Seton Hall's Debut Excites Fans & Kyrie Irving in a Blowout Over FDU

Photo: Josh Adams/College Hoops Digest

A stir went up in the crowd on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center as a masked man with an American flag took a seat courtside right before tip-off between Farleigh Dickenson University and Seton Hall University.

No, it can't be. Is that Kyrie Irving? On press row, it was confirmed and I snapped this picture above.

Soon, the Seton Hall student section started chanting, "Kyrie, Kyrie" and he waved over to them. The Nets guard was there with former Villanova player Tim Thomas. As well documented, Irving is being forced to sit out of this NBA season so far due to his non-vaccination for Covid-19 and New York City policies. For what it's worth, he was masked the entire time he was out in the public at the Prudential Center.

Irving was there to watch Seton Hall guard Bryce Aiken who is a fellow St. Patrick's grad and friend of the family. Most of the people around Irving weren't aware of who he was.

After the game, Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard commented to me about Irving's appearance at the game, saying "He's always welcome and I wish he could speak to our guys." When Adam Zagoria asked what he would like Irving to say to his team, Willard responded "I have tremendous respect for what he’s doing as a man. I might not agree with everything with it, but as a man to stand up for what he believes in, I think that’s pretty damn strong.”

Tyrese Samuel/ Bob Dea

Seton Hall won the game by the score of 93-49 with five players in double figures and Tyrese Samuel getting his first career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds including this poster.

The Pirates start the season 1-0 and have Yale coming in on Sunday. A 44 point win is quite a statement from could be Willard's deepest team in years.