Seton Hall

This week marks an anniversary of sorts for the Seton Hall basketball program. But don't expect any balloons or streamers on the South Orange, N.J., campus. And don't expect any teary speeches from Pirates Coach P.J. Carlesimo. It is the kind of anniversary you try to forget. "We had hit rock-bottom," said Athletic Director Larry Keating. It was a year ago this week that Seton Hall blew second-half leads and lost to Syracuse and St.

When Larry Keating assumed his duties as athletic director at Seton Hall University four years ago, there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. Some nights, instead of making the commute home to Long Island from the South Orange, N.J., campus, Keating would stay at the apartment of basketball coach P.J. Carlesimo. "I want you to make up a list," Keating told Carlesimo one night. "Let's not talk about it. Just give me a list of everything you think you need to get where you want to go."

Rod Baker, a Seton Hall assistant coach, interviewed for the UC Irvine men's basketball coaching job before heading home after Seton Hall's NCAA tournament loss in Seattle, a New Jersey source said Tuesday. Baker, who earlier said he applied for the job, is one of about a dozen candidates who have talked with Irvine. He met with school officials Sunday and Monday before returning to the East Coast after the Pirates' loss to Nevada Las Vegas in the West Regional final Saturday.

The night after losing its 27-0 record, Seton Hall slept on the train in the station in Louisville, Ky. Walter Dukes, the All-America, folded his 7-foot body into the Pullman bunk and dealt with the outrage privately. The city of Louisville was newly and only partially integrated then and Dukes and backup center Frank Minaya were not welcome in hotels. Change was coming slowly.

Andre Sweet was seven for nine from the field and scored 18 points to lead Seton Hall to a 55-46 victory over No. 23 Providence on Sunday at Providence, R.I., ending the Friars' winning streak at six games. Ryan Gomes had 28 points and 13 rebounds for Providence, which dropped to 14-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big East Conference and fell out of a first-place tie with No. 7 Pittsburgh. The win was the third in a row -- all in the conference -- for Seton Hall (14-4, 4-2).

Tate George scored 20 points, and his six steals helped Connecticut force 24 turnovers today as the No. 8 Huskies defeated Seton Hall 76-58 in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. Connecticut, already the winningest team in the school's history, overcame an off day by its front-court players to improve its record to 26-5. The Huskies, second-seeded in the tournament, will meet the winner of the Georgetown-Providence game in Saturday's semifinals.

Kelly Whitney had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead Seton Hall to a 74-67 victory over No. 13 Syracuse on Tuesday night at East Rutherford, N.J. Syracuse sophomore guard Gerry McNamara had six points but played only 10 minutes in the second half because of an injury to his left groin. Coach Jim Boeheim said he might have stayed too long with McNamara, who helped the Orangemen win the national title last season. "He hurt himself early in the game.

The NCAA Final Four shirts were piled high, unsold and seemingly unwanted, in the corner of the bookstore located in the basement of Duffy Hall. They were marked down, reduced, and still they remained on the shelves; hundreds of them, it seemed. "Seton Hall, NCAA Final Four," "Battle in Seattle" and "NCAA Championship Game, Seattle" they read. "I don't know why they don't get rid of these shirts," said Leslie Allen, an employee at the bookstore. "We don't sell any of them, I don't think.

Most basketball fans will probably remember that the leading scorer in the Seoul Olympics was Brazil's radar-equipped Oscar (Any Shot's A Good Shot As Long As It's Mine) Schmidt. But how many can name the next leading scorer? It's Seton Hall's Andrew Gaze, or, more appropriately Australia's Andrew Gaze. Availing himself of what is, in effect, the Big East's reverse version of the junior-year-abroad program, Gaze has come to play basketball at Seton Hall -- probably for just this one season.

For two years now, P.J. Carlesimo has heard the boos. And the whispers. He never has responded to either. Perhaps that is why, when the cheering began last week, he didn't seem to notice it. He just did what he has done now for six years at Seton Hall: He kept working. "This one was great," he said, the cheers after his team's resounding 89-72 upset of Pittsburgh still ringing in his ears last week. "It was a game we just had to have.