Seton Hill men's basketball looking for turnaround season

Downplaying a last-place prediction by his coaching peers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division, Kendrick Saunders chooses to teach patience to a Seton Hill men’s basketball team that was itching to get back on the court after a season of inactivity.

The Griffins, with three games in four days to open the season, were hoping for a turnaround from their 4-22 record two years ago before sitting out last season during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.

“We hadn’t played in almost two years, and our kids were really excited to get back on the court,” said Saunders, who is in his third season at Seton Hill. “It’s been good for the mental health of everybody. It’s great. That’s why you do this, to coach these young men to be leaders on and off the court.”

No matter the outcome, Saunders is just hoping for a smooth season with no interruptions like last year.

“I’m excited about our group,” he said. “The last time we played (in 2019-20), we played nine freshmen and were one of the youngest teams in Division II. We’ve been able to keep seven of those guys in the program, and we’re really developing them. Our guys have grown spiritually through the turbulent times of covid.”

Seton Hill can boast five players at least 6-foot-7, including 7-foot, 240-pound junior Jimmy Moon, a former Serra Catholic star and the Griffins’ leading returning scorer (12.1 ppg) and rebounder (6.7 rpg) from that 2019-20 team.

“I call him ‘The Hometown Kid,’ ” Saunders said. “He had a great, great freshman season two years ago,” though injuries limited Moon’s playing time.

“We have good size and length.”

Perhaps more hometown talent is on the way. Despite just three WPIAL players on the current roster, Saunders said he hopes to continue recruiting local players.

Marrek Paola, a 6-10 junior from Ligonier Valley, and 6-1 sophomore Ryan Meis from Bethel Park join Moon as former WPIAL stars on Seton Hill’s roster.

“Always looking for homegrown talent,” Saunders said. “Jimmy and Marrek have made a good impact. Their leadership in our program is really strong.”

Because of last year’s interruption, Meis is in his first season of college competition.

The Griffins will miss Nathan Davis, their leading scorer from 2019-20 and Seton Hill’s second-leading all-time scorer with 1,712 points, who is playing professionally in Germany.

But Saunders has moved on to the present group and is banking on strong play from others in addition to Moon, Paola and Meis, including 6-8 junior Aaron Celcis, 6-5 junior Drew Green and 6-5 junior Michael Joyner.

“Guys are always trying to get separation in practice, no matter the position,” Saunders said. “As time goes on, things will shake out. We’ve got to execute and take care of things we can control. We have what we call a gold standard, as far as what we do: take care of the basketball, play defense and get deflections, things of that nature. We’ll also keep track of things like when a player dives on the floor or takes charges.

“We’re trying to build that culture here.”