“I mean, he brings out emotion”, said Isaiah Whitehead, the team’s leading scorer. The whole team feeds off of his energy and they have to get out in front quickly because I don’t love their chances of mounting a comeback. Perhaps this trajectory influenced Seton Hall’s decision to retain head coach Kevin Willard for a sixth season. He is far more proud of being the first athlete to play in the NCAA tournament for three different schools than he is being the first publicly out gay player in the tournament. Many were shocked when the Big East champions were relegated to the No. 6 seed in the Midwest region despite their 25-8 record this season, which included wins over two top-10 teams (Xavier and Villanova) in the Big East tournament. They haven’t been to the NCAA tournament in a decade. Delgado is going to have a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but Willard may just throw Anderson and Anthony out there just as bodies to slow Gonzaga’s big guys down a bit. Since Gonzaga and Seton Hall have only met once in the history of the programs, it seems important to figure out things about Seton Hall from people who watch Seton Hall. Hammons is a legit seven footer, and they’ve got another seven footer, Issac Haas, on their bench.
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“I think we’ve grown accustomed to it in these last few days”, said Whitehead, who has averaged 22.4 points over the last 14 games, “so it shouldn’t be a problem” tonight. “Everybody knows”, Gordon said Wednesday as his team prepared for its first-round game against Gonzaga. It was so supportive for him, I think it made the transition so easy. This is the first time since a year that we’ve been asked about it. It has been really great for me honestly. He wanted to be an example to others and still believes he ultimately can be so he isn’t disappointed more players haven’t followed his lead.
“When I sat down with Derrick, I said, ‘Derrick, this must be about basketball, because that’s what you’re telling me, ‘” Willard said.
When it comes to college basketball, he said other players haven’t come out because they are waiting to see how he is handled by the NBA later this spring and summer following his senior season. “Everybody has to do it on their time when they’re ready”. The team went on a 12-3 run that catapulted them to the playoffs and won its first-round matchup with the Toronto Raptors.
Gordon had already done the hectic circuit in April 2014, when he announced he was gay while a student at the University of MA.
“The story’s been out since 2014, so it shouldn’t be a story, as it is”, Gordon said.
“I would hope so. You’ve still got to get on the court and just play basketball”.
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“I know who I am”, Gordon said. Willard insists Seton Hall does not turn that into a “they’re disrespecting us” sort of story, even though there’s plenty to support that.
