By Zack Cziryak
Trove Correspondent
You sound optimistic that Sha is the type of person and coach to be able to adapt and evolve to succeed?
"He's going to do whatever it takes to win. That's just the bottom line. He's not going to say, 'I'm going to do it my way or I'm going down.' I don't see that. We've had discussions, he and I, about his legacy and what he said at his introduction, 'this is too important to me to mess up.' Ultimately that's going to be his driving force."
"He's going to try it his way and Seton Hall needs to give him some runway. They gave Kevin Willard six years. Kevin got until that sixth year to straighten it out. Now Kevin took over a program that was an abject disaster where Sha didn't, however, it's a comparable challenge for Sha, because of all the changes in the landscape with NIL and the transfer portal. So, he does face, in a way, a comparable mountain as Kevin did. Different issues, obviously, but Kevin was a much less accomplished head coach than Sha when he got here who had zero ties to the program ... and got six years of runway from Pat Lyons. So, I would expect Sha to get that kind of runway.”
“My feeling is that if it doesn't work fully his way, with his staff and with his way of pushing players and with his way of putting a roster together, then he will adjust rather than go down. I think he will absolutely make what adjustments needed to be made if his way doesn't work the way he wants to do it. The guy has succeeded at everything he's ever done as a player, as an assistant coach, as the head coach at Saint Peter's. There are certain patterns that contribute to that and one of them is the ability to make adjustments. And so, I'm fully convinced that he will, as needed, make adjustments. It might take time for him to figure out what's needed because everything is so different now and he doesn't exactly have a bundle of resources like some of his peers. So, yeah, this could be a little choppy ... but I would feel confident wagering that he figures it out. I just don't know when that's going to happen or how long it's going to take. It might take another year or two. It took Kevin five years."
One resource a head coach leans on is their coaching staff. What level of support and adjustments is the staff making after a year at Seton Hall?
"It's hard to say after one year, but I know that Ryan Whalen is a super valuable X's and O's guy that did a lot of the tactics that got Saint Peter's to where they got. And Rasheen Davis as a connected recruiter who can open doors in the New York metropolitan area. How important is a staff right now - like how important is their recruiting connections? It's a good question. You know, before NIL it was everything, but after NIL could it still be important? You look at Brandin Knight over at Rutgers, he's essentially still opening doors to some of these good recruits they're getting. I think there is some value in a connected staff and Sha's staff is not as connected as that of his Big East peers. It's not as important as it was, but it's still helpful.
"As far as does Sha need help coaching? I don't think he needs help coaching. I don't think he needs help developing players. I do think he could use like an elder statesman type of guy as far as program management, people management stuff. Someone who's been a head coach at the Division I level. I don't think that would be the worst thing for him whether it's a recruiting assistant or a special assistant type role."
"Go back to Willard. He came in and his staff totally changed. Holloway was the only assistant that stuck around. The original staff had failed. He figured out he had to make changes, and he made them. Sha's not going to just throw his guys under the bus, but he's not going to ride his loyalties into the ground either."
Seton Hall has long been a program that can attribute its success to long-term player development – is that still a viable method in world where players can now leave at the drop of a hat and money talks more than ever before?
“To me that's where the NIL and the free agency of the transfer portal happening all at once hurts Seton Hall the most. They became a perennially good NCAA tournament contender because of their player development. They identified players they could get and who could get better, and they developed those guys ... even the transfers they brought in ... Can you still do that now? Great question, nobody knows the answer yet. For example, Tae Davis ... there's a guy who I saw the potential to develop into a good Big East player and now he's gone. That's something that has to be figured out. To me, a lot of Holloway's success is going to hinge on that question. I think he's going to continue to bring in players who he thinks can develop and fit in a team concept. Can he keep those guys long enough to develop them and mold a team together? I think that's really, ultimately, the whole ball game. I just don't see Seton Hall, which is not as resourced as their peers in the Big East, buying an all-star roster every year. What they're going to have to do is find the guys they can develop and keep. I don't know that four years is a reasonable expectation, but can you do two years? Can you develop a core over two years, or maybe three? That's sort of the question it's all going to hinge on for Seton Hall basketball. Speaking with Sha about it -- we've talked about this at length -- I think that's kind of the players he's looking at to bring in. But if you're successful in developing a guy, does he just sprint out the door at the next free agency cycle? It's a risk."
“These are things that can really stunt a regime's growth. These are tough questions that he has to answer that Kevin Willard was never faced with. And yeah, all of his peer coaches in the Big East have that question, but I don't know that any of them are facing that question with fewer resources than he is. I don't know what DePaul's NIL situation is like, but I've got to think Seton Hall is a bottom two or three player in the NIL resource department. So, it's a difficult question, but I do think ultimately that's still going to be the route.”
“Now Sha can also help himself, okay? Some of it is can they get the right players, but some of it's going to be does Sha have to do more to forge bonds with these guys so they're more likely to stay. Like at Saint Peter's, by the end those guys would run through a brick wall for him, and I think most of them would have stayed if he'd stayed. And look at them, they all they all showed up to his introductory press conference at Seton Hall. There's a bond that he developed over time. Can he develop that bond quicker with players? Those guys proved themselves to Sha over three years, the core that was Saint Peter's Elite Eight team. He's the guy you have to prove yourself to. Can he develop that bond quicker to make it more likely that he keeps players? Will it help them fend off poachers? Maybe.”
"There are various reasons why Tae Davis left. But maybe Sha learns from that and learns how to utilize a guy and work with a guy on the court and off the court to keep that guy from considering leaving. That's something that he he's going to have to learn -- and from speaking with him this offseason, I know he took note of that. And maybe he could improve the way he approaches players to help tighten those bonds. I do think that's going to be part of this as far as developing and keeping guys.”
"These are complex questions with multifaceted answers, and this is just so new, this landscape, I don't know all the answers. But one cost-free way Sha can help himself is to speed up that prove-it / bonding process that took those guys three years at Saint Peters ... It doesn't mean you're going to keep the player, but it gives you, I think, a better fighting chance of keeping guys together come free agency season."
