While fans often complain that modern athletes are only in it for the money, Seton Hall has four basketball players who are showing they're more interested in the sport than a check.
The team started the year with only eight eligible players on the bench and was hard-pressed for healthy talent.
So coach Bobby Gonzalez decided to try something he hadn't done in his previous three years as coach—hold open tryouts to give everyone on campus a chance to make the team.
After going through hours of workouts and practice during the open tryouts, Coach Gonzalez’s staff invited four participants—two guards and two forwards—to become members of the 2008-2009 squad. Junior Peter Peregrin, freshman Matt Cajuste, sophomore Darnell Gatling and junior Jason Simmons are the Pirates' first non-scholarship players since Tyrell Cotton played for Louis Orr’s squad in 2005-2006.
“Before the tryouts, we sent out a flyer and posted advertisements on the Internet, and we actually got 19 kids who signed up, which I was shocked about,” Gonzalez said in a pre-season interview with Seton Hall radio station WSOU. “I thought we would only get about five or six kids to show up.”
“It's not that I’ve ever been against walk-ons,” Gonzalez said. “The problem is, being at small schools like Manhattan or Seton Hall is not like [being at] a big school where there are a lot more kids around who are willing to sacrifice that kind of time to be a part of a team even though they are not on scholarship. So, in the past, I have kind of shied away from it; but this year, we need the help in practice, we need the help off the bench and in terms of the camaraderie.”
The first of the walk-ons to see action this season was Peregrin. The 6-foot, 165-pound guard debuted in the season opener against St. Francis on Nov. 14, sinking his first two free throws in five minutes played. When he appeared on the court, the crowd of 6,014 went into a frenzy, chanting his name throughout the Prudential Center. Since then, Peregrin has played a limited role, logging 13 minutes on the court.
The junior from South Plainfield, N.J., hadn’t played organized basketball since his days as a star for St. Vincent de Paul CYO Basketball in Stirling, N.J., where he averaged over 20 points per game.
The next addition to the roster was 6’7" forward Matt Cajuste, added prior to the team’s Puerto Rico trip in November. The Old Westbury, N.Y., native starred at Jericho High School, scoring more than 1,000 points while pulling down more than 1,000 rebounds. Recruited by several Division II programs, it was reported that Cajuste chose to attend Seton Hall for an academic scholarship despite interest in his basketball skills. During the Puerto Rico tournament, Cajuste saw action in a Nov. 21 loss to nationally ranked Memphis.
Cajuste showcased his abilities in games played later in the season. Against Monmouth, the freshman scored three points and picked up a board in four minutes played. Trying to come back from a 20-point halftime deficit to James Madison University, Gonzalez substituted Cajuste for Paul Gause over sophomores Brandon Walters and Mike Davis, a sign of just how highly he may regard the forward.
Also added to the roster was Gatling, a graduate of Law Enforcement & Public Safety High School in the Bronx. The sophomore guard played his first collegiate contest against St. Peter’s College on Dec. 13, which was incidentally the team’s first road game. Against Farleigh Dickinson at home on Dec. 27, Gatling logged a career-high two minutes.
Junior forward Jason Simmons, who last attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, was also invited to join the Pirates but has yet to see action.
The Pirates, currently 9-3 heading into Big East play, will need all of their players to be ready to compete in perhaps the toughest collegiate basketball conference in the nation. Although they are utilized mostly during practice sessions, these walk-ons may be called upon to play limited minutes. Their task is to always be ready.
Next year ought to be better for Gonzalez and the Pirates. Newcomers Keon Lawrence, a junior transfer student from Missouri, and Herb Pope, a sophomore transfer from New Mexico State University, are both sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer regulations. Also ruled ineligible for the season by the NCAA was freshman Melvyn Oliver. All three hope to take the court next season.
