On Chris Nwuli and potentially adding last year’s seniors back:
“It’s kind of crazy right now. First off, I just wanted to add — I know Adam texted me about this earlier, I just wanted to add about Chris (Nwuli) — Chris is a young man that we brought in, Adam. Jerry, I know it’s your question, but Adam texted me a long time ago about this question and it kind of goes with what you’re asking me right now. We brought Chris in, Chris has some issues that he’s gotta handle back home. I don’t want to get into it, he’s got some personal issues that he’s gotta handle, so I thought it was best that he went and handled that, so Chris will not be a part of our program this year, and that’s all I can talk about there. He’s just got some personal issues that he’s gotta iron out, and that’s kind of where that’s at, Adam.”
“Jerry, your question: Yeah, it’s crazy right now, Jerry. I don’t know. I had a meeting yesterday with our compliance about an hour and a half, trying to figure it out because it’s changing so much. Every day, it’s something different. I get some different information about this, that, this, that, so I don’t know where that’s at right now, but I’ll let you know right now: Everything’s on the table. We’re exploring everything from that, overseas, all types of stuff. Our roster right now, we have 11 guys here this summer, the guys worked their tails off. Nathan (Mariano), we’re still waiting on him, our G League kid…I have no idea where that’s at. It’s been almost two months and every time we come back, the NCAA keeps asking for more information. You give them information and they keep asking for more, so I have no idea where that stands. (Mihailo) Petrovic, same thing, kind of waiting on his status with the visa and stuff like that, but our 11 guys that we had here had a good summer. The thing that I’m excited about the most, Jerry, is that we’ve got so much room to grow. Sometimes you have a group and they kind of max out, but this group, I think has so much room to grow and I’m excited about that.”
On any of last year’s seniors rejoining the program:
“I don’t know, right? I don’t know where those things are at with lawsuits and stuff like that, I have no idea. I’m not ruling anything out because I have no idea what’s gonna happen in the next couple weeks, days, hours. Those guys played a big part in our season last year. I’ve been in contact with two of them, they’ve been keeping contact with me this summer, just checking on them to see how they’re doing and stuff like that, but yeah, I don’t know, Jerry. Like I said, with this lawsuit, we’re gonna look at things and see who’s out there if things go through, and see who’s the best fit for what we’re trying to do here.”
On Seton Hall’s frontcourt and it being a priority:
“Yeah, so Adam, just to be transparent, we’ve got a bunch of guys and we have two guys right now that are on the cusp of if we’re gonna take them or not. They’re power forwards from Europe, so now we just gotta figure out what we’re gonna do with them and stuff like that. So we have options. I know everybody keeps calling me and telling me about my frontcourt, I’m like, ‘man, we’re taller now than we were last year,’ so I don’t know why people could say our frontcourt is weak, I don’t understand that. But yeah, so we have obviously Devin Williams, (Abdulai Fanta) Kabba, and also Terry Copeland. Those three guys have been here, along with Mayar Wol, so those are the guys that have kind of been here this summer. We’ve kind of been going small ball and big ball, we’re probably playing Devin at the four some as well, so I think no matter what, we’re gonna be okay. We’re definitely looking to add though, Adam.”
On Seton Hall’s backcourt and having three playmaking guards in Del Jones, Simeon Wilcher and Roddie Anderson, and a similarity to 2023-24:
“I don’t want to put no pressure on those guys. Kadary, Al and Dylan were really, really, really good for us, and those were really good players. I wish I had those guys back, but you know what? The guys that we brought in had a solid summer. We just gotta teach them what I want, right? Some guys have kind of been in the system for a couple years, but yeah, we’ve got some playmakers. I’ve got guys who could playmake and make shots and touch the paint, that’s kind of one of my big things this year, touching the paint. We’ve got some shooters, so I hope that those three guys could be the playmakers that I think they could be. I’m looking for them guys to score, though. I want to score the ball a little bit more this year.”
On Seton Hall’s depth and an 11 or 12-man rotation:
“Like I said, this year, we have 11 so far and we’re adding some more pieces. I think last year, we were pretty deep. I think I played 11 guys last year, it’s just on a nightly basis, who’s got it going, right? Like, I want competition. Last year, obviously Budd Clark had a good year for us and Trey was more of a combo. I didn’t want just one point guard dominating, I wanted a few of them, so I thought we did that this year with bringing a few guys in because I like the competition. I think competition brings out the best in everybody.”
