Kevin Willard quote book: Seton Hall media day

On tempering enthusiasm and expectations going into the season:
"Yeah, I think it's something that's a little bit of a work in progress a little bit right now. I don't want to temper them too much, because I think it's exciting and I think these guys have worked hard to get the recognition they're getting, but at the same time, keeping their focus on how they got here is very important -- not losing the work ethic and the focus that they've had to get them to achieve this point. Now it's just trying to get them to focus a little bit harder to kind of get to achieve a little bit more."

On the pieces in Seton Hall's backcourt:
"The young guys are really, really doing well, they're really impressive. Myles Powell has played as good as any freshman or sophomore that I've ever had. He is just playing fantastic on both ends. Last year, obviously he was a great offensive weapon, this year he's really working hard on the defensive end. Myles Cale, for a guy that missed six months with shoulder surgery and has only been playing for a month, is progressing tremendously, and he really gives us some added scoring. His athleticism is tremendous. Jordan (Walker) is continually -- I think everyone needs to be patient with Jordan just for the fact that he's only 18 years old, and the more he matures, the better he gets. Eron Gordon is playing tremendous, he did a great job for us the other day in our scrimmage, and Khadeen (Carrington) -- I don't really consider Khadeen transitioning to the point guard. He's played so much of it for me already, he's had the ball in his hands so much over the last three years. I think the biggest thing for Khadeen, and we were just talking about it, is understanding that there's so many levels of a point guard that he's responsible for. It's almost like being a father in that you always come last. He's gotta understand as a point guard that the last thing he's gotta worry about is him. He's gotta worry about, 'am I getting the big fella (Angel Delgado) the ball, am I finding Myles Powell shots, am I getting Desi (Rodriguez), how's my team playing?' I think that's the big thing I'm looking for from him over the next month, to see him really develop that responsibility. He's done a really good job with the basketball stuff, which I had no worries about, but now I think we're going to switch our focus on him understanding the deeper zen of the role."

On buying into preseason hype:
"I think we're a pretty good basketball team. We're definitely as deep as we've ever been -- the two sophomores, EG and Myles, Sandro (Mamukelashvili), Myles Cale, Jordan -- have given us probably as much depth as we've ever had here. If you compare last year's team to this year's team, we're obviously more experienced, and we're just so much deeper than we were last year. We played eleven guys double-digit minutes on Saturday (in a scrimmage against Boston College), and all eleven guys played well. Again, I'm excited about this team, and our goal is to stay extremely focused and extremely driven."

On changing his style of play:
"We will press a little bit more, because we've got to get up and down. I think one of our strengths defensively will be wearing teams down a little bit, but as far as going towards -- Angel's still going to be playing Angel's minutes, and Desi, Khadeen, so we're going to be much deeper, but we're still going to rely on the guys who got you where they got you."

On the Big East schedule:
"Two things: I was really thankful to the Prudential Center for opening those dates at the end of the season so we could have senior night. I think our last two games are at home, and that's the first time that's happened in a long time. For this group to be able to have senior night on their last game in the conference, at home, I thought was tremendous that the Prudential Center went out of their way to open up those dates, and the league understood that this group has been here and they deserve a great senior night. The only thing I was unhappy about was having two bye weeks in the first seven games, but I think everything else the way it ended up, you can't complain about anything. I'm really pleased with the way the league has really worked well with Fox, Fox has worked well with the league; and honestly, Prudential Center has been tremendous."

On Seton Hall's non-conference schedule:
"We had a lot of budget concerns. That's why we played a lot of games neutral. It saves a lot of money. I think the schedule is a good challenge. I think it's fun, it's good for the players, it sets up a lot with the league schedule, the teams we're playing. I try to get a mix of teams that grind it out, teams that run, because I think our league is really unique in the fact that we have so many different styles of play. It's a good challenge for us. We're going to have to bring it every night."

On excitement stemming from crowds:
"For me, it really doesn't matter. It really matters to the kids. Home court advantage in college basketball is really important, and no matter what you say when you come out for warmups and you've got 11,000 people in that building, it goes a long way in how kids play. The one thing that we've had tremendous over the last four years, our student section has been as good as it gets. It really has. It's not easy. We've had a lot of Wednesday night games, which makes it tough because it's not easy for our students to get on a bus, go down to the Prudential Center and watch a game, then get back on the bus and come all the way back home and get back. It's not easy for them, but our students have been absolutely phenomenal. Last year, we had the largest student crowds ever. Our kids, when they come out and they see the students there, they understand -- they do the same thing. They get on the bus at 4:45, they go down there. They understand the commitment that it takes, and it's just been -- having our students support us the way they have has been phenomenal."

