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Willard on DC Coaches Podcast

HallOnTheHill

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Apr 30, 2006
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Kevin Willard was interviewed on the DC Coaches Podcast this week with Gary Williams, Jimmy Pastos and (Linden’s own!) Gordon Austin.

Good big picture conversation happens at about 30 minutes in.

 
This is a great spot. LOL @ KW getting coffee for Red Auerbach and Gary Williams asking about the stage at Walsh. Also nice comments on how he feels about Seton Hall. I suppose some will call it coach-speak, but I think it's genuine. The bump in compensation always helps, of course, that pertains to all of us in any profession, but he's found his comfort level here.

Good point on Westbrook. Would love to see our guards and wings rebound like that.
 
Also Willard made a key point on eligibility for the transfers and getting them up to speed over the summer.
 
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Really interesting. I found his comments on high school recruiting particularly interesting.
 
Kevin keeps evolving not only as a coach but as a person and he has become more relaxed and open in dealing with the media and less resistant to share his views on some of the major changes taking place in college basketball today and how to deal with them. Listening to him you do get a sense that he thinks very carefully about the challenges ahead in college athletics and it came thru in his interview.
 
Excellent and fun podcast with all these guys . Thoughtful takes on NIL and new transfer rule. Willard discussion on why many transfers will never get their degrees was very interesting. Aside from getting all the new faces acclimated for basketball during the summer, he and the staff have to figure out how to get the transfers on track academically due to the credits they are going to lose.
 
That was a very enjoyable listen. That is the Willard fans and media don't often see/hear. An intelligent, comfortable, fun-loving communicator.

Comfortable because he's in his environment. Talking to equals in the coaching profession.

Intelligent because he knows the game on and off the court as well as anyone.

And fun-loving because his sarcastic sense of humor plays well when it is not meanspirited.
 
KW shines in these segments. He talked about dealing with four players from portal and getting them eligible. We have the cuse guard, Harris and Yetna. Who is the fourth.
 
Interesting that he is saying that he will only play 9. With all the quality talent coming in next year I wonder how that is going to pan out.

Who are the 9 that you think he is going to go with?

Rhoden,
Ikey,
Richmond,
Harris,
Yetna,
Samuel,
Cale,
Weston,

As much as I like Cale I would almost rather see him give more playing time to his freshman to develop, but I am sure that Cale would not have made the decision to come back to ride the bench.

I also think that by Jackson sticking around is implying that he might be that 9th.

With the depth at PG I wonder what's going to happen with Long? Conway and Powell on the other hand I can see having a little more patience as they are both freshman, but like Willard said in the interview these kids want to play.

Exciting, but its going to be interesting year.
 
Interesting idea by Willard to only pay kids going to tourney but never going to happen unless schools, conference or NCAA pays directly. It could have worked if NCAA moved that direction earlier.

Too late now, if a outside companies pays a player,they aren’t going to follow those rules and kids will be paid without going to tourney.

Also interesting on Brand coach idea, glad coach was aware.

As far as the pro’s and con’s of NIL to Seton Hall we have both.

Con- urban area teams split local attention with many pro teams and now with Nets and Knicks better, NFL etc, so dealerships etc less likely pay a seton hall player compared to a Nebraska player with nothing else around.

Con- less students/alumni than big state schools

Pro- the first shot goes to the basketball team players bc we don’t have football taking the NIL opportunities.

The only 8-9 players play was a general statement not on our current team. Creme will have to rise of the 12 who will want lots of minutes. Westin coming off injury may make him slow out of the gate, so he may just be sprinkled in at first. I think we are underestimating Powell with the possibility of earning 10-15 minutes next year.
 
It's been said before, but thought about it from a different perspective at this point in time...Willard mentioned that after the split of the old Big East, Jay Wright got the remaining coaches together and said they had to work together, not bad mouth each other, and not recruit against one another. Perhaps that is why Willard seemed so miffed at Danny Hurley and the addition of UCONN, perhaps he thinks Danny is either or both bad mouthing Willard/SHU and recruiting against us.

FYI, when I say recruiting against us, I don't think Wright's intention was about simply going after the same player, but more about playing the dirty recruiting games against each other.
 
