By JP Pelzman
As a Seton Hall student, John Fanta watched and reported as coach Kevin Willard, his staff and players laid the foundation to become a perennial NCAA Tournament participant.
The irrepressible Fanta, now a successful professional broadcaster, sees no reason why that run shouldn’t continue. Although he admits it would help if the school could ensure an actual physical foundation to go with the figurative one.
“I think Seton Hall is set up” to compete long-term with Big East Conference powerhouse Villanova, Fanta told PirateCrew.com, as long as the planned basketball practice facility eventually is constructed.
“That build is needed,” he said, “and we’ve seen it in Providence who was really stuck facilities-wise. They put in a new facility and what happens?”
The Friars’ recruiting improved.
“I do think that The Hall is positioned well,” Fanta added.
Of course, the other main ingredient for continued Seton Hall success is Willard himself.
“This is one of the great periods of Seton Hall basketball success in the history of the program,” Fanta noted. “And that’s a direct credit to Kevin Willard building this program in his image. These are guys that really are his type of guys and as a result, they’ve won, because they’re on the same page. The roster chemistry, through the last three years, especially, has been really strong. Sustainability is so tough in college basketball right now and he’s found a way to achieve sustainability at a school that’s had the furthest thing from it before him."
Fanta has covered Willard for seven seasons.
“We have a great relationship,” he said. “It took us time to form the relationship that we have. Because I had to earn his respect and I think he saw that during my time as a student. And out of that has come a great relationship. We'll talk here and there. We'll text throughout the year, once or twice a week, he’s been great. We've had a lot of laughs."
“I saw Kevin in his lows, when the team fell off in 2014-15. I was covering the team and there were a lot of reports surfacing about the team. There were reports of different things going on within the roster. … I tried to focus on the facts of all these situations, because if I made one mistake, any chance of me building up my trust goes away. I think that’s something that some student journalists don’t consider sometimes when they’re writing or talking about these teams. They risk it all on one thing as a 19-year-old. It's hard to do."
“So, a year later I was on the floor with a Big East mic, and I got him right after he won the conference tournament. That was an emotional night for everybody because you knew what the program had been through and they had climbed the mountain that night. It was a historic, historic evening. So we have a great friendship, great relationship, I'm friendly with his family. I have a lot of respect for him, I know he respects me and we’ve had a lot of laughs on that road. It was really cool to introduce him at the Beefsteak Dinner last fall and he was courted by (Virginia Tech) and he elected to stay here. He stayed home at Seton Hall and I think that resonated with fans.”
Fanta also has what he terms an “outstanding” relationship with Seton Hall’s other head basketball coach, women’s coach Tony Bozzella.
Fanta said, “We talk about things beyond basketball. We'll talk life, we’ll talk family. … Tony was the first person that ever reached out to me at Seton Hall. He direct messaged me on Twitter. He said, hey, I'm seeing a lot of your work. Do you want to come by my office? I was thrilled to pieces.”
By the way, Bozzella was referring to a blog that still can be seen at jfantasports.wordpress.com.
Fanta said of Bozzella, “He took them to the NCAA Tournament in just his second year and the program hadn’t been there since the ’90s. We developed a special friendship. I can talk with Tony about anything. He is a family man. He's a tremendous man. He's a Seton Hall man. He wears the pride of the university on his sleeve and he’s really transformed the women’s basketball program to a place of relevancy, to a place where men’s basketball season-ticket holders are going to women’s games because they want to support this product. I've seen him do a great job."
“It's going to be tough with UConn coming in,” Fanta added, “but with what he’s built, I think he expects to be a perennial top four team in the league. That’s the expectation now and that says a lot about his winning pedigree through the years.”
Fellow Seton Hall alumnus Bryan Felt became athletic director in 2019 when predecessor Pat Lyons moved upstairs to executive vice president.
“I was so over the moon,” Fanta recalled of his reaction. “I believe in Bryan. He is just a class act. In college athletics, there are fund-raisers, and there are people who fund raise but whose lives go beyond that. I know it’s easy to say that, and I know it’s the company line, but I think the donors would agree with me, I think the people who read this and care about Seton Hall would understand that Bryan Felt is a people person.”
