Seton Hall 7-footer Romaro Gill hopes to hear his name called at NBA Draft

Romaro Gill

Former Seton Hall center Romaro Gill hopes to hear his name called during the 2020 NBA Draft.AP

Romaro Gill admits he sometimes wishes 7-foot post players still dominated the NBA the way Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal once did.

Instead, the NBA now values big men who can space the floor and shoot from the perimeter like Nikola Jokic, Kristaps Porzingis and Joel Embiid.

“I think it’s really simple, you just have to adjust to their style of play even though for me, sometimes I wish it was back to the good old days when you had the bigs posting up and stuff like that because it was fun,” Gill, the 7-foot-2, 262-pound former Seton Hall big man told NJ Advance Media. “But now everybody wants to shoot it and I don’t mind doing that if that’s what I have to do. But sometimes I wish it was back to the Shaquille O’Neal days.”

Gill, a native of Jamaica who played two seasons at Seton Hall, isn’t your prototypical modern NBA big. He didn’t attempt a single 3-point shot in two seasons in South Orange.

What he did do last year especially was block and alter shots, rebound and score on dunks, putbacks and other shots near the rim. Gill averaged 7.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks en route to being named both the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and its Most Improved Player. He runs the floor well for a big man and, on the advice of NBA personnel, has been working on his mid-range game.

He’s also 26 years old, not exactly young by NBA standards.

But he’s hoping one team values his skill set enough to select him during the NBA Draft on Nov. 18. His agent, Steve McCaskill, said Toronto, Utah and San Antonio are the teams who seem to like Gill the most.

If he is drafted, it likely wouldn’t be until the 45-60 range. The Raptors own the No. 59 pick. If Gill isn’t drafted, he could still earn a 10-day contract or a two-way contract, and try to prove his worth during an NBA training camp beginning Dec. 1.

“I’m going to bring the energy,” Gill said. “I’m not going to stop. I’m just going to go out there and do my best every game. I’m going to be open to whatever the coaches have to say. Just hoping to learn and adjust to whatever program I’m in.”

Gill is currently living in Maplewood and has been practicing with his old Seton Hall teammates, including battling with 7-foot-2 junior Ike Obiagu, whom Gill thinks is going to have a big year after being a backup last season.

“A lot of people are really not talking about Ike, but going against him on a day-to-day basis, I think he has grown so much and he’s developed so much around the rim,” Gill said. “Just seeing him, he’s more confident than last year.”

Pirates coach Kevin Willard thinks Gill can help an NBA team if he gets a shot.

“Ro’s been with us working out and Ro looks good,” Willard said. “I think he’ll get a chance and even though he’s an older guy, he’s young in terms of age on the court. I think the more experience he gets, the better chance he’s going to have.”

Chris Ekstrand, a longtime NBA consultant and insider and the former publisher of the NBA Draft Guide, extended invitations to Gill and former Seton Hall point guard Quincy McKnight to attend the prestigious Portsmouth (VA) Invitational Tournament that was set to run April 15-18 before it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ekstrand previously told NJ Advance Media he believes Gill has a shot to make it with an NBA team.

“The key is that he did things [last] year that he hadn’t done previously and consistently,” Ekstrand said. "While he’s probably not ever going to be a great offensive force, he’s a factor. You got a 7-2 guy rolling to the rim, if your defense doesn’t stick him, that’s three or four dunks a game.

“And the way the NBA is played now, there are very few players of his size on the court.”

Ekstrand reiterated that the NBA is trending toward “small-ball” with “stretch fours” and “stretch fives,” but that there was a still a place for 7-footers who can impact the game in the paint.

“When you get a 7-foot-plus guy in an NBA game now, it’s like Christmas for that guy,” Ekstrand said. “Back in the old days when Shaq was in the league and Olajuwon and Ewing, every team had to have a number of 7-footers, whether they were any good or not, because they had to soak up some fouls against those all-time great players.”

Those days may be gone, but Gill is still hoping he can make it onto NBA roster.

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.

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