The timing was perfect, and so was the performance. Fourteen NBA scouts were at Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday night, many of them to see Providence point guard Kris Dunn, a projected top-10 pick.
Isaiah Whitehead, however, looked like the player worthy of those teams’ attention, dominating the ill Dunn, pouring in 25 points, adding nine assists, six rebounds and even four blocked shots in arguably the best performance of his Seton Hall career, a Pirates rout.
And, suddenly, there is fear starting to grow within the fan base, this could be it for Whitehead. In recent games, there have been small “one more year” chants for the sophomore lead guard, fans asking him to stay.
But don’t look for the Coney Island native to automatically make the jump into the NBA draft, unless his stock significantly increases. A return to South Orange, N.J., for what could be a memorable junior year remains the likely result.
“Right now, that’s what I’m pretty much going to do unless something dramatic happens or the NBA starts talking highly about me,” Whitehead said in a phone interview Friday as Seton Hall prepared to face No. 5 Xavier on Sunday at Prudential Center. “I’m focused on Seton Hall right now. It’s about trying to win.
“I feel if I do lead this team to some wins in the tournament, either this year or next year, that will take care of itself.”
According to multiple sources, Whitehead plans to test the waters, meaning he can enter his name into the draft and work out for one team, but pull out as late as May 25, 10 days after the draft combine. The NCAA moved back to the date this year from April, with the intention of giving college players more time and information to make a wise choice. Sources said multiple NBA teams, through intermediaries, have told the family they have him on their first-round board.
But if Whitehead isn’t 100 percent certain he will be a first-round pick, he said he will return to school. His family doesn’t need the money and is happy with the situation at Seton Hall, where the Pirates could be even better next year, adding top-50 recruit Myles Powell and sit-out transfer Jevon Thomas of Kansas State to its current group of talented sophomores. Ultimately, the decision will be made by Whitehead and his mother, Ericka Rambert.
“He’s very attached to the team,” a source close to his family said.
One NBA scout said his team has Whitehead rated as a late second- round pick if he was to enter the draft. His play of late has helped his stock, but not nearly enough to be a first-round pick.
“That’s a real stretch as of now,” the scout said. “His shot selection is still questionable. He’s hot right now shooting the ball and that has to continue. His size for a combo guard is pretty good.”
NBADraftExpress.com publisher Jonathon Givony was at the Providence game and said he left impressed. But it will take several more performances like that for Whitehead to vault himself into being a potential No. 1 pick. Teams will judge his entire body of work, and Whitehead is shooting just 37 percent from the field and averaging 3.2 turnovers a game.
“There’s always time to change peoples’ minds,” Givony said.
Whitehead has been the driving force behind Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament run, leading the Pirates (20-7, 10-5 Big East) to seven wins in their past eight games, and one of their best seasons in ages, the first regular season 20-win season since 2003-04. In 15 Big East games, he is second in the league in scoring (18.5), second in assists (5.7) and third in 3-point field goal percentage (41 percent), all significant improvements from his play during the non-conference season. He even is blocking 1.5 shots per game, rare for a guard.
“He’s as good as there is in the league and I think he’ll get a lot of hard looks for Player of the Year in our conference,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “He’s an elite talent.”
After last year’s trying season, when he missed five weeks with a stress fracture in his right foot and unfairly drew criticism for the locker room issues that doomed a once-promising season, this year couldn’t have gone any better. Whitehead is expected to get votes for Player of the Year honors, Seton Hall is closing in on its first NCAA Tournament in a decade, and he is a strong contender for the Haggerty Award, given to the area’s best player. Now NBA talk is popping up, though Whitehead would prefer everyone focus on the Pirates.
“Me and my mom talked about it before. If it happens, it happens,” he said of the NBA. “I’m not playing for it. I’m playing for my teammates, to have as much success as possible.
“Right now, I’m thinking about Seton Hall basketball.”