Seton Hall’s Sanders poised for a breakout
SOUTH ORANGE – Jaquan Sanders committed to Seton Hall basketball to play for Kevin Willard. Instead, he wound up mostly riding the bench under Shaheen Holloway as a freshman.
In 2023, that usually means a sprint into the transfer portal.
Not for Sanders.
When the 6-foot-4 shooting guard met with Holloway at season’s end, he got a list of things he did wrong, a list of things he did right, and a list of steps to take for a bigger role.
“I appreciate the coaches telling me all that,” Sanders said Friday, during the program’s media day. “They didn’t lie to me. They felt like I could help this team. That’s why I didn’t put my name in the portal – the relationships I have here are great.”
To Sanders’ credit, by all accounts, he’s gone down the list and checked all the boxes. Now Holloway cites “Stacks,” as he’s known, as the Pirates’ most improved player. The coach isn’t the only one who feels that way.
“Stacks is going to take a jump this year,” senior point guard Kadary Richmond said. “He understands what he went through last year is his fault, that it’s on him. Nobody wants to bench anybody, right? If you don’t own up to the things you’re doing, there are repercussions. Him locking in every day and doing what he has to do, from the summer until now, is going to be good for him and good for us.”
What has he done? Sanders cut back on fast food and dropped 10 pounds. He devoted himself to studying the game. And he’s taking the defensive end seriously.
“Stacks has gotten a lot better,” postgrad guard AlAmir Dawes said. “He’s shooting the leather off the ball. His main thing was to learn (how to play) defensively and to learn our plays, and he’s been doing a good job of that.”
Added senior wing Dre Davis: “He needed that first year to learn and develop. He paid attention, and now I think he’s ready for sure.”
The sophomore leap is a real thing in college basketball – it’s typically when the most improvement takes place. Sanders credits the upperclassmen for helping him take it.
“Being around the older guys, they’re helping me mature, pushing me to be a better person,” he said. “I truly appreciate them pushing me and not giving up on me. They told me I can help this team win. Whatever has to be done, I’ll do it.”
He’ll be asked to shoot threes, for sure. Sanders is known as a shooter and has a great stroke. But if he’s going to be tapped as the first guard off the bench (a distinct possibility), the expectation is that he’ll bring it defensively.
“They know I can put the ball in the hoop; it’s mainly about the defensive end,” he said. “Coach Sha is a defensive guy and I know how much that means to him. I came in this summer ready to learn, ready to work, and that’s what I did.”