Fans of Seton Hall men’s basketball received bad news on Good Friday.
After an impressive first season with Seton Hall men’s basketball, freshman center Najai Hines announced to X on Friday evening his intent to enter the transfer portal when it opens on April 7.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to play the game I love,” Hines wrote. “After much thought and prayer, I have decided to enter my name into the transfer portal. I believe it is the best step for me.”
Missing just two of SHU’s 33 total games this season, Hines averaged 6.5 points on a team-best 60.2% from the field in 18 minutes per game, while doing most of his scoring in the low-post. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game, with his four double-doubles being the ninth-most in the BIG EAST this season.
Where Hines was most impressive, however, was on the defensive end as a shot-blocker: the 6-foot-10 center’s 2.2 blocks per game were the most in the conference and the 15th-most nationally, while his 69 total blocks were the third-most and 21st-most, respectively.
Hines, the Pirates’ highest-ranked recruit since Isaiah Whitehead in 2014, lived up to the hype in SHU’s season opening 77-50 win over St. Peter’s on Nov. 3.
In the first game of his collegiate career, Hines led all scorers with 12 points, finished one rebound shy of a double-double and recorded six blocks—the most by a Pirate in a single game since KC Ndefo also recorded six in a game against Lincoln (PA) in 2022.
“I’ve been telling everybody he’s a monster,” said teammate Adam “Budd” Clark about Hines. “And he was as good as advertised today.”
It would take Hines just ten days to set a new team-high in blocks, recording seven in The Hall’s 70-58 home win over Monmouth on Dec. 13 that gave them a 4-0 start to the season.
Hines’ strong play wasn’t limited to nonconference play, though: he made his biggest impact of the season on Jan. 4, when he scored a last-second putback layup, plus the foul, to give SHU the 56-54 win over the Creighton Bluejays in their second game of BIG EAST play after they trailed by as much as 16 points in the contest.
Likely to be highly sought-after in the transfer portal, Hines was the recipient of praise from coaches in the league all season long.
“Really, really good potential with him,” said Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley after Hines had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Pirates’ 51-47 home win over the Hoyas on Feb. 21. “He'll be a name in the league that a lot of people will talk about as long as he's in college.”
Although Hines didn’t score during SHU’s 65-60 loss at St. John’s on Jan. 20, recording three rebounds, two assists and a block instead, Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino nonetheless had postgame praise for the freshman bigman.
“Hines may be one of the best backup centers in the BIG EAST—if not basketball,” Pitino said. “He’s a great player with great hands.”
After being snubbed from March Madness on Selection Sunday, SHU decided as a team to decline non-NCAA postseason tournament invitations for this year so as to “turn their focus to the 2026-2027 season” and get a head start on the offseason.
Following that decision, SHU head coach and unanimous BIG EAST Coach of the Year Shaheen Holloway told New Jersey Advance Media’s Adam Zagoria his offseason priorities are to “retain as many players as possible.”
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
