| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- The Seton Hall students are privy to the private side of the Pirates.
But the rest of the world doesn't get a chance to see how much Tommy Amaker's tangible touch has changed the program.
Sure, the picture on the wall outside of Walsh Gym still shows P.J. Carlesimo, Andrew Gaze, Gerald Greene and Darryll Walker celebrating a national semifinal victory over Duke in 1989.
|  | | Tommy Amaker has the Pirates pointed in the right direction after just three seasons in charge. |
But that's the only thing that looks like old news.
The Pirates' offices have been updated. The locker room should rival any big-time program once it's finished. The plush carpeting is in. So is the big-screen TV.
The comfy chairs for the locker stalls are on their way. The laptops for the video/study hall room, across from the TV, are en route. The stadium-style seating could provide a lecture hall look. It could sound like a classroom with conversation-level soundproof glass, but the cranked-up stereo definitely penetrates the glass.
If the regular students take a look inside Walsh Gym, they'll see the talent assembled to make the Pirates a legit Final Four candidate in only Amaker's fourth season.
And this isn't even their year. Amaker has been planning for Year Five, when the Pirates should have every major contributor returning.
The infrastructure has never been so solid at Seton Hall. Heck, even the media guide is done a week into practice -- another sign that the Pirates have arrived earlier than expected.
"You can definitely see a change," Seton Hall junior guard Ty Shine said Friday during ESPN.com's preseason tour. "The students, the atmosphere here, it's a whole lot different. Our new locker room, the high-level players. It's a different atmosphere than when I first got here."
The Pirates got a jump on everyone by making the Sweet 16 last March behind a Herculean effort from Shaheen Holloway in the first round (remember his full length layup to upset Oregon?) and, after he was hurt early in a second-round game against Temple, by Ty Shine, Rimas Kaukenas and Darius Lane. The 10th- seeded Pirates were bounced out in the Sweet 16 by Oklahoma State, but not before they had shown they weren't a fluke.
Shine and Lane are back, but the Pirates are better than maybe they've ever been with a confident and mature 6-foot-11 sophomore Samuel Dalembert, and the top freshmen class in the country: McDonald's all-Americans 6-9 Eddie Griffin and 5-8 Andre Barrett, along with 6-6 Marcus Toney-El and 6-7 Damian Fray.
"Last year was a breakthrough year by making the NCAA Tournament in the third year of the program," Amaker said. "We did it prior to the kids coming on board and it makes it even better. We wanted the kids to come into a program that was established and Shaheen and Rimas did that with the Sweet 16 appearance.
"We want this program to get back to lofty heights it had under P.J., and the guys have done that with the two NITs and NCAA in three years."
But there's no denying that this year is still the beginning of a new era at Seton Hall.
While the Pirates were overachievers a year ago, they're expected to mount a serious challenge for the Big East title and a top four NCAA Tournament seed this season. The Pirates are a consensus top 15 preseason pick, selected anywhere from 1 to 15.
|
“ |
It
was so important for us to make a statement the
past year. I thought it was crucial for the kids to
come into a program that wasn't going to live and
die by what they would do. I wanted them to
come in knowing they were at a program already
established. I wanted them to enhance
it. ” |
|
|
— Tommy Amaker,
Seton Hall head coach |
"No one cared about us before," Dalembert said. "It didn't matter if someone beat us. But the expectations now are you've got to beat Seton Hall. That shows how much we've improved. That's going to be a good challenge for us this year."
But Amaker, Shine, Lane, Dalembert, Holloway and Kaukenas made it easier on the high-profile freshmen. The talk last fall was about the freshman class in November rather than the 1999-200 team. But the Sweet 16 took the pressure off the recruits.
The expectations are still high on this crew, but they don't have the burden of having to get the Pirates into the NCAA Tournament.
That's been done. Good thing, because Barrett said that pressure would have been too intense to meet.
They don't have to be the reason the Pirates upgrade their facilities.
That's already happening. Amaker obviously got that message across when he was hired to have the construction nearly complete when this class arrived.
They don't have to get to know each other, either.
They already do.
"I hope we've started something here to keep Jersey and Seton Hall on the map next year," said Toney-El.
They don't have to be the saviors anymore, either.
Amaker already is.
"It was so important for us to make a statement the past year," Amaker said. "I thought it was crucial for the kids to come into a program that wasn't going to live and die by what they would do. I wanted them to come in knowing they were at a program already established. I wanted them to enhance it."
Amaker's energy for this team, this program and for his career is evident in practice. He doesn't deviate from his plan. He's on his players, pushing them to maximize their potential, especially their endurance.
He challenges them from whistle to whistle over three hours a day, likely over the next five months until March.
"We've got the potential to be a very good team," Amaker said. "But we've got to have the intangibles to make a difference, things like chemistry for us to have a good year."
If a first impression matters, they're off to a very good start.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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