Pirates will crash boards

Players embrace ‘big-boy basketball’

SOUTH ORANGE – It was anybody’s rebound, the kind of carom into a crowded paint that could cause blood to spill in a Big East basketball game.

Jaden Bediako bulled his way to the ball and, with a couple of guys hanging on him, laid it into the net for a putback. “A grown man’s rebound,” is the hardwood parlance, and the ensuing ovation from everyone present – head coach Shaheen Holloway threw a jubilant punch into the air – nearly brought the house down during Seton Hall’s first basketball practice of the 2023-24 season.

It’s no secret that Holloway coaches hard, but he made it a point Monday to spotlight and even celebrate the best hustle plays by his new big men – the 6-foot-10 postgrad Bediako and 6-11 junior Elijah Hutchins-Everett, both of whom transferred from the mid-major level in the offseason. Their development over the next six weeks is vital. On a squad with established guards but unknowns up front, the pair may hold the key to the Hall’s campaign.

“He sees the potential in us,” said Hutchins-Everett, who grew up in nearby Orange and spent the past two years at Austin Peay. “He’s always going to tell you truth, not going sugarcoat stuff, and that’s what we need. Him pushing us is the best thing – that’s what I wanted, coming here, and that’s what I’ve been getting.”

They’ve been pushing each other, too. Bediako, who came from a successful Santa Clara program, is more of a classic postman. He was the top rebounder in Monday’s practice and wasn’t afraid to give – and take – some elbows.