“Good question. It’s like that every year now, just the way the transfer portal is. I don’t want to bring in 12 new guys every year, but it’s just the way of college basketball right now. You just gotta get used to it, you gotta adjust to it, you can’t complain. My coaching style this year will be a little different than last year. I think we’ve got 11 guys, 12 guys that I could play, that I want to play. We’ll play a little faster, a little more uptempo. I got some guards that could do some things, could shoot the basketball better than some of my teams in the past, so I’m looking forward to it.”
On getting a point guard in the portal:
“It was extremely important. I wanted three, to tell you the truth. I’ll be honest with you, I wanted three guards just because something always seems to happen with us — knock on wood — you know, injuries and stuff like that, so I went out and got three guards that I thought could handle the team when one guard’s down or something like that. That was the number one priority, to go out and get a few guards, and the second thing was shooting.”
On Budd Clark:
“Like I said, it was very important to get a few guards. What Budd brings to the team is he brings…Budd is a winner. He’s a winner and he’s a Philly kid, he’s tough, he plays my style of basketball. He’s fearless, got a chip on his shoulder bigger than anybody I know, and he’s got something to prove. That’s why I love him, the qualities that he’s got. I think he scored a lot last year, but I don’t think you understand how good of a playmaker he is.”
On bringing in experienced players:
“You know what? Last year, I thought obviously, coming off the NIT championship, we finished playing in April or something like that, so the portal had opened in March. So we kind of went after guys with names, like a guy that we missed on and guys that didn’t play that much at so-called bigger schools. This year, I just wanted guys that played a lot more. A lot of experience, a lot of games, did well at their school from a scoring standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, from a team standpoint. I think we went out and got a lot of guys with years of experience. I think that’s gonna help us out.”
On competition between big men:
“I think it’s good, right? We’ve got four big guys, we have Pat (Suemnick), that’s five big guys that are in the rotation. It’s been good. Obviously Steph (Payne) is just coming back from injury, he came back the last couple days. It’s been good. It’s been good to watch, right? Right now, if you ask me who’s starting at center, I don’t know. I think that’s a good thing when you have that problem. That’s a good problem to have. But I think everybody’s progression…young, big fellas, every day getting better and better. Najai (Hines), I thought he would be good for us, but now, watching him every day, I think he could be really good. He just brings a different type of physical presence that we haven’t had in a long time. You look at him like a Eugene Teague from back in the day, but (Teague) was smaller. (Hines is) all of 6-foot-11, grown man type, a player that cares about playing that position. Most big guys want to be wings or guards, he cares about playing that position and I think that’s really good.”
On Hines’ football background helping him:
“A little bit. We gotta get him…yesterday, we had refs come in and we did a scrimmage just to show the guys that I want to be physical, make no mistake about it. I want to be very physical, but sometimes he takes it a little over. It’s good to have that, but now it’s time to kind of push it back a little bit.”
On Jahseem Felton and Godswill Erheriene:
“I just think early on, in the summer, they were here telling guys how it’s gonna be, telling guys about me and my coaching style, what I like, what I don’t like. I see both of them coming along. Godswill was hurt during the summer, so now he’s coming back and trying to get back into it, but it’s a lot of competition. That’s how I wanted it and that’s how it is. And when you talk to these guys today, they’re gonna tell you guys that there’s a lot of competition out there. To me, I’m looking to see who’s gonna rise to the top.”
On what to expect and his message to Seton Hall fans:
“I’m excited, I am. I’m excited about the opportunity just to be back coaching, just to get back. It was a long offseason, a long summer, a frustrating summer. I wasn’t happy with the way things went. So I went to the mindset this summer of just getting back to basics, back to just being who I am, not running by anything else, and just coaching and having fun, bringing a lot of passion and a lot of joy. So I think the message I want to send is this team’s gonna be a joy to watch. Like I said: We’re different, we’re fast, we’re quicker, we got more athletic, and we’re deep. I think when you bring all those things together, now it’s time for me to do my job as a coach and bring it all together.”
On Elijah Fisher’s Big East experience:
“I think for Elijah, it’s good, right? He played in the Big East and averaged ten points per game. I like that with that type of experience, and then he went to Pacific and did really well from an offensive standpoint. So you bring a guy that’s proven he could score at this level, he could play at this level, got the physicality, and then it’s not gonna be easy for him because he’s got Josh (Rivera) and he’s got Jacob (Dar). They burn his tail and they’re battling every day, competing, so it’s gonna be good. Like I said, I’m looking forward to seeing who rises to the top.”
On how he formed this team:
“It was different, right? Obviously a lot of different factors come into it nowadays, a lot of it is a financial thing, right? That’s part of it too, so you just try to get guys that kind of fit you and what you kind of want to do. You gotta be in that budget, and ours is different, right? You’re bringing in 12 guys. A lot of schools probably bring in five or six. We had to bring in 12, so we had to be strategic and smart on guys that you think, ‘okay, I think you could do this, I know we need this.’ I hope I answered your question.”
On vocal leaders:
“I’m still looking. I talk about that every day. We have a lot of seniors, I got a lot of older guys, and to be honest, you don’t have to be able to do that. It could be a young guy, like Najai’s a freshman, but he talks a lot. And when he talks, he makes sense when he talks, so people listen. I’m still looking for that vocal leader. I’ve got a few guys who I think could be, but I’m not giving it to them, they gotta earn it.”
On Seton Hall’s new practice facility:
“It’s great. I mean, it’s a beautiful building. Obviously, you guys got a chance to see our lounge. The players have something to call their own. When you can get people on visits — most guys don’t want to come visit, they just care about the money — but if they want to visit, they come in and look at it like, ‘wow, this is a beautiful building, one of the best out there by far.’ I’ve been a lot of places and this is easily one of the best out there. And then I think it’s a game changer. It was needed, definitely needed. I’m happy with it. All the donors that spent money for it helped. They’ll come around and see that it’s big-time.”
