PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By JP Pelzman
I spoke this week with the talented and versatile Dave Popkin, who is looking forward to his 20th season as Seton Hall basketball radio analyst alongside legendary play-by-play voice Gary Cohen. Dave also is the play-by-play voice for NEC sports and the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons minor-league baseball team. This is part 1 of a two-part conversation.
Dave and Tim Capstraw again will conduct the Sports Broadcasting Camp at Montclair State University from July 18-22. It will be in person for the first time since July 18-22. Confirmed speakers include FOX Sports’ John Fanta and Kenny Albert, YES’ Michael Grady and a man who is now a podcaster, Mike Francesa. More speakers are being lined up. For more info, go to www.sportsbroadcastingcamp.com.
JPP: Dave, people have been worried about the coaching staff. The talk has been that Shaheen Holloway needs a shark. Well, it looks so far that Sha is the shark. What it is about him that makes him such a great recruiter?
DP: I think his personality, his connections, his credibility as a former player, his track record--he’s just got a different kind of swag about him. I don’t know if you can define it, but it works for him. And guys are loyal to him, coaches, players. And he’s a good player-development coach, obviously. We saw that from his days with all the Seton Hall point guards he coached as an assistant.
And obviously to coach up that Saint Peter’s team and go as far as they did is a miracle that people will be talking about 75 years from now. For the astute basketball fans that watched his team this year, they’ll see he’s a great game coach as well. His defensive schemes, his creativity on offense, the way he gets his entire roster to buy in and everybody plays. You're not going to get too many people getting angry because they’re all going to play at least 20 minutes if they’re deserving of the time. And they’ll be tired in their 20 minutes because they’ll be pressing and playing transition offense.
So, I think he’s the total package and I think he’s going to do a great job.
JPP: You just beat me to my next question. What he did at Saint Peter’s was incredible in the moment, but is it just going to grow in stature as the years go on?
DP: Just to win the MAAC at Saint Peter’s is a huge accomplishment. I was there (in 2011 in Bridgeport, Conn.) when (ex-Pirates assistant) John Dunne won the MAAC with Saint Peter’s and it was like a miracle, the little engine that could, and to do it again, with Shaheen, was so much fun to watch. With all due respect, people know that they have the least resources in the league, among the least resources of anyone in the (NCAA) Tournament. So to be able to overachieve on that scale was worthy of all of the praise and publicity that they got.
JPP: Is it unfair that people are already putting expectations on Holloway? How soon do you think he can win with the Pirates?
DP: Seton Hall was a borderline top 25 team this (past) year, and I think they’ll be at least that good next year under Shaheen. I think the team is already better and deeper and more athletic. You have more guys that can score. I still see a rebounding void. He has two scholarships left to give.
I think that they’re going to be in the (NCAA) Tournament conversation every year.
JPP: Does it help that rebounding void a little with Sha getting Alexis Yetna to return?
DP: It helps a lot. I thought he was one of their most important players last year. It helps fill the rebounding void and gives them a veteran presence. He has a nice touch around the basket and had a really good stretch of free-throw shooting at one point last year. And I think because he did not play a lot early in his career, I think there is still upside with Yetna.
JPP: Agreed.
DP: He should be a starter that plays major minutes and maybe that’s the reason he came back--he realized that he could be a big part of a winning team and get some publicity this year and jump to the pros with a little more momentum next year.
