Pat Lyons’ recent promotion—what does it mean for Seton Hall?
It’s a great move to keep Pat here. It’s probably a move that will keep him here long term and great because he’s done a tremendous job. He’s a super sharp guy and the results speak for themselves. One, you’re keeping him. And two he’s still empowered to make decisions. He won’t micromanage but he’ll make the big decisions with regard to men’s basketball.
Good for the school, in men’s basketball and for Kevin Willard.
The only question I have is what kind of AD will they bring in? Somebody with lesser experience resulting in an odd structure for an AD not reporting to the president or having the final say on men’s basketball. I would think that will significantly affect the candidate pool. When you step back though I think it’s a great move for the university and athletic department in general and men’s basketball program in particular.
Moving on to basketball, how much has Kevin Willard grown in his years at the helm and how does he compare to past SHU coaches you’ve covered?
His record speaks for itself. Four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big East Tournament Championship. His player development is superb. I’ve heard from parents of past players who did not see eye to eye with Kevin, yet even they have a lot of praise for his player development skills. His work in the off season, the individual instruction. If you look, almost all his players develop. He’s taken a group of 3 and 4 star players and built them into a top 25 team.
Sha has certainly helped, but Kevin is a master at developing basketball players. It’s far and away his biggest strength and why they are where they are now. He’s gotten much better at in-game coaching, program management, player management.
Public facing stuff, media stuff, he’s got a comfort level he’s developed for what the job demands of him publicly. He’s come a long way and grown into the job and been very successful. He’s the third most successful coach in program history behind PJ and Honey Russell. Compares favorably to any coach I’ve covered. Won a lot of games and hasn’t done it while embarrassing the university. Things that were happening under Gonzo and to a lesser degree with Orr have basically disappeared. Kevin gets high marks in all those areas.
Staying with Coach Willard...what is the importance of his spurning Virginia Tech for Seton Hall? Will he eventually receive an offer that he can’t refuse?
I don’t think Kevin is going to be the Seton Hall coach for life. I don’t think this will be his last stop. I do think it will take a high bar to move him. That’s what you learned from Virginia Tech. They offered him a lot more money, I’ve heard as much as a million a year raise, in that ballpark. While I think he did seriously consider taking it, I don’t think his heart was into leaving this team behind. Continuity and stability is important. Seton Hall has that now, have had it for the last few years. If some big time program comes calling I think all bets are off. There’s very few coaches like Jay Wright, who will plant the flag and stay forever. Plus Jay Wright has already won championships at Villanova. Why does he need to leave?
Kevin Willard is very comfortable here, Seton Hall has made it comfortable, to their credit. I don’t think just anybody can get him to leave, but I would not rule out that at some point someone would roll out a top, top job. Kevin showed you a little bit that he wasn’t all about the money. It’s about comfort level, loyalty to his players and Pat Lyons—seeing through what he’s built here. That said, we could relive this all next year if Seton Hall makes a deep run next season.
Are SHU's preseason expectations from the experts of top 15 warranted?
Definitely top 25. I have not sat down and mapped it out yet. I will probably next week a little bit and definitely in October. We’re still not done with the roster changes. Co-favorites to win the Big East with Villanova and should be the best team they’ve had since 1993, I’m confident saying that. Expectation is to get to the second weekend and that’s what this is all about. One thing Kevin knows is he hasn’t won much in the NCAA Tournament. This team is certainly capable of doing that. They’ll play a great schedule, maybe 25 wins, potentially being a top four in the region, which could put them in the East. The dominoes are definitely lining up for something special this year.
Are you expecting anything special from any individual player this year? An X factor so to speak.
Sandro (Mamukelashvili) is the guy that I think is going to make a big jump and I’ve heard that from the coaches. I also believe Powell will be a preseason All-American, first since (Terry) Dehere. No doubt in my mind he’s the best player in this program since Dehere. Sandro will benefit a lot from having Ike Obiagu come in and play center and allow Sandro to play his natural stretch four. Guy took a beating playing center last year defensively. Not his natural position, I think it affected his offense. The confidence he gained from the good finish last year, I think he’s ready to flourish and is an all Big East-level caliber player. Ready to give Myles Powell that number 2 guy that could maybe take some heat off of Myles.
Who has been your favorite player to interview in covering the Hall (since 2003)? Why?
Powell is great, the whole package. Fantastic with the reporters. Emotional. Real. Sandro’s great too, terrific. The players on this team are all very good. Powell is number one. He was so broken up after the double overtime loss at Georgetown. He still did [the interview], to his credit. He’s a rare guy of great talent, great leadership and great public presence. I don’t know that Seton Hall has ever had a player with all three of those things lined up. Terry Dehere was great, but quieter, Jerry Walker was the personality that drove that team. I told [Powell] it’s great that he’s back just to cover him for one more year. He’s in his own class in many respects and his dealings with the media are one of those aspects.
