PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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setonhall.rivals.com
By JP Pelzman
Welcome to the third and final installment of my chat with John Fanta of the Big East Digital Network and FOX Sports. In this installment, John discusses his projections for Seton Hall in the Big East standings next season, his thoughts on Sandro Mamukelashvili’s NBA potential, the new landscape of transfers and the NIL.
J.P. Pelzman: Do you think there are enough guardrails, as they say, in place, with the transfer rule?
John Fanta: I do think it’s the Wild, Wild West. I think this year with the extra year of eligibility you’re going to have more transfers, and because so many kids did not get a normal college experience, they want to transfer away. I think that was part of the issue at St. John’s. You come to St. John’s, you think of New York, that vibe, and you have to stay quarantined in your room in Jamaica Queens, it’s not ideal, it’s not what you signed up for, yeah.
So, yeah, I don’t think that anything is going to slow down. I do think we’ll see less numbers than this unprecedented wild off-season but what would cause it to slow down? They're going to be recruiting (potential transfers) in the layup line. What this allows is for a kid to go immediately. And I will absolutely say a kid should be allowed to transfer and go wherever he wants to and be immediately eligible. I am totally supportive and recognize how important this rule is. If you don’t recognize that, your head is in the sand.
By the same token, you have to recognize that a lot of parties have to adjust here. If you’re a coach, and you promise someone certain playing time in certain situations and you don’t live up to that, for most freshmen they can go somewhere else and get the minutes that they want and that’s the reality of the situation. And you can say, well, John, those things are already happening. Yeah, but sometimes the coach is able to say to a kid, look, here’s what we can do to get you time in your sophomore season. Now, a kid can just walk out and go elsewhere and I get that and he’s entitled to his rights.
What I would say to that is life features adversity, and when you’re in college, you’re going to go through it. I'm 25, I'm not a student-athlete, but I covered them. And I see what they went through and I see what students go through. In my opinion, the one area that does get me naturally worked up is when a kid leaves for another school, he owes it to his coach or the person who brought him in to say, hey, I'm transferring, here’s why, here’s what I'm doing. There's no way you can mandate that, there’s no way you can put in a rule that they have to do that.
But the one thing that does rub me the wrong way is when a coach is recruiting somebody that hasn’t even formally transferred yet and a kid can just walk out on the place that gave him an opportunity and all they have to do is let the compliance person know. I just think to myself, what are we teaching, because there are going to be times in life where you have to have a hard conversation. So that’s where I do look at the situation of transfers and I do get a little concerned about the culture of the sport.
But for those saying college basketball is going to die or college basketball is going to suffer, I disagree with that. I think the sport just needs to adapt. I think coaches have to adapt. I think the rule should absolutely be allowed, the one-time blanket waiver, but I think at the same time we all recognize the sport’s continuity factor takes a hit.
JPP: How do you think NIL, which is now taking effect, changes the game?
JF: I think it’s a game-changer. I think it’s long overdue.
JPP: I agree totally.
JF: It absolutely needed to happen. I wonder how many kids will be benefiting off it to the degree that we might think. If I am the top player at a school, in all likelihood, I am benefiting off of it. But this is where we go back to the transfer rule--if you’re the fourth or fifth-best player, how much room is there for you to benefit off your name, image and likeness? And if you’re the fourth- or fifth-best player, could you leave for greener pastures?
There’s so much murkiness to this. Let's face it, if you’re a great player at your school, there’s a connection that’s going to help you benefit off your name, image and likeness, for the same reason that school is on FS1 or ESPN, because of their name and brand value.
Name, image and likeness is long overdue. It needed to happen. But there are still so many questions that it makes me scratch my head. … I’m very curious to see what happens and the degree to which kids are benefiting off their NIL. I think the cross-country runner who has the opportunity to benefit off of a business they have started, they should absolutely have that opportunity. It should have guardrails, but at the end of the day, if you have more guardrails then benefits, then why do it to begin with?
JPP: I've always been of the belief, to me, the obvious example at Seton Hall is a Myles Powell should’ve been able to benefit, just because of how much his name and face were out there representing the school. Just think of how he was literally the face of the program for his last two years at Seton Hall. But there aren’t many players like that.
JPP: Do you think some older coaches are retiring because of all these changes?
JF: Absolutely it’s the reason. There's so much change happening. When you’ve had something the same for a long time...Coaching has changed. You have to coach differently than you did 10, 15, 20 years ago. And I think that caused some of the older coaches to get out of it. I'm not saying they couldn’t adjust.
JPP: I’m not either. It might be, why do I want to do that at my age.
JF: Exactly.
JPP: I'm comfortable. I've got enough money. Why do I need this headache?
John, Brian Custer is leaving FOX for ESPN. I know Seton Hall fans will miss him, even though “The Streak” finally ended. What was your reaction to Brian moving on? We all know what a great guy he is. And how does that effect you personally?
JF: Brian is a friend of mine. I love Brian. It's well-deserved for him. It's an amazing opportunity for him to host SportsCenter and do events. I wish him the best because he is a really good guy.
I have been fortunate to get a crack on FOX Sports roster the past two seasons. I've done about 20, 25 games and about 10 men’s (basketball) games. A lot of the women’s games are in my package. I know I'm valued by FOX Sports and I greatly value them.
I always say, earn your stripes, keep pushing and keep doing your thing. I'm very humbled by all the well wishes (from fans at games).
JPP: Well, it’s certainly deserved. Switching gears, what does it say about Seton Hall’s chances at player retention in this transfer world that Myles Cale was willing to come back for a fifth year despite knowing he will have a reduced role?
JF: What it says to me is that Kevin (Willard) has an honest relationship with his kids and he does truly look at their best interests. Shavar Reynolds had an amazing Seton Hall path, but there’s a reason why Shavar Reynolds is now at Monmouth. And that doesn’t just happen. There was a conversation.
Now let’s look at Myles Cale. The fact that he’s willing to accept that role speaks to him as a person, and it also speaks to Kevin Willard’s ability to get players that fit their system, that fit their program’s culture. That’s what the program has found the last half-decade, they’ve found players that aren’t one-and-done, but also aren’t two-and three-and-out but are four-year and five-year players. That’s why, to me, what Seton Hall has done is unique.
They've been able to get those kids who are in that place where they’re really good college players with a chance to make it to the pros but they embrace being a college basketball player. In a time of chaos and players moving to their next destination and their next stop, and looking out for their best interests, I do find that Kevin Willard is trying to look out for his kids’ best interests, and trying to look at the reality of certain situations.
The fact that he could share that with Myles Cale, have an honest conversation, and that Myles Cale could accept that and be the leader that we know he can be, it says a lot to me about the program’s connectivity more than anything, and it says that the program is in good hands.
