SOUTH ORANGE — The most anticipated Seton Hall basketball season in decades is tipping off without head coach Kevin Willard.

Willard will serve a two-game, university-implemented suspension — tonight’s exhibition against Misericordia and next Tuesday’s opener against Wagner — in response to an NCAA investigation into allegations of transfer tampering.

Assistant coach Grant Billmeier will run the team during the two games. Willard will continue to run the 12th-ranked Hall’s practices between the two games.

The suspension was first reported by Gannett New Jersey. The transfer in question, as first reported by the New York Post, is Pirates junior Taurean Thompson — who came over from Syracuse in 2017.

“Seton Hall University has been working collaboratively with the NCAA enforcement staff to address an infraction within our men’s basketball program," said a statement issued by the athletics department. Our department has been proactive in our review and has been fully cooperating with the NCAA enforcement staff. "As head coach, Coach Willard assumes responsibility for the program, including this underlying violation, and has agreed to sit out the October 29 exhibition contest and the November 5 game. This matter is still in review, and as a result, we will refrain from commenting any further until it is resolved. Seton Hall is and always will be committed to a culture of compliance, and we will continue to work diligently to ensure it.”

A ruling from the NCAA on whether the two games is sufficient is expected in the near future.

The suspension is the first of a Seton Hall coach since the Big East hit Bobby Gonzalez with a one-game ban for lashing out at official Wally Rutecki following a Pirates’ loss to Rutgers in 2008.

Tampering with transfers is believed to be widespread in college basketball, but penalties seldom are assessed because it’s hard to prove and aggrieved coaches rarely push the issue.

Thompson, who hails from New York City and attended St. Anthony High School among other schools, chose Syracuse over Seton Hall late in the recruiting process. During his one season with the Orange the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 9.2 points in 18 minutes per game, and he was expected to be a central piece to their 2017-18 squad.

But Thompson didn’t report to campus for the first day of classes on Aug. 28, 2017.

"We have been informed that Taurean is taking a leave of absence from Syracuse University," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said at the time. "My understanding is he wants to go to school closer to home due to some family health issues."

By Aug. 31, the day after Boeheim’s statement, Thompson was enrolled at Seton Hall. He sat out the 2017-18 season per NCAA transfer rules, then averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10 minutes per game last winter. He’s expected to be a back-end rotational player this coming season.

Billmeier is Willard’s longest-serving assistant, having come on board in 2016 after previously spending four seasons as director of basketball operations. He played center for the Hall from 2003-07 and specializes in coaching big men. All told he’s been part of six Seton Hall NCAA Tournament teams---two as a player and four straight as an assistant. That matches P.J. Carlesimo, Tom Sullivan and Bruce Hamburger, who coached together during the golden years of the late '80s and early '90s, for the most March Madness appearances with the Pirates.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.