Dulaney’s Conway decides to be a Pirate
Three-star guard makes commitment to Seton Hall
Dulaney’s Ryan Conway officially made the decision of his young life at 7 p.m. on Monday, committing to the Seton Hall men’s basketball program over Marquette, Providence, Rutgers, Stanford and Vanderbilt and others.
Conway, rated a three-star prospect and the nation’s No. 21 point guard in the Class of 2021 by the 247 Sports Composite rankings, leaned toward Seton Hall for the past few weeks and narrowed his list from six schools to three. On Saturday evening, he decided that he wanted to play for the Pirates. He slept on his choice for a few nights and discussed everything with his parents, older brother Chris and Dulaney coach Matt Lochte. He called Lochte on Monday morning to let him know that he would be attending the New Jersey school.
“The time is now,” said Conway in his commitment video. “First, I want to thank God for giving me this God-given talent and a free education. Nothing is possible without God. I want to thank all of the coaches and trainers that have dedicated their time to make me better. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me through the good and the bad times, I appreciate y’all.
“I appreciate every school that took the time to recruit me, but unfortunately, I can only pick one. I will be committing to
Seton Hall University.”
Lochte and Conway have known each other for years, dating to the latter’s elementary school days. The two went together on some recruiting visits, including Seton Hall’s 52-48 win over Maryland this past season in a packed Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The Dulaney coach continued to talk with Seton Hall’s coaches, including Willard.
“It felt right for him. Seton Hall has been in Dulaney’s gym a number of times, Ryan has taken a visit to Seton Hall and loved it,” Lochte said. “He and I actually drove up during the winter and watched Seton Hall beat Maryland at the Prudential Center in front of 15,000 people. We went into the locker room after the game and it was a great game to drive up to see.”
Seton Hall was the first program to reach out to the 6-foot-1 guard and their fans made their presence known. One fan tweeted a clapping Kevin Willard, head coach of the men’s basketball team, and another simply tweeted “Pirates” before Conway’s decision came. After he made his announcement, the floodgates opened with support.
“Just as excited as Ryan is excited as Seton Hall, Seton Hall is just as excited about Ryan,” Lochte said. “On social media here in the last few minutes, the amount of congratulations from the Seton Hall fanbase and alumni has been incredible.
“I just got off of the phone with Ryan a few minutes ago, I told him ‘Listen man, I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning. I want you to enjoy this night, we’ll text throughout the night and about everything going on with social media’, but this is his night. We should all celebrate it, be proud of it and he’s the one that puts in the hard work and he deserves everything he gets.”
Conway had two other Big East programs who were interested in his play. Marquette and Providence offered him a scholarship. Coaches from Villanova, Xavier and DePaul also have witnessed Conway’s play. Lochte felt that the Big East style of play fit Conway’s strengths the best.
“I grew up in Southern Maryland — Charles County, PG [Prince George’s] County area,” Lochte said. “So, I grew up a diehard Georgetown Hoyas fan. With Big East basketball, in my youth I spent a lot of time at the Capital Center watching the Hoyas, Syracuse and Seton Hall and Villanova. I’m excited and I think that the Big East brand of basketball is good for his skill set.
“The Big East tournament is played at Madison Square Garden — the Mecca — It doesn’t get any bigger than Big East basketball. I think it’s a perfect fit for him and I think that he’s a perfect fit for Seton Hall.”