Seton Hall Pirates

From Hoopedia

Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university located 14 miles from Manhattan in historic South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. It is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the State of New Jersey. The University is known for its basketball team, its radio station, and its programs in business, law, education, nursing, and diplomacy.

The school's sports teams are called the Pirates. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big East Conference. The college established its first basketball squad in 1903. Seton Hall cancelled football (which was played in Division III) in 1982.

Seton Hall is best known for its men's basketball program, which won the NIT tournament in 1953, and lost in the finals of the 1989 NCAA tournament to Michigan 80-79 in overtime, but the game result was marred by a "phantom foul" call. Most recently, they were in the 2006 NCAA tournament (or Big Dance), but the 10th seed Pirates were eliminated in a crushing 86-66 first round loss to the 7th seed Wichita State Shockers of the Missouri Valley Conference. Following this season-ending loss, Seton Hall fired head coach Louis Orr, a move that had been rumored all year. After contacting several head coaches to replace Orr, Seton Hall hired head coach Bobby Gonzalez away from Manhattan College.