Zack's interview with Dave Popkin. Part 1
TROVE: You've seen some really good Seton Hall teams. You've seen some championships. Some NCAA tournament games. How does this team and season stack up for you?
POPKIN: I would say that it was one of my top three teams to cover in 21 years. I really loved the first team that we had, Gary and I, with Andre Barrett and John Allen, Kelly Whitney, Andre Sweet. That was a good team - went to the second round of the NCAAs - and we kind of got lulled into thinking that that would happen every year, and it didn't. But that was a fun run and we loved Louis Orr so we were happy for him to have success. And Andre Barrett is probably one of the best players, not only in our tenure as announcers, but in the history of the school.
The 16' and 17' team with Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez and Isaiah Whitehead and Mike Nzei was a special team. I think that was probably the most talented team since I've been there. You know they won an NCAA tournament game against NC State out in Wichita. They won the Big East Tournament and the Big East Tournament is still my favorite moment. Beating Villanova and just the joy from Seton Hall fans. It had been 23 years since Seton Hall had won anything meaningful like that and it was like a release for the fan base and pure joy for everybody involved. The school was nice enough to give us all rings. Since I've been doing this since the early 90s, it's the only ring I've ever gotten from any team so that definitely holds a special place in my heart. But this year's team was terrific. Good guys. I can definitely see myself staying in touch with some of those players and coaches over time, because they're good people.
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TROVE: You've seen some really good Seton Hall teams. You've seen some championships. Some NCAA tournament games. How does this team and season stack up for you?
POPKIN: I would say that it was one of my top three teams to cover in 21 years. I really loved the first team that we had, Gary and I, with Andre Barrett and John Allen, Kelly Whitney, Andre Sweet. That was a good team - went to the second round of the NCAAs - and we kind of got lulled into thinking that that would happen every year, and it didn't. But that was a fun run and we loved Louis Orr so we were happy for him to have success. And Andre Barrett is probably one of the best players, not only in our tenure as announcers, but in the history of the school.
The 16' and 17' team with Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez and Isaiah Whitehead and Mike Nzei was a special team. I think that was probably the most talented team since I've been there. You know they won an NCAA tournament game against NC State out in Wichita. They won the Big East Tournament and the Big East Tournament is still my favorite moment. Beating Villanova and just the joy from Seton Hall fans. It had been 23 years since Seton Hall had won anything meaningful like that and it was like a release for the fan base and pure joy for everybody involved. The school was nice enough to give us all rings. Since I've been doing this since the early 90s, it's the only ring I've ever gotten from any team so that definitely holds a special place in my heart. But this year's team was terrific. Good guys. I can definitely see myself staying in touch with some of those players and coaches over time, because they're good people.