It’s a great move to keep Pat here. It’s probably a move that will keep him here long term and great because he’s done a tremendous job. He’s a super sharp guy and the results speak for themselves. One, you’re keeping him. And two he’s still empowered to make decisions. He won’t micromanage but he’ll make the big decisions with regard to men’s basketball.
Good for the school, in men’s basketball and for Kevin Willard.
The only question I have is what kind of AD will they bring in? Somebody with lesser experience resulting in an odd structure for an AD not reporting to the president or having the final say on men’s basketball. I would think that will significantly affect the candidate pool. When you step back though I think it’s a great move for the university and athletic department in general and men’s basketball program in particular.
Moving on to basketball, how much has Kevin Willard grown in his years at the helm and how does he compare to past SHU coaches you’ve covered?
His record speaks for itself. Four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big East Tournament Championship. His player development is superb. I’ve heard from parents of past players who did not see eye to eye with Kevin, yet even they have a lot of praise for his player development skills. His work in the off season, the individual instruction. If you look, almost all his players develop. He’s taken a group of 3 and 4 star players and built them into a top 25 team.
Sha has certainly helped, but Kevin is a master at developing basketball players. It’s far and away his biggest strength and why they are where they are now. He’s gotten much better at in-game coaching, program management, player management.
Public facing stuff, media stuff, he’s got a comfort level he’s developed for what the job demands of him publicly. He’s come a long way and grown into the job and been very successful. He’s the third most successful coach in program history behind PJ and Honey Russell. Compares favorably to any coach I’ve covered. Won a lot of games and hasn’t done it while embarrassing the university. Things that were happening under Gonzo and to a lesser degree with Orr have basically disappeared. Kevin gets high marks in all those areas.
Staying with Coach Willard...what is the importance of his spurning Virginia Tech for Seton Hall? Will he eventually receive an offer that he can’t refuse?
I don’t think Kevin is going to be the Seton Hall coach for life. I don’t think this will be his last stop. I do think it will take a high bar to move him. That’s what you learned from Virginia Tech. They offered him a lot more money, I’ve heard as much as a million a year raise, in that ballpark. While I think he did seriously consider taking it, I don’t think his heart was into leaving this team behind. Continuity and stability is important. Seton Hall has that now, have had it for the last few years. If some big time program comes calling I think all bets are off. There’s very few coaches like Jay Wright, who will plant the flag and stay forever. Plus Jay Wright has already won championships at Villanova. Why does he need to leave?
Kevin Willard is very comfortable here, Seton Hall has made it comfortable, to their credit. I don’t think just anybody can get him to leave, but I would not rule out that at some point someone would roll out a top, top job. Kevin showed you a little bit that he wasn’t all about the money. It’s about comfort level, loyalty to his players and Pat Lyons—seeing through what he’s built here. That said, we could relive this all next year if Seton Hall makes a deep run next season.
Are SHU's preseason expectations from the experts of top 15 warranted?
Definitely top 25. I have not sat down and mapped it out yet. I will probably next week a little bit and definitely in October. We’re still not done with the roster changes. Co-favorites to win the Big East with Villanova and should be the best team they’ve had since 1993, I’m confident saying that. Expectation is to get to the second weekend and that’s what this is all about. One thing Kevin knows is he hasn’t won much in the NCAA Tournament. This team is certainly capable of doing that. They’ll play a great schedule, maybe 25 wins, potentially being a top four in the region, which could put them in the East. The dominoes are definitely lining up for something special this year.
Are you expecting anything special from any individual player this year? An X factor so to speak.
Sandro (Mamukelashvili) is the guy that I think is going to make a big jump and I’ve heard that from the coaches. I also believe Powell will be a preseason All-American, first since (Terry) Dehere. No doubt in my mind he’s the best player in this program since Dehere. Sandro will benefit a lot from having Ike Obiagu come in and play center and allow Sandro to play his natural stretch four. Guy took a beating playing center last year defensively. Not his natural position, I think it affected his offense. The confidence he gained from the good finish last year, I think he’s ready to flourish and is an all Big East-level caliber player. Ready to give Myles Powell that number 2 guy that could maybe take some heat off of Myles.
Who has been your favorite player to interview in covering the Hall (since 2003)? Why?
Powell is great, the whole package. Fantastic with the reporters. Emotional. Real. Sandro’s great too, terrific. The players on this team are all very good. Powell is number one. He was so broken up after the double overtime loss at Georgetown. He still did [the interview], to his credit. He’s a rare guy of great talent, great leadership and great public presence. I don’t know that Seton Hall has ever had a player with all three of those things lined up. Terry Dehere was great, but quieter, Jerry Walker was the personality that drove that team. I told [Powell] it’s great that he’s back just to cover him for one more year. He’s in his own class in many respects and his dealings with the media are one of those aspects.
