At first glance, it’s hard not to notice the similarities between Garwey Dual and Kadary Richmond.
Both are big point guards standing around 6-foot-5.
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Both are soft spoken.
And both transferred from one Big East school to another this past offseason.
“I think we kind of got a few similarities, but I think it’s two different games,” Dual told NJ Advance Media this week. “I feel like his game works for him and my game works for me.”
Now the hope is that Dual, 19, can help fill the void left by Richmond, a first-team All-Big East selection now anchoring the backcourt for Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in Queens.
“I think he has a chance,” Holloway said. “I think we’ve got a couple guys that have a chance to be floor generals, that was something I haven’t had in the past. We had, obviously, Kooks, and when Kooks went down, we kind of struggled. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen this year.”
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Dual initially committed to then-Providence coach Ed Cooley in 2022, only to decommit when Cooley left the following year for Big East rival Georgetown. Dual then re-committed to new Providence coach Kim English in the spring of 2023.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie projected him as a Top-10 pick in the NBA Draft before he even touched a college basketball court.
The former top-50 recruit averaged just 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in less than 20 minutes of action last season. He made six starts while playing in 33 games. Dual shot just 33.1% from the field and 25.0% from beyond the 3-point line.
After declaring for the NBA Draft, he was invited to the NBA G League Elite Camp, where he was measured with a 7-foot wingspan. In one game, he notched 11 points, 3 assists and 4 steals in 19 minutes.
Dual withdrew from the draft but suffered an ankle injury in a pickup game this summer after transferring to Seton Hall. He says Holloway and his staff gave him time to recover and didn’t push him to get back on the court.
“They allowed me to get better and better my body before they throw me out there,” he said.
In his time at The Hall, he’s been working on his perimeter jumper and sank a few during open practice on Tuesday.
“I definitely been working on my jump shot a lot,” he said. “The past few months I’ve been confident in the work i put in.”
While Dual has a good chance to start at point guard for the Pirates, nothing has been determined yet.
Zion Harmon (Bethune-Cookman), Chaunce Jenkins (Old Dominion) and freshman Jahseem Felton can also handle the ball.
“I wanted to make sure we had a couple guys that could play and be guards,” Holloway said. “I’ve got like, three guys, four guys that could play that point guard spot: Garwey, Zion, Dylan [Addae-Wusu]’s been playing a lot of that for us…So we’ve got some guys that can handle the basketball.”
Former Southern California Academy assistant coach Jeff Metzger believes Dual will also bring defensive toughness along with his offensive skillset.
“Garwey will bring a big defensive presence to Seton Hall,” he told NJ Advance Media
“When trusted Garwey can create, whether in the half court or in transition. He has the ability to get boards and has great court vision with surprising passes no one except his teammates and coaches see coming. …Garwey has a tremendous upside if a coach puts faith and trust in him and that seems exactly what Coach Holloway and staff are doing.”
Dual would love the chance to start in the post-Kadary Richmond Era and help lead Seton Hall back to the NCAA Tournament, but says he’s ready for whatever role he’s given.
