Teams

IF THE SHU (shoe) FITS…

February 3, 2006

Don’t look know, but everyone’s favorite off-season punching bag Louis Orr has his Pirates of Seton Hall with a winning conference record (4-3), solid overall record which has already eclipsed last year’s win total (13-6) and a RPI (33) that would likely have them in the NCAA Tournament if Selection Sunday was today.

It has been a long climb to this position for Coach Orr and his team. On November 16th they were destroyed on national television at Duke by 53 points and failed to crack 50 in their other out of conference losses to Richmond (49-60) and Northwestern (42-44), which left little doubt with many that Seton Hall was in for a long season in the Big East.

However, the Pirate players and coaching staff apparently believed otherwise. They started Big East play with a stirring 20-pt comeback in the last 11 minutes to force overtime and defeat St. John’s. Although a three-game losing streak followed, losing at Rutgers and Villanova and a close one at home to Marquette, the Pirates were showing heart and effort against the long odds. They completed another stirring comeback to defeat South Florida and saved themselves from the embarrasment of being the victim of the Bulls first Big East win. Then, they served notice to all of us, by going on the road and thumping North Carolina St. Proving that win was not a fluke, they went into the Carrier Dome and beat Syracuse and followed that up, despite being banged up and road weary, by winning at Providence last night. Suddenly, things are not so bleak for the Pirates, at least not for this season.

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Louis Orr is only one season removed from taking Seton Hall to the NCAA Tournament with a 10-6 conference record and a 1st round triumph over Arizona in the tournament. In fact, it was Orr’s second consecutive 10-6 conference record, a feat that Seton Hall, an original member of the Big East conference, had only achieved one other time in their history, the 1991-1992 and 1992-1993 seasons, and marked only the 5th and 6th times in the previous 25 years that Seton Hall had won 10 or more conference games in the Big East.

Yet, one poor season was all the room for error Louis Orr seemed to have. It was a disappointing season, with four key players returning from the NCAA team and top recruit Justin Cerasoli coming in, things were supposed to be better. Internal strife and discipline issues popped up all season and off-season rumors of defections were all too common. In the end, Cerasoli and JR Morris left the program and Jamar Nutter and Kelly Whitney, reluctantly it seemed, returned to Seton Hall.

But, the rumors did not end there. When Ahtletic Director Jeff Fogelson, who hired Louis Orr and supported him more than anyone else, announced his resignation on June 24th, effective September 30th, it looked as if Fogelsong had lost the power struggle and Orr would soon follow. Sure enough, stories in the papers popped up the very next day (Hall’s Future in Air) and the New York Post had stories on July 2nd and 4th indicating that Seton Hall boosters were rallying together to come up with the money to buy out Orr’s contract now that Fogelsong was left powerless, prompting Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News to declare it Do Orr Die Time at Seton Hall. As for timing, well, it was on the eve of the most important open evaluation recruiting period of the year for recruiting and with a large collection of coaches and the top players assembling for camps and events in the NYC area, it was a hot topic, crippling the recruiting of Seton Hall as they were entering the best, and largest, basketball conference assembled.

Late in the summer, Seton Hall was able to secure a commitment from Malcolm Grant of Paul Robeson High in NYC, a tough point guard that would fit well at Seton Hall and is very capable of playing in the Big East. He clearly wanted to play in the Big East, and spoke very highly of Louis Orr, but always seemed to leave himself an out and with the Orr rumors he did not sign a letter of intent in November, instead opting to sign scholarship papers with Seton Hall, binding the school to him, but keeping his options open, in case, as he put it, Louis Orr is no longer the coach when he comes to Seton Hall.

However, just a short couple weeks ago, Grant announced he was going to open up his recruitment as Rumors Continued to Haunt SHU Coach Orr (NorthJersey.com), making Pirate commits and recruits an easy target for opposing coaches. “The negative recruiting clearly goes on,” said St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley, who coached current Pirate point guard Donald Copeland. “The rumors are not going to help you,” said St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle, who coached current Seton Hall captain Grant Billmeier. “They have to hurt to some degree.”

Boyle added that Seton Hall should give Orr “a vote of confidence. If there are rumors out there and the school doesn’t give him a public vote of confidence, then there are going to be more rumors. You need to be proactive and make some statements.” Boyle said, “I think [Orr] has done an excellent job this year with the talent level they have. They’re in a very difficult spot there.”

So, Grant is definitely in limbo and recent stories on the internet seems to indicate he is distancing himself from the Seton Hall situation. Orr does have a pair of promising commitments already for the class of 2007 with Quincey Owens and Orlando Allen, but he is obviously being handcuffed in recruiting efforts.

New Seton Hall Athletic Director Joe Quinlan is bothered by the media “creation” of the rumors and noted in a recent article that “the problem is, do those things become self-fulfilling prophecies? Because people go ahead and start them and at times they’re clearly out of your control,” he said.

“And yet the people who have begun them or promoted them are people who are not technically involved parties. They’re supposed to report what happens, not begin conjecture and then try to follow up with it.”

Of course, especially after the run of the last two weeks by Louis Orr and his team, Quinlan could make this issue more of his control, but he has declined to do so, “We’re giving Louis all the support that we can,” Quinlan said when asked about a vote of confidence. “Both Louis and I share this focus that we want to be successful, so we want to go ahead and provide for people the resources that they need to get things done.

“I think recruiting in general is challenging,” Quinlan added. “I know that our guys are working hard [at recruiting]. They’ve not changed what they’re doing. Their work ethic is still very solid, in going out and recruiting and having conversations with prospects and making sure they’re doing the right things and we’re doing the right things. I’ve seen no change in their approach.”

And, that is Louis Orr. Despite all the adversity and questions on his job and future, he has gone about his approach every day the same. Working hard at preparing and developing his players to win their next game. The players have played their hearts out for him and he continues to coach as hard as he can, despite the future of his program being handicapped so severely in terms of recruiting, the lifeblood of any program, because there is no answer on his future.

Quinlan did give a hint on when an answer could be forthcoming, and, at this point, why hurry, “when I came here in September I said I was going to do a complete and thorough evaluation of the athletics department, including the men’s basketball program.

“If I took action midway through the season, I’d be going against everything I said, everything I believe in.”

With his best two players on this team being seniors, Kelly Whitney and Donald Copeland, the Louis Orr and the Pirates are in a very tough spot for the future. With no recruits lined up for next season at this time and the cloudy future that will likely remain, even after this season, all the Pirates players and coaching staff can continue to do is go out and work hard and pick up wins when they can, because at this point, that seems to be everything they believe in and they believe in each other.

Good luck Louis Orr and the Pirates, you will need it the rest of this season, and, likely beyond. Seton Hall is a tough job in the New Big East, I remember a power struggle that a former AD had at the school to keep PJ Carlesimo, that seemed to work out. Maybe, in time, Louis Orr will work out, but, if the continued indecision keeps going, they could fall more and more behind the curve, which will be tough to come back from, at a school with a small alumni base and no on-campus facility. Time is of the essence…

The following stories found on the internet were used as sources of the quotes:
Rumors Haunt SHU Coach (NorthJersey.com 1/23)

Seton Hall’s Orr is Still Paddling (Star-Ledger 1/31)

To Be, Orr Not To Be (NY Post 2/1)

Do Orr Die Time at SHU (NY Daily News)

Hall’s Future in Air (NorthJersey.com June 25)

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