BY MATT SUGAM

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

PISCATAWAY – Three months ago an irate Mike Rice entered the media room to address reporters after his team had lost to LSU. The reason he was fuming was simple. His three freshmen guards shied away from the spotlight in the biggest moments of the game.

First it was Jerome Seagears, who passed up a wide-open three in the corner and dribbled himself into trouble.

“I tell them [the freshmen] you wanted this,” Rice said after the game. “You came here because you wanted the playing time. You wanted to be in this position. You wanted to have a shot with 42 seconds left to go in the game in the corner by yourself and you just dribbled out and did nothing with it.”

Myles Mack and Eli Carter would redeem themselves a couple of weeks later against Florida. Both would hit big shot after big shot down the stretch in the double overtime upset. Carter quickly became a household name with his 31-point outburst and has become known as one of the best freshmen in the Big East.

However Seagears continued to struggle. While showing flashes, the Silver Spring, MD native didn’t have that watershed moment to atone himself.