On what he likes most about Seton Hall's frontcourt:
"Angel. I like Angel. Our frontcourt is great for the fact that I know at the four spot, I have Ish (Ismael Sanogo) and Mike (Nzei), and I don't have to worry about that. I know what Ish and Mike are going to do on a nightly basis, and then you throw Sandro in there; who, at 6-foot-10, he's a phenomenal passer. He's really starting to shoot the basketball well, he can space the floor differently than what we've had in the past. Our frontcourt is a lot of fun just because we can do a lot of different things from an offensive standpoint. Our zone offense is back a little bit just because we flash guys in there that can make plays, and obviously any time you have a guy like Angel Delgado, where at any point you can just throw the ball inside, you're going to be successful. Trying to get all these guys the right minutes is probably my biggest challenge, because they can all play 30-plus minutes a game right now, plus I could throw Big Ro (Romaro Gill) in there. Big Ro is 7-foot-1, long, runs the floor great, getting better. It's fun."

On Sandro Mamukelashvili and his similarity to Patrik Auda:
"Sandro's a little bit more skilled than Patrik was, and he's a better shooter than Patrik was at this stage. Patrik was much more physical, and Patrik was here my second year. Pat really blended in well with Jordan (Theodore) and Herb (Pope). He was a good complement to those guys, and he really did a good job with Jordan and Herb. Patrik would have had a much better career if he didn't have his foot injuries. He had two really bad foot injuries that really hurt him. Sandro's longer than Patrik, he's almost three inches taller, he's got a longer wingspan, he shoots better. He's a little bit more Americanized to the game, playing for Montverde, playing for Kevin (Boyle), so the fact that he played in America for a year and the fact that he played for arguably one of the best high school coaches in the country, I think has really given him a leg up, and he's been here all summer. Sandro is much more advanced than when Patrik was here, I think for different reasons."

On Angel Delgado's evolution from his freshman season to today:
"I think the biggest thing with Angel in the last three years is his maturity. He was young when he came his freshman year, and he's really gotten into developing his body. He's a legitimate 245 pounds, he's under 10 percent body fat. I think the biggest thing is, mentally, he's really matured on the court and off the court; and I think when that happens, your game can grow with your maturity. And I think more than anything, that's really helped him more than anything."

On how he can adapt to his personnel:
"I think the biggest thing when you have ten, maybe eleven guys, I can try to play a little bit more aggressive on defense. But I still have to protect Angel, I still have to protect Khadeen. At the same time, you want to play aggressive, but there's certain things you have to do to keep your best players on the floor. I think we can try to wear down teams and be a little more aggressive at times, but at the same time, since you do have who I think is the best college basketball player in the middle, you have to do a lot to protect him. And that's something that as you game plan, you might want to play up and down, you might want to play really fast. When you have a dominant big man, you better make sure you protect that dominant big man."

On what caught his attention in the scrimmage against Boston College:
"I was happy I got to play eleven guys. Maybe I thought we'd be a little bit farther ahead of schedule, but I think it was really good to play outside competition to see what we need to work on. I think that's what I'm happy for, more than anything, I got to see what we really need to work on. I wish we could have five to six scrimmages a year, to be honest with you. I think they're so beneficial, just because you're not banging each other up in practice for three hours. I think Khadeen played the most minutes with 21, no one else played more than 21 minutes. To get everybody time and get somebody else to kind of see where we're at -- Jimmy Christian does a phenomenal job coaching his team, they're extremely well-coached. To go up against a high-caliber team to kind of see where we're at, I think that's what I was most happy about."

On his new walk-ons:
"Shavar (Reynolds) played 11 minutes. Phil (Flory) couldn't play -- he had a concussion -- but Shavar is one of those hard-nosed, tough kids, really good defensively. He'll see some time this year just because he's gonna earn it, to be honest with you. He's good enough to be on a lot of teams and be playing major minutes for a lot of teams that we're going to play, and then Phil -- Phil's good, I don't know what else to say about Phil. Phil's one of those guys that -- it's not easy to walk on here. To have Phil and Shavar elevate in practice, they've pushed our guys. It's been great to have."

On being picked second in the Big East Conference, and the league in general:
"Well, (Chris) Mack had to vote for me because I beat him in golf in August. I always vote for Ed (Cooley), Ed always votes for me, that's just because we go back to the MAAC days. I don't think LaVall (Jordan, Butler's head coach) voted, it was more Chris (Holtmann) at that time. I think you could take one through six in this league right now, and anybody can beat anybody at any given time. You can almost take one through nine, in my opinion, and on any given night, one of those teams is going to beat you. It's as deep and as well-coached of a league as any, and I think what makes the league really tough is the league gets old. You look at Villanova, seniors. Us, seniors. Xavier, seniors. Providence, seniors. Marquette has gotten old. We're a league that has gotten really, really good players, but we also keep them for a long time. I think when you have guys like Ed Cooley and Chris Mack, and obviously Jay (Wright) coaching these guys for all these years, it just makes the league that much more difficult. And then you look at guys like at St. John's, I think they have one of the best backcourts, they could be a really good frontcourt with their athleticism -- you look at them, they've gotten older. The league -- again, I think one through eight, one through nine, is really, really good, and it's going to be a great challenge and a great test."

"I think for the most part, most of these guys have been in this league a long time. They understand preseason rankings don't mean anything, you've really got to go out and back it up on the court. I think it's a good honor for the fact that the coaches have respected this group a lot, but at the same time, I think all these guys realize this league is unbelievably tough and unbelievably good that you just have to go out and you have to prove it every night."