A flag can serve as a symbol people can rally behind; most Americans, for example, recognize the red, white, and blue as a powerful emblem of their country’s pride.
But for Seton Hall, Pirate Nation doesn’t just rally behind a flag bearing the university’s logo— they rally behind the person who bears the flag itself.
Since the early 1990s, the “flagman” role has been an important tradition for the gameday experience of SHU’s men’s basketball team. Before games or during breaks in the game’s action, the flagman waves a larger-than-life flag around the court to rally the crowd and inspire school spirit.
The last person to occupy the role was Joseph Mosco, a 2025 alumnus, who did so for the past four years. The South Jersey native became iconic for pushing the limits of a long-standing flagman tradition: seeing how many laps he could complete around his cheerleading counterparts while carrying the flag at halfcourt—a daunting task given that the flag is attached to a 30-foot metallic pole meant to be carried by a group.
In concert with his charisma and funny celebrations, Mosco transformed the flagman tradition from just another role on the cheer team to a standout, crowd-pleasing solo act.
Before graduating and thus stepping down from the role in May, Mosco said that he was actively seeking a successor to carry on the tradition and had already identified a potential candidate to do so.
Enter Jack Cianci, the latest student to take up the role of the university’s flagman. A sophomore business student from Berkeley Heights, NJ, Cianci said he met Mosco last year through an event for their fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi—and that Mosco has since become “like an older brother” to him.
“[Mosco’s] a great guy,” Cianci said. “I wasn't even really planning on trying out, but he really hyped me up to give it a shot.”
Apart from Mosco’s encouragement, Cianci also said that he was inspired to take up the role by watching the former flagman in action and the way people reacted to him.
“I was inspired by just seeing him do it, and with how hype people got when he came out and how our friends would react,” Cianci said. “That’s just such a cool position to be in, and I’m glad that I’m now able to do the same.”
But what many people don’t see about the role is the preparation that goes into it, which Cianci separated into the “physical” and “mental” side of things—with a greater emphasis on the latter.
“The physical side of it is just getting to the gym every day,” Cianci said. “I do a short but intense workout pretty much six times a week.”
“And then the mental side of it, which I think is trickier to get through, is just knowing how many people are counting on you to do a good job,” he added. “Friends, family, everybody in the stands—and even the team themselves—are [counting on you] to step up and get the crowd going.”
And yet, Cianci maintained that the flagman is more than just a crowd-pleaser—the role is emblematic of the pride students have as members of Pirate Nation.
“To me, it just represents the pride that we as students have in our school,” he said. “So being the flagman is like a public demonstration of, ‘We’re Seton Hall and we’re proud to be Seton Hall.’”
Ahead of the men’s basketball season, Cianci shared his excitement for it, especially given the team’s new roster.
“I know we struggled last season, so I’m definitely hyped to watch now that we’ve made some improvements,” he said. “I think the rest of the world’s going to see that Seton Hall is still a threat, and that we’re going to give it our all every game.”
As far as his role in the season goes, Cianci plans on making the flagman tradition his own in his first year by “keeping things fresh and exciting.”
“I don’t know how much creative freedom I have with it, but I’d love to do more than just run out there, move the flag, and leave,” he said. “I’d love to have some sort of mascot-like responsibilities and to do something different every game.”
Cianci hopes to give the role “a little more flair” throughout the season by incorporating wardrobe changes, unique hairstyles, and different cosmetic pieces, “so people get excited to see what’s different each time.”
But Cianci’s main focus in his first year as flagman is not making the tradition his own, but staying composed: he mentioned that the hardest part of the role is “keeping a level head” in a “stressful environment” and a physically demanding role.
Even with the physically demanding nature of the role, Cianci explained that carrying the flag is actually easier than it seems.
“It’s difficult to explain unless you’re holding [the flag], but when you’re pushing it, it’s falling with you—so you don’t really feel the whole 30 pounds on your arms,” he said. “You’re just kind of following it along with its gravity, so if you’re holding it right, and cutting through the wind right, it really doesn’t feel like that much.”
“It’s more so about keeping your balance and enduring the strain on your legs,” he added.
Luckily for him, Cianci's longtime love for running will help ensure his legs are prepared to endure the strain of the role.
“I’m a big runner,” he said. “[Running] will always have a special place in my heart because once I started doing it, there were just so many improvements in my life.”
As a sophomore student-athlete in track and field and cross country at Governor Livingston High School, Cianci shared how running not only taught him the value of discipline, but also helped him lose 30 pounds—the same weight as the flag he now carries.
As the newest person to carry that flag, Cianci hopes to convey the deep-rooted pride he has for the school that has embraced him as one of their own.
“I’ve felt connected to Seton Hall since I’ve been here,” Cianci said. “So now as flagman, I can really showcase the pride I have for the school and the pride I think everyone should have for the school.”
“I can show that this is what being a Pirate means,” Cianci added. “It means being someone who is willing to go to extreme lengths just to show everybody that this is our school and that we should be proud of that.”
Cianci will get his first opportunity to do so on Nov. 3, when the Pirates host Saint Peter’s University at the Prudential Center for their first game of the season.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
