Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado wants to be more than college basketball’s best rebounder

During his recruitment process in 2014, Angel Delgado was surveying offers from Fordham, Florida State, Virginia, and Seton Hall. One other school loomed, though, without presenting a potential scholarship to the Dominican Republic native — Kentucky.

Connections between Delgado and the college hoops’ powerhouse were evident. Ex-Wildcats’ assistant Orlando Antigua, who coached the D.R. national team at the time, took over as an assistant for Kentucky coach John Calipari. On top of that, current NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns played for the Dominican team and committed to the program as well.

Nevertheless, the then-four star recruit recalled how Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard pushed the importance of staying in school for three to four years in order to improve, challenging Calipari’s one-and-done mantra.

“He said he could make me one of the best players in the country, and that’s what I think he did,” Delgado said.

Four years later, Delgado is the star of a Seton Hall team that will begin the year ranked in the preseason polls. He’s also in position to contend for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.

Delgado could’ve departed for the pros instead. He posted 15.2 points and a Division I-best 13.2 rebounds per game in his junior season, and Willard and the rest of the staff subsequently backed his decision to enter the NBA draft in late April. Yet, Willard said the prospect didn’t receive as much interest as another member of Seton Hall’s 2014 recruiting class — star guard Isaiah Whitehead, who left for the next level after two seasons in college.

“What the NBA really wants to see is the consistency,” Willard said. “He had such a monster year last year. If he does it again, they understand what they’re getting and what his value is.”

On May 22, he announced his return to the program, teaming up with fellow seniors Khadeen Carrington, who he played with in AAU, Desi Rodriguez, and Ismael Sanogo once again.

In the 2016-17 campaign, Delgado boasted a 62.2 percent clip around the rim, attempting 62 percent of his shots from that vicinity. His two-point jumper wasn’t quite as effective, though, owning a 41.1 percent clip in that department.

The 6’10, 245-pound presence said he made a commitment to developing his shot over the summer with Willard, as him and the Pirates coaching staff recognized the value of increasing his versatility for both his college and pro career.

“I think (former San Antonio Spurs’ forward) Tim Duncan was so effective for so many years cause he scored facing guys up as opposed to just overpowering guys,” assistant coach Grant Billmeier said. “There’s gonna be certain times he’s gotta use his strength, and he’s got pretty good quickness for a big guy. We want him to understand the different moves he can go to when he faces up.”

Although Delgado said scoring with his back to the basket is still his comfort zone, he now possesses enough confidence to even step behind the arc for a jumper. He has attempted just three triples in his tenure at Seton Hall thus far.

Beyond his offense, he’s a mammoth on the glass. A season ago, he collected a double-double in 27 of his last 33 contests, and 10 of those performances included at least 15 rebounds. Only Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan finished with more double-doubles.

Surprisingly, Delgado wasn’t always adept in that area. He was 6’0 as a 15-year-old in the D.R., and he said he didn’t enjoy the physicality of going for a rebound. But he ended up growing six inches before his sophomore season at Redemption Christian Academy in Troy, N.Y. Once he began playing for the New York Lightning, an AAU team, rebounding became his niche.

“I had a lot of guards on my team, so I had to get a lot of rebounds for them,” Delgado said. “My goal is to now get 20 rebounds every game.”

His technique stems from numerous hours in the film room, seeing how players shoot and where their shots normally land. Therefore, he believes he doesn’t have to outmuscle the opposition for a rebound. Instead, Delgado cited his instinct for knowing where the ball will go off a missed shot.

For Willard, that type of work ethic, comparable to former NBA forwards Charles Oakley and Horace Grant, attracted him to Delgado as a recruit, he said.

“He has a great motor and a great passion to pursue the ball,” Willard said. “He’s not just getting 18 rebounds one time. He’s getting that nine, 10 times in a year. Anybody that’s going on that there and doing that, he’s the most valuable guy in college basketball.”