The Seton Hall-Rutgers rivalry lost its heat once the Scarlet Knights left the Big East for the Big Ten. The annual games haven’t been competitive in recent years, the vastly superior Pirates winning by a combined 56 points the past two years and reaching the NCAA Tournament last season.
But there is a battle developing, at least off the court, that could be significant. It centers around a hard-nosed Queens point guard named Jose Alvarado — a three-star, top-150 recruit from powerhouse Christ the King, who on Thursday cut his list down to three schools: the two New Jersey rivals and Georgia Tech.
“They’re coming after me hard, both of them,” the 6-foot Alvarado said in a phone interview, referring to Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Both staffs visited with Alvarado on Friday. Whereas Rutgers, starting over again with new coach Steve Pikiell, needs him and has made it clear he is its priority, Seton Hall is very much in the mix, too, with the recent history of landing New York City guards like Isaiah Whitehead, Desi Rodriguez and Khadeen Carrington. Though they are also recruiting St. Raymond point guard Isaiah Washington, Alvarado is one of their top 2017 targets.
But with Rutgers, it is clear where Alvarado stands. When Pikiell left Stony Brook for New Jersey’s state university in March, he immediately began recruiting Alvarado himself, and remains his lead recruiter.
Alvarado is loyal, sticking with Christ the King at a time when many top local prospects are attending prep schools out of state. He would like to stay close to home, where he easily could visit his parents and little brother when there is down time.
Pikiell frequently tells him, “I’m his guy. He’s going to give me the keys once I get there,” Alvarado said. They text-message and talk on the phone frequently. There is no assistant coach serving as the middle man.
“I’ve never seen a Division I head coach as transparent and with an open a line of communication with me, with [a player] and his parents,” Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello said. “They’re all in on Jose Alvarado.”
Basketball actually was Alvarado’s third sport. His first passion was baseball, then came football, but after a serious neck injury landed him in the hospital, he switched to basketball. It wasn’t until getting to Christ the King that he realized he had a future.
“It just came out of nowhere,” he said. “I didn’t know I was going to be a Division I basketball player.”
He has enjoyed a stellar career at Christ the King, following in the school’s long list of elite point guards. Alvarado won a city title as a sophomore for the Royals and had a big summer with the New York Rens on the AAU circuit. He doesn’t have that wow factor, but he wins, makes others around him better and has leadership qualities, said one college coach who had recruited Alvarado before the recent cut down.
“What he lacks in speed or shooting [ability], he makes up with by being savvy and making high IQ plays,” the coach said. “By any means, he finds way to win.”
Alvarado has been to all three campuses, and plans to take official visits to Rutgers and Seton Hall. He could see himself making a decision this month. What that decision is remains to be seen. He could go to Rutgers, the school that needs him the most, or Seton Hall, where he would join an established, veteran-laden roster. Georgia Tech is also an option, under new coach Josh Pastner.
“It’s extremely hard,” Alvarado said.
St. John’s played host to Archbishop Molloy junior forward Moses Brown and Lawrence Woodmere Academy sophomore forward Aidan Igiehon for unofficial visits on Tuesday.
Red Storm coach Chris Mullin and assistant Matt Abdelmassih were at New Jersey powers Roselle Catholic and St. Benedict’s Prep on Friday to see targets Naz Reid, Khalil Whitney, Precious Achiuwa and Isah Muhammad, and were in Florida on Saturday to see verbal pledge Zach Brown of Elevation Prep Academy.
St. Raymond four-star senior point guard Isaiah Washington took an official visit to Minnesota this weekend.
Seton Hall played host to Bishop Loughlin junior point guard Markquis Nowell on Thursday for an unofficial visit.
Yonkers four-star shooting guard Brandon Randolph of the Westtown School (Pa.) took an official visit to Syracuse this weekend.
Stony Brook landed a verbal commitment from senior shooting guard Corry Long of Ohio on Friday.