Hoop Dreams NYC

When you don’t get chosen to play in the Big Dance there are only three things you can do at the point. You can either raise hell on social media or you can take the snub on the chin but make everyone pay by going on a revenge tour. This is what led to Seton Hall’s magical NIT run as we like to call it the “Blame The Committee “ tour” Credits to Basketball announcer and NYC hoops ambassador Dave “Chaching” Teele for the Slogan.

There’s no question that it was great to cover the Seton Hall Pirates this season and out of all of the Big East games we covered, we got to witness them beat UConn while shooting only eight threes and then rally down 19 to beat St. John’s. Those were games that proved that they belonged in the field but the selection committees believed that many undeserving teams that made it were more worthy. We ain’t saying no names though…

The Walsh Gymnasium Boost.

The Blame The Committee tour began with an OT thriller at home against St. Joes out of the A-10 The pirates who got a top seed decided to have their games on campus at Walsh Gymnasium which gave them a boost the whole tournament. From there, the Pirates would go on to dominate North Texas then UNLV on their way to the Semis in Indiana where they stood on business against Georgia. Every game proved that the Pirates would have made a deep run in the tournament if the selection committee had some sense.

Playing with a sense of urgency.

The Pirates got great play from their core of captains Kadary Richmond, Dre Davis, and Al-Amir Dawes throughout the tourney, but others such as Dylan Wusu, Jaden Bediako, Isaiah Coleman, and even sophomore Jaquan Sanders stepped up in the semis with 11 points. Seeing the inspired play from the Pirates is something

The final stop on the Pirates Blame the Committee tour is Hinkle Fieldhouse, a familiar territory for the Pirates who travel there to play Butler every season but this time around the Pirates face a disadvantage as the sold-out crowd included mostly Indiana State fans. The Sycamores were another team that fell short of making the NCAA tournament. This is what the Pirates dealt with throughout the game, especially in the first half where they were up double digits but the Sycamores went on a huge run to tie the game. The Sycamores went on a huge run and took over the game late but the Pirates never backed down.

Down 77-70 with less than two minutes left, Seton Hall would cap off an improbable 9-0 run and a huge defensive stop to clinch the NIT Championship. It was a memorable run that is just as good as any run that’s going on in the NCAA tournament, it has improved the Postseason NIT’s Value in our opinion. There’s no question that the Pirates will build on this run into next season. The Pirates 2024 Postseason run will always be known as the “Blame the Committee” tour in our eyes.

The off-season will be a very interesting time for the Pirates as well as all of the other Big East teams. Many of the core players still have eligibility left but there will be some space on the roster as some will graduate and there could be some players entering the portal.