When Fanta’s grandfather died in late May, “Bryan Felt called me a week later to see how I was doing. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He's just the epitome of Seton Hall University. He's a close friend and a supporter and a mentor. … he wants to make things happen. He sees the bigger picture.”
Much like Seton Hall’s leadership, Fanta believes the Big East is in great shape with commissioner Val Ackerman in charge. She took over in 2013 after the basketball/football split.
“She's done a tremendous job,” Fanta said. “People don’t understand. All she inherited, literally, was the name. It's like if you inherited McDonald’s but you couldn’t put a Big Mac on the menu. What’s the point? The point is, she’s made this her own, she’s gotten everybody on the same page, she’s cultivated relationships."
“One of Val’s biggest attributes is this--she came from a professional sports background (former WNBA commissioner) and Val did not have a lot of experience in the college realm. She has set up her staff with people who bring a mix of opinions and a mix of experience that has made this machine flourish the way that it has. If Val doesn’t know something, she is outstanding at asking questions. She's extremely smart and she wants to get better every day. So as a result, you want to get better. She demands the best because she worked for David Stern, and she always told me David Stern demanded the best out of her.”
Fanta continued, “And I think you see the echoes of David Stern’s leadership in the way she’s led the Big East Conference. And the way that she’s got this league connected. I can sense in covering the league the way these coaches really, really enjoy one another. I just think Val Ackerman is not only one of the most powerful women, but one of the most powerful people in sports who doesn’t get talked about enough.”
Fanta noted that he has seen Ackerman giving out her personal contact info to student-athletes at events.
“She presents every attribute that you would look for in a leader,” he added, “and I've been really impressed with the way that she’s grown and the way that she’s so accessible to student-athletes. That says a lot about her."
“She's been good for college sports, too. She brought the NIL (name, image, likeness) stuff to the table. And Val thought it was important to turn a corner there. And I know people are skeptical about that and rightly so, but I give her credit for leading the effort on trying to give student-athletes name, image and likeness” rights."
As a Seton Hall student, John Fanta watched and reported as coach Kevin Willard, his staff and players laid the foundation to become a perennial NCAA Tournament participant.
The irrepressible Fanta, now a successful professional broadcaster, sees no reason why that run shouldn’t continue. Although he admits it would help if the school could ensure an actual physical foundation to go with the figurative one.
“I think Seton Hall is set up” to compete long-term with Big East Conference powerhouse Villanova, Fanta told PirateCrew.com, as long as the planned basketball practice facility eventually is constructed.
“That build is needed,” he said, “and we’ve seen it in Providence who was really stuck facilities-wise. They put in a new facility and what happens?”
The Friars’ recruiting improved.
“I do think that The Hall is positioned well,” Fanta added.
Of course, the other main ingredient for continued Seton Hall success is Willard himself.
“This is one of the great periods of Seton Hall basketball success in the history of the program,” Fanta noted. “And that’s a direct credit to Kevin Willard building this program in his image. These are guys that really are his type of guys and as a result, they’ve won, because they’re on the same page. The roster chemistry, through the last three years, especially, has been really strong. Sustainability is so tough in college basketball right now and he’s found a way to achieve sustainability at a school that’s had the furthest thing from it before him."
Fanta has covered Willard for seven seasons.
“We have a great relationship,” he said. “It took us time to form the relationship that we have. Because I had to earn his respect and I think he saw that during my time as a student. And out of that has come a great relationship. We'll talk here and there. We'll text throughout the year, once or twice a week, he’s been great. We've had a lot of laughs."
“I saw Kevin in his lows, when the team fell off in 2014-15. I was covering the team and there were a lot of reports surfacing about the team. There were reports of different things going on within the roster. … I tried to focus on the facts of all these situations, because if I made one mistake, any chance of me building up my trust goes away. I think that’s something that some student journalists don’t consider sometimes when they’re writing or talking about these teams. They risk it all on one thing as a 19-year-old. It's hard to do."
