2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pirates played home games in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center, with one exhibition and one regular season game at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey. They were coached, for the sixth year, by Kevin Willard. They were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Big East play to finish in third place. They defeated Creighton, Xavier, and the eventual national champion Villanova to become champions of the Big East tournament. They received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Gonzaga.

2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball
Big East tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 20
Record	25–9 (12–6 Big East)
Head coach	Kevin Willard (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Shaheen Holloway Fred Hill Grant Billmeier
Home arena	Prudential Center Walsh Gymnasium
Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

2015–16 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Villanova	16	–	2		.889			35	–	5		.875
No. 9 Xavier	14	–	4		.778			28	–	5		.848
No. 20 Seton Hall †	12	–	6		.667			25	–	9		.735
Providence	10	–	8		.556			24	–	11		.686
Butler	10	–	8		.556			22	–	11		.667
Creighton	9	–	9		.500			20	–	15		.571
Marquette	8	–	10		.444			20	–	13		.606
Georgetown	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
DePaul	3	–	15		.167			9	–	22		.290
St. John's	1	–	17		.056			8	–	24		.250
† 2016 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Pirates finished the season 16–15, 6-12 in Big East play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the Big East tournament to Marquette.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Brandon Mobley	2	F	6'9"	225	Senior	Savannah, GA	Graduated
Sterling Gibbs	4	G	6'2"	185	RS Junior	Scotch Plains, NJ	Graduate transferred to Connecticut
Haralds Kārlis	13	F	6'6"	210	Senior	Riga, Latvia	Graduated
Cheir Ajou	42	C	7'1"	245	RS Junior	Aweil, South Sudan	Transferred to Texas Wesleyan
Stephane Manga	45	F	6'6"	220	Senior	Orléans, France	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jevon Thomas	2	G	6'0"	180	Junior	Queens, NY	Transferred from Kansas State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Thomas will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Braeden Anderson	4	F	6'9"	225	RS Junior	Okotoks, AB	Transferred from Fresno State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Anderson graduated from Fresno State.
Derrick Gordon	32	G	6'3"	205	RS Senior	Plainfield, NJ	Transferred from Massachusetts. Will be eligible to play immediately since Gordon graduated from Massachusetts.

Incoming recruits

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Amarveer Singh SF	New Orleans, LA	Thurgood Marshall High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Mar 2, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (80)
Myles Carter SF	Chicago, IL	Saint Rita High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	221 lb (100 kg)	Mar 23, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (76)
Dalton Soffer SG	San Diego, CA	Poway High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Nov 12, 2014
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (67)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