On Wilcher, his potential, and returning to New Jersey:
“That’s a two-part answer, Adam. I don’t think it’s fair, obviously going to St. John’s where they had a stacked backcourt when he went there, bringing Kadary in, and the year before Kadary, they had (Daniss) Jenkins, right? So he played with two pros in front of him, and then last year, whatever happened at Texas. This year, I’m just working on Sim from the shoulders up. Sim is a guy that is a very loyal guy. If Sim believes that you believe in him, you’re gonna get the best out of Sim, right? I’m obviously showing him that and trying to give him his confidence back. I thought last year, he lost his confidence a little bit, so this year I’m just working on his confidence and getting his motor back to where I think it could be. I think Sim could be a very good basketball player for us. I’m happy to have him, he’s a local kid, he’s happy to be here. Yes, to answer your question, I recruited him out of high school, I really wanted him. I’m looking forward to big things for Sim. Adam, I’ll be honest with you: I think Sim could be (Big East) Defensive Player of the Year with his size and length. He has all the tools to be a lockdown defender, along with a good offensive player.”
On Seton Hall’s health:
“Yeah, (Devin Williams) toward the last two weeks before practice ended, he kind of strained a calf muscle. I’ll be honest with you, I had a couple guys with ankle stuff. Actually, it’s the first time in my career — I think I’m getting smarter as I’m getting older — it’s the first time in my coaching career that I shut down practice early because towards the last week of practice, guys started dropping with ankle injuries and stuff like that. I think it was a long six, seven-and-a-half weeks, guys were getting antsy, ready to go, so I kind of shut it down. They got three weeks off and it rejuvenated their comeback, so from a health issue, everybody’s good. (Williams) just had a calf strain.”
On managing a high-major program in today’s landscape:
“It’s very tough, very tough. I’ll be honest with you guys: For me, since I’ve been here, each year I’m bringing in eight, nine guys. I don’t know if that’s good for my health or not, but I’ll be honest with you, it’s tough. Jerry, it’s tough because you have no idea what’s going on. It changes so much, I mean, it changes every freaking week or every month, so you have no idea what next week’s even gonna look like, right? You have a bunch of rumors about this, that, you’ve got guys with five years, you’ve got guys transferring anytime they want. It’s just, for a coach, the unknown is not very good, and right now, it’s unknown. But we can’t complain, we can’t do anything. You’ve just gotta roll with the punches, adapt to it and continue to keep believing in what you do.”
On Seton Hall’s financial commitment to basketball:
“I mean, we’re in a situation obviously, you look across college basketball, the way this thing is going, it’s pretty scary. I thought the school, we did what we could do. Obviously, we know who we are and kind of where we are, right? I thought the school put their best foot forward to try. Obviously as a coach, you want more, you need more. Like I said, the school tried, they put their best foot forward with what they could do, but I look at what teams in our league are doing, man, we’ve got some ways to go. We do. And I don’t want to sound like I’m not appreciative of what the school did, I’m definitely appreciative, but I know where we are and I know where other teams are in our league. We’ve just gotta continue to keep moving forward and that’s all I’m gonna say about that. I’m not gonna get too much into that. If you try to get into that, sometimes guys start printing things that I didn’t say, and I don’t want that to come out.”
On Budd Clark and Najai Hines transferring, and the way this past season ended:
“Let me take you guys back after that St. John’s loss in the Big East tournament. I gave these guys a day or two to get their mind right. It was a disappointing loss, St. John’s played extremely well, I don’t think we played great. I got a call, obviously a couple leagues wanted us in the postseason. Obviously because we’re affiliated with Fox, we had to play in the Crown, which I was looking forward to. I thought it would have been very good for our guys for a lot of reasons, one for the seniors, two because these guys love money so much, they had an opportunity to win some money, right? Everybody’s in love with money so much, and three, the guys have another opportunity to play and showcase their talent on the platform against different talent. So I’m disappointed in that the guys chose not to play. I didn’t want to make them play because I did that my first year here in the NIT, and I thought we went out and didn’t play well, and it kind of took away from the season we had. So I didn’t want to take away from that, but I want to be on record that I was disappointed that the guys didn’t want to play. I almost made them play, but then guys were saying that they were hurting and stuff like that, so that was disappointing.”
“We had some time, I thought some guys were coming back, I did, Adam, to tell you the truth. I thought we had some good conversations with guys and we had a good package for a couple of guys, and guys told me that they were gonna come back and then at the end of the day, they had to choose what was best for them. But it’s part of the game right now. You can’t get disappointed, you can’t be upset, you can’t catch feelings. I tell people all the time to fall in love with the name in front of the jersey, not the back. The front is not going anywhere, the back of the jersey is changing so much. But yeah, those guys did what they had to do, what was best for them and their families. We all moved on, and now I’ve moved on with a new team.”
