Seton Hall Magazine, Winter 2000 - Seton Hall University
Seton Hall Magazine, Winter 2000 - Seton Hall University
Seton Hall Magazine, Winter 2000 - Seton Hall University
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Sophomore Charles Manga’s<br />
height is an asset to the Pirates’<br />
offense and defense.<br />
6-foot-6, Manga as a freshman<br />
found himself as the<br />
starting center. Considering<br />
he had played competitive<br />
basketball for only three<br />
years, the 6-foot-10 Manga<br />
made great strides during the<br />
season, finishing as the<br />
team’s second leading<br />
rebounder with 5.3 per game<br />
and earning the team’s Most<br />
Improved Player Award.<br />
The addition of the 6-foot-<br />
11 Dalembert gives <strong>Seton</strong><br />
<strong>Hall</strong> much-needed size down<br />
low. A Parade All-American at<br />
St. Patrick’s High School in<br />
Elizabeth, New Jersey, the<br />
highly touted Dalembert is a<br />
shot-blocking specialist, averaging<br />
more than eight blocks<br />
per game to go along with 13<br />
points and 14 rebounds. The<br />
freshman could be an impact<br />
player immediately.<br />
Sophomore Kevin Wilkins,<br />
a transfer from Tallahassee<br />
Community College, brings<br />
experience to the Pirates’<br />
frontline. A product of Atlantic<br />
City High School, Wilkins has<br />
the ability to pick up the slack<br />
in rebounding and scoring<br />
created by the loss of Jordan.<br />
A strong 6-foot-8 forward, he<br />
possesses good athleticism.<br />
Junior Reggie Garrett and<br />
a pair of freshmen, Al Harris<br />
and Greg Morton, give <strong>Seton</strong><br />
<strong>Hall</strong> the depth in the frontcourt<br />
that has been lacking over<br />
the last few seasons. Garrett,<br />
a 6-foot-6 forward, has been<br />
forced to play out of position<br />
for most of his career, but he<br />
should be more productive as<br />
a small forward.<br />
Harris, from Miramar High<br />
School in Florida, is a strong<br />
and powerful 6-foot-8 forward<br />
who most recently played for<br />
The Winchendon School in<br />
Massachusetts. Classmate<br />
Greg Morton, a 6-foot-7<br />
forward from St. Raymond’s<br />
High School in Bronx, New<br />
York, joins with Harris to give<br />
Amaker great flexibility in his<br />
front line rotation.<br />
The Pirates have the<br />
advantage this year of having<br />
more players in practice every<br />
day with transfers Desmond<br />
Herod and Ryan Peterson.<br />
Both players will sit out the<br />
1999-<strong>2000</strong> season, but will be<br />
available to practice. Herod,<br />
who transferred after one<br />
season at the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
Nevada, Las Vegas, is a<br />
6-foot-4 shooting guard from<br />
Adelphi Academy in Brooklyn.<br />
Peterson, a transfer from the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Buffalo, is a<br />
5-foot-11 point guard who<br />
attended <strong>Seton</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> Prep.<br />
“We view this as a key<br />
year in the crossroads of<br />
where we’re going with our<br />
program. I think we’ve established<br />
some good roots as far<br />
as recruiting and post-season<br />
play,” Amaker says. “Now this<br />
is a key year if we can<br />
continuously take steps up<br />
the ladder. We’ve shown that<br />
we’re willing to work, and the<br />
guys are willing to commit<br />
themselves. If we can start<br />
the process of putting it all<br />
together, then this is the year<br />
to become a contender.”<br />
Women’s Basketball Preview<br />
Greater depth steels team<br />
for challenges ahead<br />
By Jeff Andriesse<br />
Assistant Sports<br />
Information Director<br />
The <strong>Seton</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> women’s<br />
basketball team entered<br />
the 1999-<strong>2000</strong> season with<br />
confidence that it could<br />
improve on last year’s 6-21<br />
record. Throw in four recruits<br />
capable of challenging the<br />
current crop of returnees for<br />
playing time, and the stage is<br />
set for an ascent in the BIG<br />
EAST Conference.<br />
Victories last season were<br />
hard to come by; in fact,<br />
<strong>Seton</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> had the fewest<br />
wins since 1985. But Head<br />
Coach Phyllis Mangina ’81,<br />
now in her 15th year guiding<br />
the Pirates, has built two<br />
NCAA Tournament squads<br />
and knows what it takes to<br />
get back there. Last year’s<br />
team was raw and inexperienced,<br />
but, by the season’s<br />
end, it was capable of challenging<br />
many of the top<br />
teams in the BIG EAST,<br />
losing close games to NCAA<br />
Tournament teams Rutgers<br />
and Boston College.<br />
“By the end of the season,<br />
we were just figuring out how<br />
to play together,” Mangina<br />
says. “As a whole, we have<br />
yet to play up to our capabilities.<br />
I stressed off-season<br />
conditioning with the team, and<br />
we should be well-prepared<br />
for what last year might have<br />
been a little overwhelming.”<br />
Three-point threat Erika Ashmon is one of the team’s top defensive players.<br />
WINTER <strong>2000</strong> 33