It's not often when you can be a fly on the wall with coaches just talking BB.

These almost informal conversations were far better than just listening to coaches being interviewed. Far less filter with little coach speak.
 
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It's been said before, but thought about it from a different perspective at this point in time...Willard mentioned that after the split of the old Big East, Jay Wright got the remaining coaches together and said they had to work together, not bad mouth each other, and not recruit against one another. Perhaps that is why Willard seemed so miffed at Danny Hurley and the addition of UCONN, perhaps he thinks Danny is either or both bad mouthing Willard/SHU and recruiting against us.

FYI, when I say recruiting against us, I don't think Wright's intention was about simply going after the same player, but more about playing the dirty recruiting games against each other.
Let's see if that thought process continues when (and if) players can soon transfer within the conference.
 
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Jokingly (not) says been trying to get them to knock down Walsh and build a 6k seat on campus arena - Hell he would take a practice facility at this point in time!!

Seems the Stage in Walsh is a topic of joke through the basketball community!

Interesting how Ralph worked for Coach B in Syracuse but Kevin and him do not get along

100% graduation rate and he says they spent all of April trying to get the 4 transfers set so they can graduate on time etc.
 
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A 7-10,000 seat arena would be ideal. But obviously that will never happen on campus.

Beside not having the land to build on can you imagine that many people coming to, parking and then leaving the campus to go home? Just not feasible.
 
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A 7-10,000 seat arena would be ideal. But obviously that will never happen on campus.

Beside not having the land to build on can you imagine that many people coming to, parking and then leaving the campus to go home? Just not feasible.
But lets be creative and ask what if the school purchased the VA land down the street OR stuck a deal with Sisters of Charity to take over St. Elizabeth. Hey they both have the Elizabeth Ann Seton link and St. E is losing money year over year.... then we would have the land and more to build Seton Hall to the next level
 
It's been said before, but thought about it from a different perspective at this point in time...Willard mentioned that after the split of the old Big East, Jay Wright got the remaining coaches together and said they had to work together, not bad mouth each other, and not recruit against one another. Perhaps that is why Willard seemed so miffed at Danny Hurley and the addition of UCONN, perhaps he thinks Danny is either or both bad mouthing Willard/SHU and recruiting against us.

FYI, when I say recruiting against us, I don't think Wright's intention was about simply going after the same player, but more about playing the dirty recruiting games against each other.
Lol you mean like not pulling a Cal and telling a recruit Louie has cancer?
 
A 7-10,000 seat arena would be ideal. But obviously that will never happen on campus.

Beside not having the land to build on can you imagine that many people coming to, parking and then leaving the campus to go home? Just not feasible.
Building on campus isn’t feasible, but I wish the school had the vision years ago - similar to depaul - to partner with the city of newark to help gentrify the community. Similar to what the Devils did but on a significantly smaller scale (that’s essentially what depaul did with wintrust arena).

the city has a vested interest in having an arena of some sort in the down town. I’m curious is that could have worked.
 
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Gary Williams is really well spoken. I'm not aware that he is working as an analyst but FOX, ESPN or CBS really should take a hard look at him if he isn't.
 
A 7-10,000 seat arena would be ideal. But obviously that will never happen on campus.

Beside not having the land to build on can you imagine that many people coming to, parking and then leaving the campus to go home? Just not feasible.
town, zoning, seeya. shame.

traffic would be wild but more students/less old guys would show.
 
Back in the day, getting out of Walsh would be nuts and that was with pre-rec center and library parking spaces available and the outside gates behind and to the side of the building open to traffic. But the games in that building were worth it!
 
To say the least I am not a fan of Gary Williams.

Indirectly he did us a major favor, but that was never his intention.

The day before SHU hired PJ, they had a verbal agreement to hire Williams. He agreed to become our head coach. But then after agreeing he called Boston College and told them to offer him their job or he was going to South Orange. They did and the night before we were going to announce his accepting the SHU job in a press conference, he reneged on his commitment.

In a panic, and with the press conference scheduled in the morning Seton Hall reached out to PJ and offered him the job. A coach coming off a 4-22 record at Wagner.
 
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