Roster

2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Khadeen Carrington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Brooklyn, New York F 1 Michael Nzei 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Makurdi, Nigeria G 2 Jevon Thomas (I) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Queens, New York F 4 Braeden Anderson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Okotoks, Alberta G 14 Ismael Sanogo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Newark, New Jersey G 15 Isaiah Whitehead 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Brooklyn, New York F 20 Desi Rodriguez 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Brooklyn, New York G 21 Dalton Soffer 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr San Diego, California F 23 Myles Carter 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Chicago, Illinois F 25 Rashed Anthony 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS So Orangeburg, South Carolina F 31 Ángel Delgado 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic G 32 Derrick Gordon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Plainfield, New Jersey G/F 33 Veer Singh 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr New Orleans, Louisiana	Head coach Kevin Willard (Pittsburgh) Assistant coach(es) Shaheen Holloway (Seton Hall) Fred Hill (Montclair State) Dwayne Morton (LIU Brooklyn) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Oct 31, 2015* 12:00 pm		Baruch	W 84–79		Walsh Gymnasium (1,073) South Orange, NJ
Non-conference regular season
Nov 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, FSN		Dartmouth	W 84–67	1–0	Prudential Center (6,114) Newark, NJ
Nov 15, 2015* 1:30 pm, FS1		Wagner	W 69–59	2–0	Walsh Gymnasium (1,800) South Orange, NJ
Nov 19, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Long Beach State Charleston Classic quarterfinals	L 77–80	2–1	TD Arena (3,437) Charleston, SC
Nov 20, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Bradley Charleston Classic consolation round	W 67–59	3–1	TD Arena (2,820) Charleston, SC
Nov 21, 2015* 3:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Ole Miss Charleston Classic 5th place game	W 75–63	4–1	TD Arena (1,553) Charleston, SC
Nov 28, 2015* 7:30 pm, FS1		Georgia	W 69–62	5–1	Prudential Center (6,553) Newark, NJ
Dec 2, 2015* 7:00 pm, ASN		at George Washington	L 64–72	5–2	Charles E. Smith Center (2,280) Washington, D.C.
Dec 5, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNews		at Rutgers Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic	W 84–55	6–2	The RAC (5,631) Piscataway, NJ
Dec 10, 2015* 8:00 pm, FS1		Troy	W 78–69	7–2	Prudential Center (5,549) Newark, NJ
Dec 13, 2015* 2:30 pm, FS1		Saint Peter's	W 72–64	8–2	Prudential Center (6,433) Newark, NJ
Dec 19, 2015* 12:00 pm, FOX		Wichita State	W 80–76 OT	9–2	Prudential Center (7,596) Newark, NJ
Dec 22, 2015* 6:30 pm, FS2		South Florida	W 66–49	10–2	Prudential Center (5,700) Newark, NJ
Big East Regular Season
Dec 30, 2015 7:00 pm, FS1		at Marquette	W 83–63	11–2 (1–0)	BMO Harris Bradley Center (13,314) Milwaukee, WI
Jan 2, 2016 11 am, FS1		DePaul Big East New Year's Marathon	W 78–74	12–2 (2–0)	Prudential Center (8,201) Newark, NJ
Jan 6, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1		at No. 11 Villanova	L 63–72	12–3 (2–1)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Jan 9, 2016 2:00 pm, FS1		Creighton	L 67–82	12–4 (2–2)	Prudential Center (8,010) Newark, NJ
Jan 16, 2016 4:30 pm, FS1		at No. 12 Providence	W 81–72	13–4 (3–2)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,148) Providence, RI
Jan 20, 2016 9:00 pm, CBSSN		No. 4 Villanova	L 71–72	13–5 (3–3)	Prudential Center (8,788) Newark, NJ
Jan 23, 2016 2:00 pm, FSN		at No. 5 Xavier	L 76–84	13–6 (3–4)	Cintas Center (10,368) Cincinnati, OH
Jan 27, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1		St. John's	W 79–60	14–6 (4–4)	Prudential Center (6,767) Newark, NJ
Jan 30, 2016 8:00 pm, FSN		at Creighton	W 75–65	15–6 (5–4)	CenturyLink Center (17,927) Omaha, NE
Feb 3, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1		Marquette	W 79–62	16–6 (6–4)	Prudential Center (6,008) Newark, NJ
Feb 6, 2016 9:05 pm, CBSSN		Georgetown	W 69–61	17–6 (7–4)	Prudential Center (9,167) Newark, NJ
Feb 10, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1		Butler	L 75–81	17–7 (7–5)	Prudential Center (7,476) Newark, NJ
Feb 17, 2016 9:15 pm, FS1		at Georgetown	W 72–64	18–7 (8–5)	Verizon Center (5,278) Washington, D.C.
Feb 21, 2016 12:00 pm, FS1		at St. John's	W 62–61	19–7 (9–5)	Madison Square Garden (13,204) New York City, NY
Feb 25, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1		Providence	W 70–52	20–7 (10–5)	Prudential Center (8,600) Newark, NJ
Feb 28, 2016 12:30 pm, FS1		No. 5 Xavier	W 90–81	21–7 (11–5)	Prudential Center (10,353) Newark, NJ
Mar 2, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1		at Butler	L 78–85	21–8 (11–6)	Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,392) Indianapolis, IN
Mar 5, 2016 12:00 pm, FSN		at DePaul	W 80–66	22–8 (12–6)	Allstate Arena (5,954) Rosemont, IL
Big East tournament
Mar 10, 2016 9:30 pm, FS1	(3)	vs. (6) Creighton Quarterfinals	W 81–73	23–8	Madison Square Garden (13,813) New York City, NY
Mar 11, 2016 9:00 pm, FS1	(3)	vs. (2) No. 5 Xavier Semifinals	W 87–83	24–8	Madison Square Garden (17,130) New York City, NY
Mar 12, 2016 5:30 pm, FOX	(3)	vs. (1) No. 3 Villanova Championship	W 69–67	25–8	Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 2016* 9:57 pm, truTV	(6 MW) No. 20	vs. (11 MW) Gonzaga First Round	L 52–68	25–9	Pepsi Center (19,500) Denver, CO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[1]

Rankings

Main article: 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Wk 19	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	RV	RV	20	N/A
Coaches	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	RV