On practicing with a full roster:
“I wouldn’t say enjoyment, but I would say this: It was refreshing to be able to do something this summer with a whole squad and not have myself go out there and do things. I still could, but to me, that’s the start of a good thing, right? Because guys care about their bodies. We’ve got a new trainer, we’ve got a new strength coach, guys are really buying into that part of it. And to me, if you take care of yourself off the court, you take care of yourself on the court. You gotta take care of yourself off the court. Now in practice, you gotta be careful. It’s only four hours in the summer, you get four hours a week, so it’s been a lot of skill work and just preparing things together.”
On the players picking up his system:
“Well, it’s a new system, right? Everything’s new. Everything we’re doing this year is new…new for me, new for them. Obviously, I had a lot of time to think from last spring. During the summer, I went out and watched a lot of practices from all the colleges, people I know, people that I trust, I watched a lot of European basketball. I just want to play a different style because I have a different blend of players. It’s in progress. We’re still step by step. We’re not where I want to be right now. If you ask any coach in October, no one’s where they want to be right now, so I think that’s a good thing.”
On Najai Hines’ expectations:
“I expect him to come in to compete. I don’t want there to be any expectations. But I can tell you this: I’ve been very impressed with the way he’s been practicing, very impressed with the way he’s been carrying himself. He’s like a rock star on campus, like a big teddy bear off the court. On the court, he’s a different type of player. So far, so good.”
On Seton Hall’s new system:
“I just want to play a different style. Obviously, our defense is our staple, but I want to play a little quicker on offense, I want to play a little quicker on defense…different types, not just man-to-man, switching it up and doing a bunch of different things. Like I said, we’ve got a bunch of players and I want to play everybody. Is everybody gonna play? We’ll see. I want to play everybody, but the good thing about having players who can play, for me, is good, so I’m excited about that.”
On other teams changing their styles:
“I don’t worry about other teams. I will tell you this: I remember this, and J will probably remember this because he’s really the only one here that covered the MAAC like that: When I had the same people (at Saint Peter’s), I said I wanted to play 11 guys double-figure minutes. Everybody thought I was crazy, you know? Now everybody’s starting to do it, everything’s a trend, right? So I just kind of want to get back to that, get back to who I am, that staple of basketball that helped me get to Seton Hall.”
On his desired tempo:
“I want to play faster, but I’ll tell you guys the truth: Yesterday, I was telling my coaching staff, ‘man, I don’t know. I want to play faster, but I felt like we played well.’ For me, I get bored quick so I gotta stick with it because I know what type of players we have. You have to play that way in order to be successful. So we’ve been doing this since the summer, and we’re gonna continue to keep doing it. We’ve got two scrimmages coming up. I can’t name them, I know it’s supposed to be secret, but we’ve got two scrimmages coming up, so we’re gonna see how the scrimmages are and kind of make adjustments. But we’ll definitely play faster than last year, for sure, and I think we’re a better shooting team.”
On playing three games at Walsh Gymnasium:
“Great question. I mean, some things are out of your control, right? Obviously, the dates with Prudential, these dates, stuff like that. I think some fans like it. I think two games is good, three games is probably a little stretch. But at this point, we had to do it and I think it’ll be good. I think it’s gonna be a great homecourt advantage. Obviously, playing here is really good. I don’t know, some people look at it as a disadvantage. For us, I think it’s gonna be an advantage.”
On practicing at Walsh before games:
“We’ll try to get in there. Obviously with volleyball and women’s basketball, that’s kind of their main court now since we have this one here, so if we could get in there, we’ll definitely try to get in there, but it’s like anything else. Just make the adjustment.”
On St. John’s and UConn being good for the Big East:
“That’s good for the conference, for sure. I hope both of them can get in the Final Four, along with us. It’s good for the conference. Anytime that we get multiple teams in the Top 5, it’s always good for us. I’m not worried about other teams right now, but to be honest with you, it’s good for the conference, it’s good for headlines and stuff like that. People kind of forget about how important Big East basketball is. This conference is built to last, as you could see. So I think we’re just gonna keep getting better and better. I mean, look at the coaches in this league. You add Coach Willard, you add Richard Pitino. Every night, you’re coaching against somebody that’s really, really good.
On guards rebounding more:
“Yeah, I think we gotta gang rebound for sure. We’ve been practicing it a lot, all five rebounding, especially the guards. If we can rebound, then we can run and get up the court and get in transition. That’s something that we’ve been harping on the whole summer and even now, gang rebounding. And Elijah, we may work with him rebounding more, to tell you the truth. I’m looking at Elijah to be kind of like a Dre Davis-type player. Obviously, Dre was really good for us, so that’s how I’m looking at Elijah.”
On what he was looking for when evaluating players in the portal:
“Character. Character’s important. The character I’m looking at: Do they have the style of play that I like, being like a dog? That word, I gotta be careful with, people don’t like people calling you dogs no more. But, playing with a lot of intensity, being able to defend and shoot. I want them to shoot the ball better this year, and I wanted more athletes. I want to be more athletic, I want to get out and run, and kind of do some things, and then guard play. No disrespect to bigs, bigs are super important, but I think if you’ve got good guards, you’re gonna be in most games.”
On hiring a general manager:
“I think we have three of them already! But you know what? Me and my boss, (Bryan) Felt, we talked about it, something that we were looking into. Some of them were gonna address after the season. Right now, we just want to focus on what we have right now. I think we have a good structure in place, but we’ve been talking about it and that’s something that we’re gonna circle back with for sure.”
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