Pirates' Bounty
Seton Hall trio hopeful they get shot in pros
Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez arrived in South Orange, N.J., around this time four years ago, all with similar goals.
The plan was to make Seton Hall a winner, to turn around the floundering program. But each of them had individual dreams — hopes of continuing to play after college, to possibly reach the NBA one day, get paid to play the sport they loved.
After making good on their shared mission at Seton Hall — leading the Pirates to three straight NCAA Tournament berths, a Big East Tournament title, and the school’s first March Madness victory in 14 years this past season — the next step awaits the trio.
“What’s great is all three of these guys, they weren’t the topranked guys. They had nothing given to them,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said in a phone interview. “Through our work and their hard work, they’ve given themselves an opportunity to play at the next level. They graduated and now they’ve given themselves a chance professionally.”
The three friends may not get selected in Thursday’s NBA draft, but all are expected to get a shot in the NBA Summer League to prove they are worthy of a training-camp invite.
Delgado, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner as the nation’s top center and the Big East’s alltime leading rebounder, has been busy, crisscrossing the country for workouts with 13 different teams, twice with the Lakers. Rodriguez, a versatile 6-foot-6 wing who led the Pirates in scoring this year, has had 12 workouts, the last of which was with the NBA champion Warriors on Monday. Carrington, a reliable and high-char- acter combo guard from Brooklyn, has had his share as well, with the Knicks, Wizards and Bucks, among others.
“I’m excited and at the same time I’m nervous,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve made it this far. I want to see what happens from here.”
Added the 6-foot-9, 245-pound Delgado: “I just hope I get the opportunity to prove myself. It’s crazy how your future will be decided [in two days].”
Willard’s phone hasn’t stopped buzzing in recent weeks, teams talking to him about his three former stars. Almost all of the feedback has been positive. They acquitted themselves well in workouts. Now they just have to wait for the next step in the process. It won’t be too long.
“When the draft is done, if both of these players aren’t picked, their names are going to be called for summer league and to get in the G-League,” NBA director of scouting Ryan Blake said, alluding to Delgado and Rodriguez. “These are two players that have been seen for a number of years, that know the game, and can play, and they’re winners.
“Are they NBA players? I think they’ll get the opportunity to prove it.”
One scout whose team had Delgado in for a workout believes he can make himself into an NBA player because of his rebounding ability and work ethic. Blake sees in him some Reggie Evans, a player who carved out a 13-year career by outhustling his opponents, and another scout has compared him to former Spurs forward Malik Rose.
Delgado’s agent, Sam Permut, said the Dominican Republic native has drawn a lot of interest from teams picking in the second round after he showcased an improved jump shot and lowered his body fat to less than 8 percent in workouts.
“He put himself in a really good position,” Permut said. “He’s really worked hard and showed teams that he can do a lot of things he didn’t do at Seton Hall.”
“I love Angel, and I think he definitely has an NBA skill,” the NBA scout said. “He can rebound the ball with anybody, and as long as he doesn’t get thirsty and plays within himself, I think he’ll be fine.”
Of the three, Rodriguez was the longest shot to get in this position. The athletically gifted Bronx native was a lightly recruited three-star forward coming out of Lincoln High School, overshadowed by McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Whitehead, who is now with the Nets after leaving Seton Hall following his sophomore season.
Most saw Rodriguez’s ceiling in college as a role player. But he progressed steadily, improving across the board as a quality 3-point shooter and more-than-capable one-on-one scorer. His versatility fits into the position-less trend of the NBA.
Now he has a professional future of some kind in front of him now.
“I’m just looking for a team to give me an opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “Draft or no draft, it doesn’t matter.”