“So, a year later I was on the floor with a Big East mic, and I got him right after he won the conference tournament. That was an emotional night for everybody because you knew what the program had been through and they had climbed the mountain that night. It was a historic, historic evening. So we have a great friendship, great relationship, I'm friendly with his family. I have a lot of respect for him, I know he respects me and we’ve had a lot of laughs on that road. It was really cool to introduce him at the Beefsteak Dinner last fall and he was courted by (Virginia Tech) and he elected to stay here. He stayed home at Seton Hall and I think that resonated with fans.”
Fanta also has what he terms an “outstanding” relationship with Seton Hall’s other head basketball coach, women’s coach Tony Bozzella.
Fanta said, “We talk about things beyond basketball. We'll talk life, we’ll talk family. … Tony was the first person that ever reached out to me at Seton Hall. He direct messaged me on Twitter. He said, hey, I'm seeing a lot of your work. Do you want to come by my office? I was thrilled to pieces.”
By the way, Bozzella was referring to a blog that still can be seen at jfantasports.wordpress.com.
Fanta said of Bozzella, “He took them to the NCAA Tournament in just his second year and the program hadn’t been there since the ’90s. We developed a special friendship. I can talk with Tony about anything. He is a family man. He's a tremendous man. He's a Seton Hall man. He wears the pride of the university on his sleeve and he’s really transformed the women’s basketball program to a place of relevancy, to a place where men’s basketball season-ticket holders are going to women’s games because they want to support this product. I've seen him do a great job."
“It's going to be tough with UConn coming in,” Fanta added, “but with what he’s built, I think he expects to be a perennial top four team in the league. That’s the expectation now and that says a lot about his winning pedigree through the years.”
Fellow Seton Hall alumnus Bryan Felt became athletic director in 2019 when predecessor Pat Lyons moved upstairs to executive vice president.
“I was so over the moon,” Fanta recalled of his reaction. “I believe in Bryan. He is just a class act. In college athletics, there are fund-raisers, and there are people who fund raise but whose lives go beyond that. I know it’s easy to say that, and I know it’s the company line, but I think the donors would agree with me, I think the people who read this and care about Seton Hall would understand that Bryan Felt is a people person.”
When Fanta’s grandfather died in late May, “Bryan Felt called me a week later to see how I was doing. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He's just the epitome of Seton Hall University. He's a close friend and a supporter and a mentor. … he wants to make things happen. He sees the bigger picture.”
Much like Seton Hall’s leadership, Fanta believes the Big East is in great shape with commissioner Val Ackerman in charge. She took over in 2013 after the basketball/football split.
“She's done a tremendous job,” Fanta said. “People don’t understand. All she inherited, literally, was the name. It's like if you inherited McDonald’s but you couldn’t put a Big Mac on the menu. What’s the point? The point is, she’s made this her own, she’s gotten everybody on the same page, she’s cultivated relationships."
“One of Val’s biggest attributes is this--she came from a professional sports background (former WNBA commissioner) and Val did not have a lot of experience in the college realm. She has set up her staff with people who bring a mix of opinions and a mix of experience that has made this machine flourish the way that it has. If Val doesn’t know something, she is outstanding at asking questions. She's extremely smart and she wants to get better every day. So as a result, you want to get better. She demands the best because she worked for David Stern, and she always told me David Stern demanded the best out of her.”
Fanta continued, “And I think you see the echoes of David Stern’s leadership in the way she’s led the Big East Conference. And the way that she’s got this league connected. I can sense in covering the league the way these coaches really, really enjoy one another. I just think Val Ackerman is not only one of the most powerful women, but one of the most powerful people in sports who doesn’t get talked about enough.”
Fanta noted that he has seen Ackerman giving out her personal contact info to student-athletes at events.
“She presents every attribute that you would look for in a leader,” he added, “and I've been really impressed with the way that she’s grown and the way that she’s so accessible to student-athletes. That says a lot about her."
“She's been good for college sports, too. She brought the NIL (name, image, likeness) stuff to the table. And Val thought it was important to turn a corner there. And I know people are skeptical about that and rightly so, but I give her credit for leading the effort on trying to give student-athletes name, image and likeness” rights."
