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Pitino Story

Played in a golf outing today with a HS basketball coach here in PA, whose son played AAU and college. His son was very good, but not high major.

When Pitino was at Iona, he shows up with for a game that was featuring several targets, one of which was a high priority. His son, who was playing that day, goes to the gym with his dad, the coach to stretch and do some extra work. They walk in to the gym and the only two guys there were Pitino and his assistant. The target put up 24 points and 12 rebounds, but wasn’t paying attention to the game when he was sitting and during the third quarter his teammate throws down a thunderous dunk that brings down the house. Bench was celebrating except for the target…Pitino taps his assistant on the leg and they walk out.

Not surprising, but he said high majors spend very little time recruiting HS kids, even AAU. 95% of their time and money is spent on re-recruiting players on the squad and picking off transfers. They figure they can just throw money at them after their freshmen year, using mid/low majors as farm teams. Laughed when I asked if $3.5M NIL budget was a good number.

And speaking of Villanova, he used to tell his players to watch the system Jay had to teach them. He said Nova now looks like every other team. Neptune is in trouble.

Paint Touches - Wins Against Bubble

I came across this story from Paint Touches. While it's ostensibly about which Big East team has the strongest non-conference schedule, it really covers a new metric that the Selection Committee will have in its toolbox for the 2024-25 season called Wins Against Bubble.

For those who tire of the metric system, feel free to ignore. For everyone else, it's a nice breakdown of how this metric is determined and how it might affect your team this season.

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Arlington

So trump breaks another federal law. and while extremely distasteful , im curious as to why there's no actual action. i even thought it would be a big no no since he's still dealing with his last felony.

and for all the military white nights up tim walz ass, how do we feel about this one? prob just brush it off.


"Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants."

NIL

The New York Times had a well documented article on NIL payouts based on Opendorse data. Basically hoops teams in the P4 conferences require roughly $3.3 million to field a competing starting five. I would assume the BE is in the same ballpark as the P4. Broken down as follows.

Centers $510,000
Guards 640,000
Forwards. 750,000

But interestingly, college forwards are the most valued position. And the $$3.3 million budget for starters does not include additional $$$ for the bench. So, bottom line, SHU needs an annual NIL budget of around $3.5 million to put a competitive team on the court in the BE, at least on paper. If you have a subscription to the NYT, check out the article. It has a lot of info on college football too.

Matt Morris Enshrined In St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame


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South Orange, N.J. -- One of the best pitchers in program history as a collegian and at the professional level, Seton Hall baseball great Matt Morris was enshrined into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Ballpark Village adjacent to Busch Stadium III in St. Louis.

A first-team All-American during his junior year at Seton Hall, Morris was widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the nation during his three seasons of play. He went 21-12 with a 3.57 ERA, including a 10-3 record in 1995 with a 2.68 ERA. Selected 12th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 1995 MLB Amateur Draft, Morris developed into a National League All-Star and won 121 career games over 12 seasons, including a league-high 22 games in 2001.
Morris, who is tied for 11th in franchise history in pitching wins, emerged as the winner from a ballot that included Cardinals legends Steve Carlton, George Hendrick and Edgar Renteria. Morris was chosen by the fan vote over an eight-week voting period. He won 11 or more games in six different seasons with St. Louis. During his eight seasons with the Cards, Morris compiled a .620 winning percentage, which ranks fourth in franchise history among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched. The right-hander's best season came in 2001, when he went 22-8, earned the first of back-to-back All-Star Game selections and finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Multiple of Morris' Seton Hall teammates were in attendance for his enshrinement including Jim Duffy, Jeff Giambrone, Brian Schunke, Pat Hennigan, John Fairchild and Mike Abaid.

Blasts from the past

Pirates Picked Toward Bottom Of Preseason Poll Despite Loads Of Experience

Colin Rajala

10/23/23

Mark Twain once said, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,” which is something the Seton Hall men’s basketball team looks to come to fruition during their upcoming season, where they were chosen ninth out of eleven teams in the BIG EAST preseason coaches poll. Ninth is the same position the Marquette Golden Eagles were picked in last season’s preseason coaches poll.

That is before a head coach in his second year in the conference, an all-conference point guard and a team that believed in itself took the league, and country, by storm on their way to a 29-7 record, including 17-3 in conference play to win the regular season championship before defeating St. John’s, UConn and Xavier to win the Big East tournament and earn a number two seed in the NCAA region.

While Head Coach Shaheen Holloway and his squad do not expect to be a two seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament, they would be more than happy with a berth in the Big Dance after finishing last season 17-16 and 10-10 in conference play with an NIT appearance.

“The goal is always to make the tourney,” Holloway said, at Tuesday’s BIG EAST Media Day at Madison Square Garden. “Every game is a very important game for us this year ... winning games, to me, is the only thing that matters. You can win games in the 50s and you can win games in the 80s, but the only thing that matters is that you win.”

That focus on winning and hunger to win at all costs has been instilled in The Hall’s players, particularly its three veteran leaders – Kadary Richmond, Al-Amir Dawes and Dre Davis.

“Everybody saying 9th doesn’t matter right now. I think everyone’s expectation doesn’t mean much to us because that’s just their point of view, but were the guys in the gym every day, we see the work we’re putting in and how we’re improving,” Richmond said. “We’re the only ones who believe right now, so we’re going to keep it that way and keep doing what we’re doing.”

The sentiment was echoed by Davis, a senior wing/forward who said the Pirates are “focused on one main thing” – winning the Big East conference.

