Seton Hall
Paradise Jam Bracket Announced: SHU To Face Nevada In Game 1
Date: May 20, 2014
By: John Fanta
Seton Hall men's basketball has Rutgers, George Washington, Georgia, South Florida, and others on its non-conference schedule, and will now have a Mountain West team as well.
The 15th annual U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament bracket was released Monday, and the Pirates will take on Nevada. It will be the first meeting between The Hall and the Wolfpack as head coach Kevin Willard looks to take his program to the next level in the tournament after SHU fell in the semifinals at Paradise Jam in 2010.
Nevada finished the regular season in a tie for third in the Mountain West with a 10-8 league record. The loss of senior guard Deonte Burton (20.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.4 apg) will certainly affect the Wolfpack. Second leading scorer Cole Huff has recently transferred to Creighton, so the program has so retooling to do for November head coach David Carter, who will be entering his sixth season.
The Pirates will either face Clemson, a familiar foe in the Virgin Islands, or Gardner Webb in the second game in invitational play. In 2010, The Hall and the Tigers went into overtime before the Tigers pulled away to win 64-58, despite Jeff Robinson's 16 points.
Clemson comes off a 23-win season, one that saw the Tigers go to the NIT semifinals.
The question arises what kind of form the Pirates will be in during the early portion of the season with McDonald's All-American Isaiah Whitehead leading one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
The tournament does feature other very respectable programs, with LSU, Old Dominion, Illinois State, and Weber State featured in the bracket as well.
