by Zack Cziryak
TROVE: Shaheen has lost his best players the last two years thanks to large NIL packages and now seems to be spreading his budgets across a greater number of players – what are your thoughts on this strategy?
POPKIN: Well I don't think he expected to lose as many players as he did. So I think that the strategy probably changed from, 'we have to go out and get 4 or 5 guys to we have to go out and get 10 guys.' I think that he clearly wants to have more depth and play more people fewer minutes the way that he did at Saint Peter's. He didn't have that this year. He had to play Dawes over 35 minutes a game at the end. Richmond was playing big minutes. A lot of the guys were. And that is hard to do when you're playing a long season and this was the longest season that Seton Hall played since the Final Four year. So yeah, I agree with you that he's going for depth, athleticism. I know that he wants more shooting. They need more shooting. I'm not sure that that is on this roster but we'll see. I think that having Addae-Wusu and Coleman back helps a lot. It gives you some stability on the wing and some good defense out there and some guys that know Sha's system.
I know that he's looking for a leader right now - somebody to be a captain or captains on this team, and waiting for the personality of the team and the roles to make themselves evident. And it's hard to do that when you only have half the team on campus so far. I don't know that he'll know that until Labor Day or later, but it seems like there are some exciting players that they brought in. The staff was obviously working hard in the portal. Who knows how the freshmen are able to compete with some very veteran players that he brought that may warrant immediate playing time. So, I'm intrigued by an almost entirely new roster and a bunch of guys that were four-star players at one point. I have the utmost trust in Shaheen and the staff to coach guys up. Player development, they're really, really good at that. They have some good raw materials and we'll see how long it takes them to gel.
TROVE: Shaheen has lost his best players the last two years thanks to large NIL packages and now seems to be spreading his budgets across a greater number of players – what are your thoughts on this strategy?
POPKIN: Well I don't think he expected to lose as many players as he did. So I think that the strategy probably changed from, 'we have to go out and get 4 or 5 guys to we have to go out and get 10 guys.' I think that he clearly wants to have more depth and play more people fewer minutes the way that he did at Saint Peter's. He didn't have that this year. He had to play Dawes over 35 minutes a game at the end. Richmond was playing big minutes. A lot of the guys were. And that is hard to do when you're playing a long season and this was the longest season that Seton Hall played since the Final Four year. So yeah, I agree with you that he's going for depth, athleticism. I know that he wants more shooting. They need more shooting. I'm not sure that that is on this roster but we'll see. I think that having Addae-Wusu and Coleman back helps a lot. It gives you some stability on the wing and some good defense out there and some guys that know Sha's system.
I know that he's looking for a leader right now - somebody to be a captain or captains on this team, and waiting for the personality of the team and the roles to make themselves evident. And it's hard to do that when you only have half the team on campus so far. I don't know that he'll know that until Labor Day or later, but it seems like there are some exciting players that they brought in. The staff was obviously working hard in the portal. Who knows how the freshmen are able to compete with some very veteran players that he brought that may warrant immediate playing time. So, I'm intrigued by an almost entirely new roster and a bunch of guys that were four-star players at one point. I have the utmost trust in Shaheen and the staff to coach guys up. Player development, they're really, really good at that. They have some good raw materials and we'll see how long it takes them to gel.