“We want to win the conference and at the very least get a good seed in the Big East tournament, win the Big East tournament and make a run to the NCAA Championship. That’s what were focused on each and every day. We’re going to keep the main thing the main thing,” Davis said.

While it may be easy to use the preseason poll as bulletin board material to motivate the team, the Pirates are focused on themselves and controlling what they can control.

“As a team, we know politics are going to be politics. Sha wants us to stay out of it, we want to stay out of it. We want to focus on what we got, we want to focus on ourselves and focus on winning. We’re going to let our play doing the talking because we can’t wait for the season to come,” Graduate guard Al- Amir Dawes said.

With Richmond, Dawes and Davis being the elder statesmen and comprising a majority of the returning scoring from last year’s squad, 43.7%, they have also been named teams captains by Holloway.

“Us leading the new guys and the young guys is a big task, but there’s no other three ready for it,” Richmond said. “When things go wrong, we should be the guys to look at because we know right from wrong and what Sha wants from us.”

“It’s a privilege and an honor to have the role of captain,” Davis said. “It doesn’t come easy, you really have to take it to heart and be responsible because your words and actions mean that much more.”

Holloway asks his captains to be the best they can be every day in practice, in the weight room and the classroom, setting an example for others on what it takes to be successful in the best basketball conference in the country.

“They’ve had to pick up on me and what I do. They have to echo what I say, echo my message and do what I do. Last year KC [Ndefo] was the only guy that knew what I wanted and this year I have three,” Holloway said.

“We know what to expect being here from last year. We know what Sha wants and we know what to teach the new guys,” said Dawes, who led the team in scoring last year at 12.6 points per game. “The idea of making us, the three captains, has helped the camaraderie because the freshman and new guys are listening to us and I think they understand what we are trying to do and what is at stake for some of us older guys.”
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Rivalry Renewed as No. 22 Seton Hall Visits Rutgers Monday Night


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South Orange, N.J. - The No. 22 ranked Seton Hall men's soccer team will clash with in-state rival Rutgers Monday night at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. In addition to trying to take down the rival Scarlet Knights for the first time 2007, the Pirates are also looking for their first 5-0-0 start 1986.

The match at Yurcak Field is free for all to attend, and the match will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus, which requires a subscription.



MOVING UP IN THE RANKINGS

  • Seton Hall is currently ranked No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches top-25, which was last released on Sept. 3. When the next poll comes out on Sept. 10, it will only reflect match results through Sunday, Sept. 8.
  • In head coach Andreas Lindberg's tenure, Seton Hall appeared in the United Soccer Coaches top-25 seven times during the 2020 season, reaching as high as No. 6. Then Seton Hall spent four weeks in the national rankings during 2021.
  • The Pirates are one of two BIG EAST teams in the current top-25, joining No. 14 Georgetown.
WIN OVER COLUMBIA

  • Last Friday night, the Pirates won a physical battle with Columbia, and got timely goals and defense in a 2-0 victory at Owen T. Carroll Field.
  • Thomas Sellwood (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored his first career goal on assists from Rikard Cederberg and Jack Kossoudji in the 32nd minute as the Pirates went up 1-0.
  • The lead held up thanks in large part to seven saves from goalkeeper Soren Jensen, who notched his first career Div. I shutout.
  • Sam Bjork notched a goal in the 82nd minute to put the match away.
B1G SUCCESS

  • The Pirates are looking to defeat a Big Ten team for the second consecutive season. In 2023, the Pirates blanked Ohio State, 1-0, in a match that took place in Bloomington, Ind.
  • Three days after beating Ohio State, the Pirates dropped a 1-0 decision to then-10th ranked Indiana.
  • Seton Hall is 1-2-0 against the Big Ten in Lindberg's tenure; the other loss was also to Indiana in the quarterfinals of the 2020 NCAA Championship.
  • Seton Hall's last true road win over a Big Ten team came Sept. 8, 1995, a 2-1 victory at No. 12 Penn State.

SCOUTING RUTGERS

  • The Scarlet Knights are 3-2-0 to start the season with four of the five matches having two or more goal differentials.
  • Rutgers opened the year with three straight home matches, defeating Northeastern, losing to Delaware and beating Princeton.
  • Rutgers was picked ninth in the Big Ten preseason coaches poll after finishing eighth last season.
  • The Scarlet Knights are only two seasons removed from winning the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament, which occurred in 2022.
SERIES HISTORY

  • This is the first matchup between Seton Hall and Rutgers since 2009, an incredible feat considering only about 30 miles separate the two campuses. The two teams were in the BIG EAST Conference together between 1995 and 2012, and did not face each other in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as a result of the conference's divisional split.
  • Rutgers leads the all-time series, 36-16-5, and while the two programs were in BIG EAST together, Rutgers leads the series 10-5-2.
  • Seton Hall's last win over Rutgers came on Sept. 30, 2007, a 4-1 victory at Owen T. Carroll Field. The last time the Pirates won at Rutgers was Sept. 15, 2006, a 1-0 triumph. Seton Hall has seven all-time wins in Piscataway.
  • The last time Seton Hall was ranked when it faced Rutgers was Sept. 23, 2005 when it was No. 18 and defeated the Scarlet Knights, 2-1. That match took place in Newark on NJIT's campus due to Owen T. Carroll Field renovations.

OPENING SUCCESS

  • With its win at FIU, Seton Hall has now won its season opener under head coach Andreas Lindberg for the fifth time in seven tries, and the Pirates are unbeaten in all seven (5-0-2).
  • With their win over UAlbany, the Pirates are also now 5-0-2 in their home openers under Lindberg and have not lost a home opener since 2016.
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