Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway cuts down net after winning NIT
Seton Hall basketball coach Shaheen Holloway cuts down the net after winning the NIT
The final piece to Seton Hall basketball’s 2024-25 roster is on board, and it’s a potent one.
Garwey Dual, a 6-foot-5 guard transfer from Providence, committed to the Pirates Friday.
Here are three things to know about the rising sophomore, who has three years of eligibility left.
1. He was a big-time high school recruit.
Coming out of California, Dual was as consensus four-star, top-50 prospect in the class of 2023 due to his size, including a long wingspan, and his high-end athleticism and explosiveness. He’s the fifth former four-star prospect to commit to the Hall as a transfer this offseason, joining guard Zion Harmon, wing Scotty Middleton, forward Prince Aligbe and center Gus Yalden. This is clearly a pattern by head coach Shaheen Holloway – reclaiming talented players who didn’t flourish as expected at their last stop (it should be noted that Harmon was productive, but at a low-major).
As a transfer, Texas A&M and Georgia were among Dual’s primary suitors.
2. He didn’t get traction as a freshman at Providence.
Dual originally was recruited to Providence by Ed Cooley, who then bolted for Georgetown. Kim English re-recruited him but the fit never seemed right. Dual averaged 3.3 points and 1.9 assists in 18 minutes per game, mostly off the bench. He shot 33 percent from the field, .250 from 3-point range and .667 from the free-throw line. He did post an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 2-to-1. He fared better in the open court than in half-court sets and showed some promise as a ball-stopping defender.
In two games against Seton Hall, Dual averaged 3.5 points and 1.0 assists in 11.5 minutes while shooting 3-of-5 from the field, including 1-of-2 from deep. His best Big East games were a 7-point, 4-assist effort at St. John’s and a 7-point, 2-assist, 3-steal showing at Butler. He also logged 4 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks in the Friars’ opening-round NIT loss to Boston College.
3. He could share lead-guard duties
Holloway prefers an offense without a ball-dominant point guard, one that instead puts stress on an opposing defense with three playmaking guards. Dual seems destined to be prominent in that role along with Old Dominion transfer Chaunce Jenkins. Holloway is going to rotate his full complement of seven guards and wings in that sense, using depth to wear down opponents. Of that group, along with Middleton, Dual has the best combination of size and upside.
Dual’s commitment brings what began as a difficult offseason free-agency period, with high-profile defections, to a strong close. On Thursday the Pirates added a likely frontcourt starter in 6-foot-10 Yacine Toumi from Evansville. Both Dual and Toumi had assistant coach Rasheen Davis as the lead recruiter. Davis has gotten it done on the trail during his time in South Orange (it should be noted that Holloway often is a lead recruiter as well, not just a closer).
Seton Hall now has 14 players on board for next season, which means one of them will have walk-on status. The obvious candidate for that is Assane Mbaye, an incoming freshman from the Patrick School.
Seton Hall’s projected 2024-25 depth chart
Guards (5): Chaunce Jenkins, Garway Dual, Dylan Addae-Wusu, Zion Harmon, Jahseem Felton.
Wings (2): Isaiah Coleman, Scotty Middleton.
Bigs (7): Yacine Toumi, Prince Aligbe, Gus Yalden, Emmanuel Okorafor, David Tubek, Godswill Erheriene, Assane Mbaye.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.