PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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Pat Lawless dishes on Seton Hall’s recent recruiting success, future targets and what it means to be a ‘Seton Hall guy’
By Tyler Calvaruso
Pat Lawless has spent years establishing himself as a go-to source for college basketball recruiting news. Now, he is focused on expanding his horizons across the industry.
Beginning last August, Lawless teamed up with a couple of his college friends to form The Front Office , a college basketball podcast touching on everything across the sport with a little bit of humor thrown in along the way. Lawless has used his connections to help take the podcast to the next level, securing big-name guests in the form of coaches and players across college basketball. Lawless has also had to enter new territory as a podcaster and video and audio editor, but that has been a challenge he has enjoyed vehemently.
The Front Office has taken up plenty of Lawless’ time over the past year, but he remains as locked in on the recruiting trail as ever. PirateCrew.com recently caught up with him to discuss Seton Hall’s recent string of success, where Kevin Willard has taken the program and what could be in store for the Pirates down the road – especially once they get their long-awaited practice facility.
I want to start out by asking you about The Front Office since it’s fresh in my mind after watching your interview with Brandon Weston. What went into that idea and what made you and your friends want to start that up?
“All three of us were Seton Hall grads. My friend CJ, who does it with me, is an obsessed Seton Hall fan and he always wanted to get involved in basketball somehow. My friend Tom, he’s really smart and loves basketball and I’m already involved in basketball. I wanted to do something new in basketball. Obviously, I’m still doing recruiting a little bit, but I’m giving a different take on things and a little bit different of an approach with video and different projects like that. We love talking ball, making fools out of ourselves and doing ridiculous things. It’s real guy stuff. We have a lot of fun with it.”
How has the podcast grown since you started? Has it grown at the rate you expected?
“Early on we weren’t seeing a ton of growth. Recently, with some of the interviews that we’ve done, we’ve been getting a lot of really good feedback off Instagram. We’re getting a decent amount, but we’re just getting started. We have some big things in the works right now that are going to be announced in the next couple of weeks that’ll really boost things. Everything’s kind of gone to plan and if you ask all three of us, we’re really happy where we’re at with things. At the same time, we’re far from satisfied. We have big, lofty goals, but we’re pretty happy.”
How much do you think it has helped your growth being able to advertise the podcast to your own Twitter following?
“I love it because for me, previously, people would probably look at my profile as, ‘Oh, okay, he’s just an offers guy, info guy, things like that.’ I’ve broadened my horizons and now, they can kind of put a face to things. I’ve kind of, I guess, built more of a personality and I’ve picked up a ton of skills, whether that’s video editing, being more comfortable talking on camera or doing interviews on camera. As you know, doing interviews off camera and on camera are two different ballgames. That’s been huge for me. It’s made me more versatile in the space, so, yeah, from that respect, it’s been awesome.
We’re really lucky that things have gone well. We’re just excited to keep promoting things and pushing things on YouTube, our Instagram and things like that. The Seton Hall fanbase has really gotten behind it. We have a long way to go, but we’re pleased with how things have gone.”
You just mentioned your profile and the way people have perceived it in the past. Now, with the podcast, where do you want to take yourself in the industry at this point?
“I love doing scouting. I love being in the know with the college coaches for my scouting service and stuff like that, so that’s important and I don’t want to lose that. When you’re working in basketball and you really want to make it your full-time thing, you gotta wear a lot of different hats. For me, I do my events and my scouting on that side of things. With media, I’m really trying to grow this so 10 years from now, it’s really something and we can not necessarily just profit off it, but make it something and bring in talent and build it out to be something legitimate in the college basketball space and the NBA space. Down the line I would love for this to be a focal point of my career. Right now, I’m probably still more known as a recruiting analyst and for scouting, but I would love to keep building this. It’s in the early stages, but I want this to be a focal point and for people to say, ‘Oh, he also does scouting and recruiting.’”
Circling back to Brandon Weston, what was your impression of him when you guys talked?
“He’s a super nice kid. I watched Brandon for the first time in eighth grade and I don’t think I talked to him much since then. When I first watched Brandon, he’s always been, to me at least, a super nice kid. Even with him being a top-60, top-70 recruit, he’s super thankful and real humble about things. From my early impressions to now, he’s not going to be a kid coming in with a big head or anything like that. I think he’s going to work at things, but he also has this silent confidence about him. On the court he’s one of those guys...in interviews he might say the right things, but on the court it’ll come out a little bit with a scream or him just getting after it. He’s got that silent confidence about him. He’s a killer, for sure.”
A lot of analysts have Brandon pegged as a player that can guard multiple positions and uses his toughness to get into the paint on offense. Do you think that’s an accurate assessment?
“I would say so. He’s very versatile. The scary thing about it is if you look at him as a freshman to now, it’s pretty crazy how much better he has gotten. He’s always had talent, but with a lot of these kids, it’s all about refining it. I remember watching him in eighth grade and he would always have these little bursts of special, but it wouldn’t be consistent. If he keeps at this current trajectory, I think anything is possible. With a kid at that size, like you said, he guards multiple positions...the sky is the limit with that kind of kid. He’s a really, really intriguing get.”
Another Seton Hall guy you spoke to recently is Ryan Conway. What are your thoughts on his game?
“He’s a really, really big-time competitor. He’s not scared of the moment at all. Every time I’ve watched him, no matter who he’s playing, the moment doesn’t phase him. That’s really important in the Big East when you’re playing in Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament. He’ll probably get minutes early on, so he won’t be scared of that spotlight. Also, the kid can really shoot the ball, which is important. I wonder how they’ll utilize him specifically, whether he’s on the ball or off the ball or a little bit of both. He’s definitely a combo guard, but he’s capable as a point guard. The first (thought) that comes to mind for me is that he’s a real sharpshooter.
Tyler Powell is a kid who kind of came out of nowhere to commit to Seton Hall. Do you think landing a west coast recruit like him is indicative of how far Seton Hall’s reach has extended or is his commitment more a product of his connection to the program through Pookey Wigington than anything else?
“It’s interesting when you look at these things, because if you don’t have that knowledge of Pookey Wigington and that connection there, the staff can maybe sell a kid far out if everything goes well with Powell. The staff can sell it to some other kid that’s on the west coast and say, ‘Hey, it went well with the kid in California.’ It just depends how you look at it. A huge part of recruiting is perception, so they can say, ‘We got Tyler and it went well.’ We know there’s an obvious connection there, but it’s definitely still great if you have a kid outside of area succeed because, like I said, that conversation is that much easier to prove to a kid far out, which is important. Track record is everything.”
Part 2 to follow including future recruiting news for both the classes of 2021 and 2022
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