Although not quite over yet, this year’s “portal season” for Seton Hall men’s and women’s basketball has been quite eventful, to say the least.
Since the transfer portal’s opening on April 6 for women’s basketball and April 7 for men’s, to its closing on April 21, The Hall has seen 13 players across both programs enter it.
This includes ten from the men’s side alone, who had just one Pirate from last season’s roster to not enter the portal in sophomore guard Trey Parker.
But luckily, the portal works both ways—and Head Coach Shaheen Holloway and newly-hired General Manager Nelson Hernandez have been able to offset these losses through the addition of several transfers in.
Meanwhile, although losing a few key players to the portal and graduation, the women’s side was able to retain Unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team guard Savannah Catalon, who led the program to their first-ever conference title in her senior year at The Hall.
Transfers Out: Pirates Setting Sail
Given that their portal opens a day sooner, it’s unsurprising that a women’s basketball player was the first Pirate to announce their intent to enter the portal, with senior guard Jordana Codio doing so on March 25.
Starting in 26 of the Pirates’ 32 total games while leading in scoring with 12.4 points per game, the senior guard committed to Georgia on April 18.
SHU also suffered the loss of Zahara Bishop, the All-BIG EAST Freshman Team guard who likewise announced her intent to enter the portal on March 30. Also appearing in all 32 of the Pirates’ games, starting 18 of them, Bishop committed to Auburn on April 22.
Pirate Nation got the worst news the day prior, however, when 2024-2025 All-BIG EAST First Team sophomore guard Jada Eads announced her entrance into the portal. Sidelined midway through last season due to an ACL injury, Eads is yet to commit anywhere, but would likely rejoin Catalon in SHU’s backcourt if she were to stay.
The men’s version of things, however, is much more convoluted. As mentioned, the program saw ten players enter the portal, starting with Tajuan Simpkins. The Pirates’ sixth man last season was the first to announce his intent to do so on April 2, although yet to commit anywhere.
Freshman forward Najai Hines followed suit the next day to the dismay of many in Pirate Nation, who were holding out hope that the Plainfield, N.J. native would see his SHU career through.
That dismay was only made worse by Hines’ commitment to UConn on April 15, a move with many layers of pain for the SHU community: not only was it an in-conference transfer, but to one of SHU’s biggest conference rivals, with Dan Hurley treating his alma mater like a “feeder program” the worst thing of all.
Pirate Nation was likewise holding out hope for the decision of Adam “Budd” Clark, with high confidence that the All-BIG EAST Second Team point guard would remain at The Hall.
But, following sophomore forward Godswill Erheriene entering the portal the day it opened, Clark became the fourth Pirate to do the same two days later. Clark then committed to Ole Miss on April 17, joining Codio as the second Pirate to move from the BIG EAST to the SEC.
Already in disarray, Pirate Nation was then treated to five Pirates entering the portal in a span of just two days, three on one day alone.
This included sophomore forward Jacob Dar, sophomore guard Jahseem Felton and senior forward Elijah Fisher, who all entered the portal on April 13, before junior guard Mike Williams and sophomore center Assane Mbaye did the same the next day.
Senior forward Joshua Rivera was the final Pirate to enter the transfer portal on the day of its closing.
Transfers In: New Pirates On Deck
But with transfers out, it means transfer in—and while the women’s team has had just one, in Saniyah King, a sophomore guard from Mississippi State, the men’s team boasts four.
This includes Simeon Wilcher, a 6-foot-4 junior combo guard from Texas who was the first to commit to The Hall. Recruited twice in the past by Holloway (once in high school, once in college), the Plainfield, N.J. native will make his return to the BIG EAST after playing at St. John’s his freshman year.
Likewise recruited twice in the past by Holloway was Del Jones, a 6–foot-3 sophomore guard from Radford. With 17.2 points per game last season, Jones was named to the All-Big South Second Team.
Adding even further depth to the Pirates’ already deep backcourt was Roddie Anderson III, another 6-foot-3 sophomore guard who served as Xavier’s sixth man last season.
On the last day before the portal’s closing, the Pirates helped address a much-needed area of improvement for them with the addition of sharpshooter Kareem Thomas. A 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Dartmouth, Thomas shot 44.7% from beyond the arc last season, the second-highest in the Ivy League.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
