MIGHT BE HALL
PHOTOS BY BARRY WILLIAMS/DAILY NEWS SINATRA PLAYED as Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard strode off the Garden court. In his wake was an 81-74 win in overtime against St. John’s. Ahead of Willard was a gathering of supporters waving a blue banner. Fans shouted down from the stands. “Great coaching today, coach!” one said. “Great win!” said another. Willard caught up with a familiar face by the tunnel.
“I’m going to celebrate this one,” Willard said.
Willard continued to his locker room. A celebration erupted when he arrived. It was the 20th win of the season.
“I’m really proud of the way these guys focused in,” he said. “We were very focused.”
All eyes will be trained on Willard’s every move now. One day after Yahoo Sports reported that former Seton Hall guard Isaiah Whitehead’s name appeared alongside amounts of $26,136 and $37,657 in the loan ledger of NBA agent Andy Miller, Willard maintained that his program is clean. The newsbreak came in the context of the greater reckoning that is rippling across college basketball in light of four assistant coaches, an Adidas executive and others facing federal corruption charges. It also provided a sampling of the probe’s findings regarding local Division I operations. Willard insisted he welcomed investigators to examine his program’s ethics. He insisted that the allegations have nothing to do with current players.
“Absolutely nothing,” he said. “Nothing to do with them. These guys had practice, we had a nice team meal and then these guys played video games.”
Willard’s right. It has nothing to do with the players, for now. While the Pirates worked their game consoles, his bosses hired a Manhattan law firm — Jackson Lewis — to investigate the matter. Willard is the one responsible for the hiring and procuring of talent, both on the court and his bench. He vowed to comply.
“We’re going to be 100% open, 100% honest,” Willard said. “I’m glad the school has moved quickly on this so we can move on.”
Willard had plenty invested in Whitehead. It was Willard who recruited the McDonald’s All American from Lincoln High in Coney Island to South Orange to help spark a program that went 66-66 in his first four years. To help secure Whitehead’s commitment, Willard hired his high school coach, Dwayne (Tiny) Morton, whose name is also in the Miller ledger with an amount of $9,500 next to it. One of Whitehead’s alleged loans came during his freshman season. It is unknown when Morton’s payment occurred. Morton’s relationships with Miller and Willard both date back to the 2004 days when Sebastian Telfair, one of Morton’s Railsplitters, was deciding whether to go to the NBA straight from the PSAL or enroll at Louisville, where Willard was an assistant under Rick Pitino. Telfair wound up picking both post-prep options. Telfair committed to Pitino before declaring for the NBA draft.
Telfair signed with Miller when he reached the NBA. A decade later, Whitehead signed with Miller when he announced for the draft in 2016. The Jazz took him in the second round, with the No. 42 pick. Now a Net, Whitehead has since changed agents, and is represented by Roc Nation. Hall fans still wear his No. 15 jersey to games in remembrance of his run that led the Pirates to the NCAA tourney. He remains supportive of the Pirates, showing up at an exhibition in November and posing for photos with fans.