Once upon a time, BR-75 Seton Hall boasted a successful basketball program. The Pirates, after three decades of mediocrity, reached the NCAA tournament six times from 1988-94. Head coach P.J. Carlesimo led them to 154 wins over those six seasons, only missing the 1990 tourney after going 12-16, one year following a trip to the national final, where they fell in a thrilling overtime game to Michigan, 80-79.
Carlesimo bolted for the NBA following the 1993-94 season, taking over as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. In the 21 seasons that have followed his departure, Seton Hall has reached the NCAA tournament just three times and none since losing in the first round in 2006. The small New Jersey private school is on their fifth head coach since Carlesimo left, with their current coach, Kevin Willard (sixth season) being their longest tenured. Willard has failed to reach the tournament in each the last five seasons, but, at 8-2 and with a talented roster, there is a chance their tourney-less run could end at eight years.
Hoping to possibly channel some of that past success, Seton Hall and Under Armour unveiled some gorgeous throwback uniforms that will be worn on Saturday against BR-22 Wichita State:
Created by @UAbasketball, Glory Days uni features same logo & script as Pirates teams from 1987-93 #TeamUA #HALLin pic.twitter.com/L6CqbRMqo0
— Seton Hall MBB (@SetonHallMBB) December 17, 2015