Part 4 of our Jerry Carino interview
By Colin Rajala
Trove: In the new college athletics landscape, Seton has lost program stalwarts like Tyrese Samuel, Kadary Richmond and Dre Davis to the portal – how would you like to see Seton Hall compete in the current landscape?
Carino: I’ll tell you what Holloway’s plans are, and they make sense. He wants to have a nucleus together for two years. He would love to have them together for three plus years, but that might be asking the impossible. If you can get him the right group of guys to stay together for two years, which is not an impossible ask, they can be positioned for something big.
If there's the buy in and the talent level is right, Holloway’s ability to wring out the sponge could pay big dividends if you give him two years. They came pretty close to that this year and that was just with Holloway getting started and them catching up in NIL.
So, let's just say with the group they have this year, most or many of the key guys come back in 2025-26, that’s the two-year cycle is what Sha really needs to hit it out the park. It's going to require some resources, maybe not a gazillion dollars though – especially if he’s rotating 10 deep and individual stats are modest as a result. So I think that's feasible for Seton Hall if they keep building the NIL war chest.
Can Seton Hall's war chest for NIL enable Holloway to keep a good nucleus together for two years? That remains to be seen, the key is you have to keep those guys that excel in the system. You have to keep Middleton and Coleman and Dual together for two years. That’s really going to be the key. If Seton Hall can do that, then they have a chance to do something special.
It took Holloway three years at Saint Peter’s. The Elite Eight run was his fourth year at St. Peter’s, but it was the third year of having that nucleus together. Now that was with a modest level of talent that he coached up. Give him two years with more talent and you could see a better version of this past season.
Also, instead of going out and getting high priced one-year guys every year, I know Sha would rather get guys who aren't as sought after that he sees something in that he can keep together for two years. That's what he's really wants to do and that's how you win here under these circumstances. I know it’s easy to be pessimistic about your situation in high major basketball right now, but Seton Hall has the coach, the biggest piece. Look at these other places, all the money in the world can’t help you if your coach sucks. Indiana has so much money, Memphis is oozing money, but they stink. They stink not because they don’t have talent, not because of resources, not because they don’t have facilities, they have coaches who don’t know what they are doing.
Here, you have a guy who really knows what he’s doing. He’s an alum and loyal to the place. I didn’t ever think he was going to Louisville. I don't care if he did a Zoom with them or a phone call just to talk to them and say, ‘Look, I'm not interested, but thanks for thinking of me.’ He was never going there. He's a super loyal, talented and relatively young coach. That’s about as good of a fit as you’re going to have at Seton Hall. So I don't think it's impossible or bleak.
