Sports at the Hall

Ike Obiagu ’21 has been away from his home country of Nigeria for the better part of a decade. During that time, he has developed into an intimidating 7-foot-2, 265-pound presence on the basketball court, first in high school, then at Florida State and finally at Seton Hall after he transferred in 2018.

Those closest to Obiagu back in Nigeria are well aware of his accomplishments thousands of miles away.

“I send them clips of the games, and they always keep up with everything,” Obiagu says. When his family watches those highlights, they can see what has become obvious to college basketball fans everywhere: There’s no better center on the defensive side of the game.

After arriving at Seton Hall, Obiagu quickly climbed the list of Pirate leaders in blocking shots. During the 2021 season, he led the BIG EAST by averaging 2.7 blocks in 19 conference games. His season included an eightblock effort against Wagner College, which he topped by swatting nine more against Georgetown, which tied for the most in a single game for a Division I player last year.

And the 2022 campaign was simply more of the same. He started the season with five blocks against Fairleigh Dickinson. In early January, Obiagu recorded six blocks in a thrilling overtime victory over the University of Connecticut. But he was only getting started. A game after notching five blocks versus DePaul, he collected seven more against Marquette. St. John’s then suffered at the rim as Obiagu again blocked seven shots in a triumphant showdown at Madison Square Garden.

All of that led to the moment when Obiagu topped the Seton Hall record for career blocks on January 26. He picked up four blocks in a rematch against Marquette, giving him 169 (and counting) for his Seton Hall career, breaking the record previously held by Samuel Dalembert, who had 167 blocks for the Pirates in his standout career that ended in 2001.

“I’ve always been pretty good at it,” Obiagu says of his blocking ability, though he might be even better at understating that skill. “It came naturally to me. You have to get the timing correct or you get a foul. Over the years I’ve learned how to block a shot without fouling the player, and I know when to go for a block or when not to go for a block.”

Obiagu came to Seton Hall thanks to the efforts of former Pirates assistant Tony Skinn, a Nigerian-born coach who helped the University land the talented center. Another Seton Hall assistant, current associate head coach Grant Billmeier ’07, a former Pirates big man himself, has since played a key role in Obiagu’s development.

“He’s an elite rim protector, and we’re fortunate to have him,” Billmeier says. “He covers up for a lot of guys on the defensive end. He allows us to be a lot more aggressive. Guys know they can pressure the basketball more, knowing that he’s back there to try and block shots.”

Billmeier also credits Obiagu for being a “very calming influence” on the court. “He’s not the most vocal guy, but when Ike speaks, because he’s more on the quiet side, everyone listens because they have so much respect for him and how hard he works on the court and how hard he works in the classroom.”

While it’s impossible to miss Obiagu’s impact on the court, he also has earned academic accolades. In 2021, Obiagu, who received his degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and now studies for his master’s in accounting, was named the BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an

honor Obiagu notes “is easy to brag about,” though the soft-spoken center is unlikely to do much of that.

A professional basketball career remains his goal, but he also is excited about the possibilities offered by his degree. “Everything is open for me,” he says.

“Ike’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever been around,” Billmeier says. “I’m very fortunate to have been around him, and I’m very fortunate to have my family around him. My daughter, who is 3 going on 4, she asks about Ike constantly. Even when she’s rambling on the phone with him, he’s still as interested in the conversation as she is. He’s just got a great personality.”

It goes well with the great résumé — on the court and in the classroom. n

Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.

John Moon can captivate you for hours with his life’s stories.

He was a New Jersey high school track and football star in the 1950s, when he hid his athletic endeavors from a mother who wanted him to focus on schoolwork and music.

“I had to forge her name on the permission slips to play,” Moon remembers. “Eventually I couldn’t fake it anymore. I scored four touchdowns in one game, word got around, and my mother found out and went ballistic.”

He was a sprinter in college at Tennessee State, tying the world record in the 100-yard dash in 1960. He has tales to tell from knowing a lot of internationally famous athletes.

You can listen to many of his stories and be impressed before he even starts talking about his incomparable 50-year career earning acclaim as Seton Hall’s track and field and cross country coach. But you soon understand that he has the same passion for sports today as when he began his tenure with the Pirates in 1972.

“The palms of my hands still get wet. When there’s a tough competition coming up, I get the same anxiety as when I was starting out years ago,” he says. “I just wish I could be in the athletes’ place. I wish I could make these athletes super, super, super good. It’s just as exciting now as it was then.”

But the fact is that Moon has mentored many great athletes since 1972. The Pirates have produced seven NCAA champions and 71 All-Americans during his tenure. Moon’s teams have won six BIG EAST titles and 225 individual and relay titles. In 1994 Flirtisha Harris ‘94 became the first Pirate woman to become an NCAA champion when she brought home the 400-meter crown.

Andrew Valmon ‘87 won gold in the 1,600-meter relay at the 1988 Sumer Olympics, while Tracy Baskin ‘89 won the 800-meter competition in the 1987 NCAA championships before also competing in the ’88 Olympics. Long-jumper Shana Williams ‘93 competed in two Olympic Games and won the national indoor title in 1996.

Moon has made his own international mark, coaching the 1995 Pan American team and serving as the first assistant coach for the United States men’s track team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Last year he was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

It’s been an incredible life in track and field for a man whose parents envisioned him becoming a school principal or superintendent. “I just love the sport,” he says. “And it’s been so good to me.”

He was a high school coach before coming to Seton Hall in 1972. Though Moon made his name in college as a sprinter, he developed into a renowned middle-distance coach. He put much of his energy into the 800-meter race, recruiting versatile athletes who could move up to longer distances or drop down to shorter distances and still triumph.

“Once I got to be known as a good quarter-mile, a good 800-meter coach, coaches would come up to me and say, ‘Coach, how do you get kids to do that kind of workout?’ And I say, you just tell them. The whole thing is about belief. You can’t be a good coach if the kids don’t believe in you. But when they do and then believe in themselves, they can do anything.”

Not long after Moon started at the University, the new coach told The New York Times, “With all the good talents around here I don’t see why Seton Hall can’t be on top again.” He is surrounded by evidence that his expectations have been fulfilled.

“I walk through the gym upstairs; I look at those banners on the wall and I can say I did that. I did that and our kids did that, and it can’t ever be taken away.” n

Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.