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Ken Cook/Photography Editor[/caption]
Basketball is back—well, coming back.
To celebrate, Seton Hall’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will host their annual Blue and White scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 12 p.m. in Walsh Gymnasium.
Both squads will take the hardwood for 20 minutes each.
While fans should not expect them to battle like it was the NCAA Championship, the players definitely will not be taking it easy.
“I wouldn’t say that it’ll be intense, but I’m sure it’ll be competitive,” Thomas Chen, Assistant Athletics Director for Digital Media & Communications, said. “They won’t go out and lollygag. When teams scrimmage, they are certainly looking to get better. When they’re trying to get better, they’re not going to go out and go through the motions. They will try.”
The men’s team is coming off a season that included a national ranking, two wins over top-15 teams and a championship at the Paradise Jam; though a 1-9 finish to the season left the Hall with an overall record of 16-15.
Ken Cook/Photography Editor[/caption]
Basketball is back—well, coming back.
To celebrate, Seton Hall’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will host their annual Blue and White scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 12 p.m. in Walsh Gymnasium.
Both squads will take the hardwood for 20 minutes each.
While fans should not expect them to battle like it was the NCAA Championship, the players definitely will not be taking it easy.
“I wouldn’t say that it’ll be intense, but I’m sure it’ll be competitive,” Thomas Chen, Assistant Athletics Director for Digital Media & Communications, said. “They won’t go out and lollygag. When teams scrimmage, they are certainly looking to get better. When they’re trying to get better, they’re not going to go out and go through the motions. They will try.”
The men’s team is coming off a season that included a national ranking, two wins over top-15 teams and a championship at the Paradise Jam; though a 1-9 finish to the season left the Hall with an overall record of 16-15.
The women’s team is fresh off the best season in school history.
It included 28 wins, SHU’s first ever Big East Championship and the program’s first NCAA Tourna- ment appearance since 1995.
Following the on-court action, both the men’s and women’s players will spend an additional 20 minutes signing autographs for fans. The whole shebang is free.
“There is no ticket information,” Chen said. “It’s open to the public. People are just invited to come and take a look. We hope to take advantage and entice fans to come back. This is the very beginning [of the season], but it could build into a huge basketball love affair for fans.”
The Blue and White scrimmage will be run as part of Seton Hall Weekend 2015, which means that there could be quite a turnout at the free event.
Chen noted that the scrimmage will take place after just one official practice, so the Pirates will not be in mid-season form.
The game will give students and the public a brief look at what is to come, though.
“The weekend isn’t during basketball season, but this is an opportunity to come out and get a glimpse,” Chen said. “It’s a good way to get a preview of the teams.”
For Chen, who was hired last December after 10 years in the field, this is a new experience. It will be his first time witnessing the Blue and White scrimmage as well as the Seton Hall Weekend.
“I haven’t been there, but everyone says it’s a great time for alumni, students and everyone involved with Seton Hall,” he said. “It’s a great time to come together and have a fun weekend. And what better way to have some fun than to have the basketball teams take part in it?”
Thomas Duffy can be reached at Thomas.duffy@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @TJDhoops.
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