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Can you believe PJ is 72 today?

Do you remember PJ without the beard?

A friend and I were at a summer event and PJ had just come back from Australia. We saw him for the very first time with a beard and I remember telling my friend "that'll be gone by the beginning of the season."

Wrong again!
 
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The great PJ! Looking back at what he accomplished is mmmm nothing short of miraculous. Taking over the Doormat program in the toughest conference in the US. The rise from the bottom to three seconds and a horrendous call to National Champs.

I don’t think anyone has accomplished what PJ did at Seton Hall.
 
The great PJ! Looking back at what he accomplished is mmmm nothing short of miraculous. Taking over the Doormat program in the toughest conference in the US. The rise from the bottom to three seconds and a horrendous call to National Champs.

I don’t think anyone has accomplished what PJ did at Seton Hall.
Nor will anyone. Those of us who remember it will defend his accomplishments kind of like Bill Belichick feels the need to remind the football universe about LT’s greatness anytime someone starts comparing whoever the best new edge rusher is in the league. I like KW and he’s done a nice job overall. But nothing close to what PJ had to deal with when you consider the coaches and players in the BE at that time and where we were comparatively.
 
Our facilities, budgets and fan support today are like UK compared to what PJ faced. There literally wasn’t a weight room on campus. PJ put us on the map and he is high in the pantheon of Pirate greats.
 
God bless PJ! 🙏 He was such a superior coach that any time we took the court, no matter the opponent you know we had a chance to win. Given what was mentioned above and what most of us know about what he walked into and what we became as a program it's not a stretch to say he was a miracle worker. One of the greatest coaches in college history.
 
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PJ put the pirates on the Map and the program has never looked back!
Nor will anyone. Those of us who remember it will defend his accomplishments kind of like Bill Belichick feels the need to remind the football universe about LT’s greatness anytime someone starts comparing whoever the best new edge rusher is in the league. I like KW and he’s done a nice job overall. But nothing close to what PJ had to deal with when you consider the coaches and players in the BE at that time and where we were comparatively.
I generally agree. Shame Covid blew up a chance at a great run - which could’ve changed things/opinions especially if he could’ve followed up with more good seasons (last and next few).

In 2020,personally I was worried we weren’t healthy enough but NCAA matchups, generally speaking, would have had SH as a smart $$ elite 8 team or better...Coulda, woulda, shoulda ....
in any event, back to PJ...had a great run and was a great guy to root for. had his fair share of heartbreaks but the good moments were great. Happy birthday PJ!
 
The great PJ! Looking back at what he accomplished is mmmm nothing short of miraculous. Taking over the Doormat program in the toughest conference in the US. The rise from the bottom to three seconds and a horrendous call to National Champs.

I don’t think anyone has accomplished what PJ did at Seton Hall.
It’s one of the greatest rebuilding jobs. The state of the program - they didn’t even have offices originally - to the verge of a NC by the end of the decade is just incredible.
 
I generally agree. Shame Covid blew up a chance at a great run - which could’ve changed things/opinions especially if he could’ve followed up with more good seasons (last and next few).

In 2020,personally I was worried we weren’t healthy enough but NCAA matchups, generally speaking, would have had SH as a smart $$ elite 8 team or better...Coulda, woulda, shoulda ....
in any event, back to PJ...had a great run and was a great guy to root for. had his fair share of heartbreaks but the good moments were great. Happy birthday PJ!
I think we would have went on a run in 2020. That still wouldn’t have changed my view on what PJ did compared to KW. Our program wasn’t in a great place when KW took over, but it was nothing compared to what PJ had to deal with. I know from past posts you are older than me so you understand what the BE was in the 80s compared to our program. But some of our younger fans, who didn’t live through that, don’t grasp how great the talent and coaching level was in the old BE in the 80s. Some of our rivals back then were absolute monsters led by the greatest collection of coaches a college basketball conference will ever have. It’s why, as much as I dislike him, I give Calhoun so much credit for what he built Uconn into under those same circumstances.
 
I think we would have went on a run in 2020. That still wouldn’t have changed my view on what PJ did compared to KW. Our program wasn’t in a great place when KW took over, but it was nothing compared to what PJ had to deal with. I know from past posts you are older than me so you understand what the BE was in the 80s compared to our program. But some of our younger fans, who didn’t live through that, don’t grasp how great the talent and coaching level was in the old BE in the 80s. Some of our rivals back then were absolute monsters led by the greatest collection of coaches a college basketball conference will ever have. It’s why, as much as I dislike him, I give Calhoun so much credit for what he built Uconn into under those same circumstances.
I agree ....
PJ had a MESS....
To play devils advocate....PJ, however, did benefit from something that was somewhat new....an alignment of top rated schools .... he could sell “staying home” so family could see you play the best. Combine that with hos international connections and flat out ability to coach, something only he gets credit for.....
 
I agree ....
PJ had a MESS....
To play devils advocate....PJ, however, did benefit from something that was somewhat new....an alignment of top rated schools .... he could sell “staying home” so family could see you play the best. Combine that with hos international connections and flat out ability to coach, something only he gets credit for.....
And there were more local kids that were gettable he could realistically secure with the “stay at home” sell.

But, there is one giant in our league now. Back then there were multiple giants, coached by giants, and kids stayed in school 3 or 4 years, so the talent was always there. Georgetown was as big as you get. Cuse was impossible to deal with. Nova was blue chip with another legend. SJU was a blue chip program and Louie could basically take a few subway rides and get major talent for $1.50, or wait until they transferred back home which was one of his specialties. Then PJ is a few years into the gig and two all time college coaches in Pitino and Calhoun join the ranks.
 
I agree ....
PJ had a MESS....
To play devils advocate....PJ, however, did benefit from something that was somewhat new....an alignment of top rated schools .... he could sell “staying home” so family could see you play the best. Combine that with hos international connections and flat out ability to coach, something only he gets credit for.....

That was the only thing he could sell. Literally it. I’m still shocked Seton Hall was even invited to join that league. We had nothing. Zero facilities, zero resources, in hindsight it was ridiculous how backwards.

But we had great people who built something from nothing.
 
https://www.sportscasting.com/why-did-ex-nba-star-latrell-sprewell-start-a-35000-gofundme-page/

One guy that will always be infamously linked to PJ. I don't recall PJ ever making any public statements or badmouthing Sprewell. So props for rising above what was a pretty wild event at the time.

No surprise to see the following chapters Sprewell wrote for himself.

Fortunate to have lived through the PJ years and witnessed a lot of those games. We can always think "what could have been" if he stayed, but rather reflect on "what it was" which was pretty awesome!
 
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https://www.sportscasting.com/why-did-ex-nba-star-latrell-sprewell-start-a-35000-gofundme-page/

One guy that will always be infamously linked to PJ. I don't recall PJ ever making any public statements or badmouthing Sprewell. So props for rising above what was a pretty wild event at the time.

No surprise to see the following chapters Sprewell wrote for himself.

Fortunate to have lived through the PJ years and witnessed a lot of those games. We can always think "what could have been" if he stayed, but rather reflect on "what it was" which was pretty awesome!
Wasn't the PJ statement that Sprewell supposedly made him choke PJ was "put some mustard on those passes."

Come on, who wouldn't choke their coach after being abused like this? Poor Latrell. He ended up being a punk all his life. Now he is a poor punk.
 
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