N
It promises to be an eventful couple of days for Isaiah Whitehead.
On Tuesday morning, the 6-foot-5, 208-pound Seton Hall sophomore won the Haggerty Award presented to the top Division 1 player by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. In beating out other top contenders like Stony Brook’s Jameel Warney, Iona’s A.J. English and Monmouth’s Justin Robinson, Whitehead became the first Pirate to win the award since Andre Barrett in 2004.
Warney, English, Robinson, Sacred Heart’s Cane Broome (who has since transferred to Cincinnati), Columbia’s Maodo Lo and Hofstra’s Juan’ya Green made up the rest of the first-team All-Met.
“It’s big; over the guys I beat, I think they had great years like I did,” Whitehead told SNY.tv on Monday. “I still feel like the other guys deserve at least a piece of it.”
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard was named the Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year. Willard led the Pirates to the Big East Tournament championship and the NCAA Tournament.
One day after winning the award, Whitehead will head to Las Vegas to begin training for the NBA Draft at Impact Basketball with noted trainers Joe Abunassar and Andrew Moore. As first reported by SNY.tv, he will test the NBA waters without hiring an agent. He hopes to earn an invite to the Chicago Pre-Draft Combine, which runs May 11-15 and is expected to feature 65-70 invited players.
“I’m going out to train in Vegas and then head to the Combine from there,” Whitehead said. “I’m waiting for an invite, hopefully I’ll get one.”
Whitehead, 21, averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists this season for the Pirates. In the team’s final game, he scored 10 points on 4-24 from the field, including an NCAA Tournament record-tying 0-for-10 clip from three-point range, as Seton Hall lost to Gonzaga, 68-52, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Denver.
He is currently projected as the No. 34 pick in 2017 by DraftExpress.com.
“I’ve heard late-first round [this year], early second but if I go into the Combine and wake some people up, hopefully it can go up,” he said.
One NBA executive said he sees Whitehead as a potential second-rounder this year.
“He should return to school to put himself in the first round next year,” the executive said.
Whitehead says he’s just looking to see what kind of feedback he gets before deciding whether or not to return to campus for his junior season.
“I don’t know,” he said. “This is about just going through this experience and and just taking it day by day right now and just working out.”
He doesn’t plan on withdrawing from school, and could still return next season alongside fellow sophomores Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez and Ismael Sanogo. (Delgado and Carrington were named second-team All-Met, while Rodriguez was a third-teamer.)
“I’m still a student at Seton Hall,” he said. “I’ll be taking online classes while I’m out there so I will still be eligible.”
For now, he’s just trying to get a Combine invite and show out there.
“I”m real motivated,” he said. “I think that’s another reason why I”m going out to Vegas to get away from everything, try to get better and take the combine by storm.”
NEW YORK (April 12, 2016) – The 2015-16 All-Met Division I men’s college basketball teams announced Tuesday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
First Team
Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall 6-4, so, G Brooklyn, NY
Cane Broome, Sacred Heart 6-0, so, G E. Hartford, CT
A.J. English, Iona 6-4, sr, G Wilmington, DE
Juan’ya Green, Hofstra 6-2, sr, G Philadelphia, PA
Maodo Lo, Columbia 6-3, sr, G Berlin, Germany
Justin Robinson, Monmouth 5-8, jr, G Lake Katrine, NY
Jameel Warney, Stony Brook 6-8, sr, F Plainfield, NJ
Second Team
Khadeen Carrington, Seton Hall 6-3, so, G Brooklyn, NY
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall 6-9, so, F Bajos De Haina, Dom. Republic
Rokas Gustys, Hofstra 6-9, so, F Kaunas, Lithuania
Damon Lynn, NJIT 5-11, jr, G Hillside, NJ
Ryan Rhoomes, Fordham 6-8, sr, F Jamaica, NY
Shane Richards, Manhattan 6-5, sr, F New York, NY
Third Team
Marcus Gilbert, Fairfield 6-6, sr, F Smyrna, DE
Earl Potts Jr., Fairleigh Dickinson 6-6, so, G/F Severn, MD
Carson Puriefoy, Stony Brook 6-0, sr, G Wenonah, NJ
Desi Rodriguez, Seton Hall 6-6, so, F Bronx, NY
Ameen Tanksley, Hofstra 6-6, sr, F Philadelphia, PA
Jordan Washington, Iona 6-9, jr, F Jamaica, NY
Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award
Met Player of the Year: Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall
Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Kevin Willard, Seton Hall
Rookie of the Year: Joseph Chartouny, Fordham (6-3, fr, G, Saint Hubert, Quebec)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
