobody wants to bench anybody, right? If you don’t own up to the things you’re doing, there are repercussions. Him locking in every day and doing what he has to do, from the summer until now, is going to be good for him and good for us.”
What has he done? Sanders cut back on fast food and dropped 10 pounds. He devoted himself to studying the game. And he’s taking the defensive end seriously.
“Stacks has gotten a lot better,” postgrad guard Al-Amir Dawes said. “He’s shooting the leather off the ball. His main thing was to learn (how to play) defensively and to learn our plays, and he’s been doing a good job of that.”
Added senior wing Dre Davis: “He needed that first year to learn and develop. He paid attention, and now I think he’s ready for sure.”
The sophomore leap is a real thing in college basketball – it’s typically when the most improvement takes place. Sanders credits the upperclassmen for helping him take it.
“Being around the older guys, they’re helping me mature, pushing me to be a better person,” he said. “I truly appreciate them pushing me and not giving up on me. They told me I can help this team win. Whatever has to be done, I’ll do it.”
He’ll be asked to shoot threes, for sure. Sanders is known as a shooter and has a great stroke. But if he’s going to be tapped as the first guard off the bench (a distinct possibility), the expectation is that he’ll bring it defensively.
“They know I can put the ball in the hoop; it’s mainly about the defensive end,” he said. “Coach Sha is a defensive guy and I know how much that means to him. I came in this summer ready to learn, ready to work, and that’s what I did.”
Seton Hall media day: 5 takeaways
1. Injury bug is back
Six of the 13 scholarship players are dealing with injuries. Sanders has missed two weeks after rolling his ankle but expects to return soon. Freshmen Isaiah Coleman (groin), Malachi Brown (groin) and Arda Ozdogan (broken nose, sprained ankle) have been in and out of the athletic trainer’s room.
Freshman forward David Tubek remains sidelined with an undisclosed injury, said he’s “been doing some little things,” but does not know when he will be cleared. Sophomore guard JaQuan Harris remains out indefinitely with knee problems after missing all of last season.
Good health is a must for this team, especially among the four core players: Richmond, Dawes, Davis and Dylan Addae-Wusu. Last season turned south after injuries to Richmond and Davis.
2. Coleman an X-factor
As the first four-star recruit of Holloway's tenure, Isaiah Coleman will have plenty of eyes on him.
“Explosive natural talent, great energy – he’s everywhere on the court,” Davis said. “His athleticism is something you don’t always see.”
The 6-foot-5 guard/wing said “it’s been a real big adjustment” to the demands of the college game. Right now he’s most dangerous in the open floor.
“Very athletic,” Richmond said. “He’s going to help us a lot.”
Taking a stab at the Pirates’ depth chart looks something like this (leaving off Tubek and Harris who haven’t played so far this preseason):
Guards: Kadary Richmond, Al Dawes, Dylan Addae-Wusu (starters), Jaquan Sanders, Malachi Brown.
Wings: Dre Davis, Isaiah Coleman.
Bigs: Jaden Bediako, Elijah Hutchins-Everett, Sada NgaNga, Arda Ozdogan.
3. International man of mystery
Ozdogan, a 6-foot-10 forward/center who hails from Turkey and joined the program in late August, didn’t attend media day because his English is not up to speed. But for those who watch Holloway closely, the coach’s praise for him should raise an eyebrow.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with him,” he said Friday. “He’s going to give us more than I thought.”
Ozdogan’s broken nose came courtesy of a collision with Dawes, who was going up for a shot in practice.
“I didn’t mean to do that – that’s my guy,” Dawes said. “He’s grasping what we do here really well.”
English has been a barrier, but as Richmond put it, “He knows the game. Once we get him to understand the terms, he’ll be very helpful for us.”
4. Holloway’s honest NIL take
Asked about what this past offseason was like, with players cutting name/image/likeness deals and transferring more rampant than ever, Holloway – who is pretty much incapable of shoveling BS – said in public what many of his coaching peers say in private.
“Everybody wants to get paid, I’ll be honest with you guys,” he said. “Everybody wants to get paid, everybody wants to go somewhere that’s not a fit anymore. It's ‘How much can you pay me?’ So it’s the wild, wild west, that’s what it is to be totally honest with you. I got lucky; I got some guys that I wanted, I missed out on some guys I wanted too…It’s free agency, that’s what it is.”
The point of the rant was not that Holloway hates players getting paid – he doesn’t. His issue is how many of them sacrifice fit, a crucial intangible that will impact futures, in sole pursuit of more dollars. It’s also worth noting that with Big East peers’ NIL war chests (via alumni/fan collectives) reportedly in the $3 million range, Seton Hall is under-resourced in that department – although plans are in the works to close the gap.
5. Practice facility groundbreaking
The ceremonial groundbreaking for Seton Hall’s new basketball practice facility took place Saturday, although construction got underway several weeks ago. If there’s any doubt about how much this extension onto the Richie Regan Recreation & Athletics Center is needed, consider that the team didn’t have the customary use of a court for its media day. Both Walsh Gym and the auxiliary gym were occupied by other teams (women’s basketball and volleyball), so media day took place in the program’s film room.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball: Jaquan Sanders poised for a breakout
