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Friday, April 6, 2001
Orr starts working on Pirates immediately



SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Louis Orr already has a few victories as Seton Hall basketball coach.

After being hired Wednesday, Orr, the former New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers forward, convinced at least two and possibly three key players not to leave now that Tommy Amaker has gone to Michigan.

Louis Orr
Louis Orr became Seton Hall's 17th head coach on Wednesday.

Freshman Marcus Toney-El and junior Ty Shine said they're anxious to stay and rebuild with Orr. And Toney-El said another freshman, Andre Barrett, also was leaning toward staying.

Orr left Siena to become the Pirates 17th coach, and must concentrate on holding together a team whose players are considering transferring in the wake of a disappointing season and the past week's upheaval.

"I don't want to leave," Toney-El said. "Transferring would be the end-all; it wouldn't have been right."

Shine wants to erase the bad taste of this season.

"This season didn't go the way it should have," he said. "This can be a good thing. It's tough losing a coach like coach Amaker, but I think coach Orr is a great coach. I'm looking forward to getting started. Hopefully we can get this thing turned around and start getting some more W's."

Orr will not be able to keep the team totally intact, however. Forward Eddie Griffin said Tuesday he was leaving Seton Hall after his freshman year to enter the NBA draft.

Sophomore guard Samuel Dalembert also was considering entering the NBA draft, according to published reports. Dalembert has not yet informed the university about his intention, sports information director Marie Wozniak said Thursday.

"If he makes that decision, we will announce it," Wozniak said.

Orr realizes some players are thinking about playing elsewhere next season.

"I can understand the turmoil and anguish these young men are going through, having lost a good coach like Tommy Amaker," he said. "Change is inevitable; it's a part of our life. But change doesn't have to be bad; it can be a good thing."

Orr will seek to preserve as much of the current roster as he can before focusing on recruiting efforts.

"I've got to recruit the players we've got rather than concentrating on new ones," Orr said. "This is my family now. When you're family, you fight to keep your family."

The Pirates reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2000, and there was much anticipation about how far they would go this season.

Seton Hall was ranked as high as No. 7 early in the season, but the Pirates collapsed shortly after Griffin was suspended for punching Shine after a loss at Georgetown.

Seton Hall didn't qualify for the Big East tournament until it beat Connecticut in the final regular-season game. The Pirates reached the conference tournament semifinals before losing. The Pirates finished with a 16-15 record after a first-round loss to Alabama in the NIT.

Orr played two seasons with the Pacers and six with the Knicks, retiring in 1988. As a coach, he has been an assistant at Providence (1994-96) and Syracuse (1996-2000) before taking over as Siena's head coach last year.

He led Siena to a 20-11 record and a berth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals.

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Freshman Griffin leaving Seton Hall for NBA draft

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AUDIO VIDEO
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 Louis Orr is named Seton Hall's new head men's basketball coach.
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 Louis Orr embraces the task of becoming a major part of his student athletes' lives.
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