On potential returning fifth-year players:
“The same thoughts you have. It’s crazy, it is. I don’t know if you could put any words to it, it’s just…think about where we are right now. Every kid’s goal is to make the NBA. That’s every kid’s goal, to play professional basketball. You’ve got guys that are turning that down and coming back to try to play in college, that shows you where we’re at right now with our sport. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, I’ll be honest with you. I think to certain people, it’s good because some people would say college basketball is very competitive. We had a call about it and a lot of our donors don’t like where it’s at, and I don’t blame them, right? You’ve gotta adjust and change, but you also still love the game for what it should be, and that’s young men getting a great education, getting a great experience. And they’re able to make some money? Cool! But, man, it’s somewhere that no one ever thought it would be.”
On Dillon Mitchell potentially returning to St. John’s after being drafted by the Boston Celtics:
“Man, you on that one, ain’t you? Listen, man, that young fella, whoever he is that you’re talking about, I don’t know.”
Adam Zagoria: “He played for St. John’s, I’ll put it that way.”
Sha: “I know who you’re talking about, man! I know exactly who you’re talking about. But yeah, I don’t know, man. If it was me, personally, and I had a chance to play in the NBA — obviously that’s always been my goal — but I can’t tell the next man what to do, right? So I don’t want to sit here and act like I’ve got all the answers or try to judge somebody. I can’t judge anyone. If that’s what these young men want to do and they have the opportunity to do it, I guess they’re exploring it.”
On the non-conference schedule:
“I thought it was good. I wanted to challenge ourselves. I know the last two years, two out of three years, I thought we should have been in the NCAA Tournament easily, but for whatever reason, people were talking about the conference or the non-conference schedule. Even last year, I can’t foresee — when we played North Carolina State, obviously they were (No.) 20-something and we beat them. When USC beat us, they were like (No.) 18, when we beat Kansas State, it was a Quad 1 win. You can’t foresee how things are gonna play out, right? So you go and try to challenge yourself again. I thought going to Alabama was really good for us because they’re coming back to us next year, obviously Kansas State coming to us this year, going to Rutgers, all those teams, I think, are gonna be very improved, then going out to The Bahamas, man! You’ve got Wisconsin, you’ve got North Carolina State, you’ve got us and I keep hearing about a fourth team, it keeps changing so I don’t know who that’s gonna be. I think I can give you an update on some new teams, I don’t know if it’s signed or stuff like that, but you guys have been gracious enough to get on this zoom, so I should give you guys something that’s not out there yet. So we’ve got an exhibition this year at Monmouth, that we’re gonna play at Monmouth October 24. We’re doing that to help raise some money for us (and) for them, and the reason that the game is there is they just have a bigger arena than ours. Obviously, Walsh is great to play in, but it’s like 1,200 (people). Monmouth’s got like, 4,500, plus we’ve got a bunch of fans in that area for that. And we’re supposed to be playing a scrimmage against Boston College and a scrimmage against VCU, then we’ve got what’s really gonna be a good game for us. We’ve kind of ironed out the stuff, I don’t know…”
Jerry Carino: “You talking about the Palestra game?”
Sha: “This guy Jerry knows everything! This dude is supposed to be on vacation and knows everything! I always knew you had a plug inside the university, Jerry! Yeah, it’s a game at The Palestra. I don’t want to say the game because it’s not finalized yet and I’m trying to get some stuff done, but we’re playing at The Palestra this year in a neutral-site game, and then all other games as far as non-conference are out there already, if I’m not mistaken.”
Zagoria: “Is that against a Philadelphia-area team at The Palestra, like a Big 5 team?”
Sha: “Man, I just said I can’t say it, and my guy Adam’s gonna keep trying to…no, it’s not against a Philadelphia team. That I could tell you, it’s not. It’s there, though, it’s a doubleheader and I know Philadelphia teams are playing in it. I don’t know what teams, but it’s a doubleheader. I can’t tell you what team it is right now.”
On a timeframe for potential returning seniors to make a decision:
“Man, Adam, man, jeez! I said I don’t know about those guys, I don’t even know if those seniors are gonna get cleared. I don’t know anything! I haven’t talked to those guys about the opportunity to come back here at all, to tell you the truth. I talked to two of them to see how they’re doing and make sure they’re doing well and stuff like that in their careers, but I haven’t talked to those guys. But we are gonna fill a roster with at least two to three more people, that I could tell you, and that’s for sure. Obviously it’s gonna be another frontcourt person, obviously you guys know about Petrovic coming in once that gets all settled, and then we’ll kind of go from there. But yeah, we had a good summer, guys are excited to be here, I’m excited about them. I thought the guys that were here improved, got better, and like I said, I’m excited because I think we could get so much better. That’s what I’m really excited about. One true freshman, and I thought he came in and I thought he held his own, the kid Payday (Darien Moore). I was really, really excited about him this summer. For him to be a freshman and everybody else to be upperclassmen, he came in and held his own, so I was excited about that.”
On being picked toward the bottom of the Big East:
“It’s what it is, baby! It’s what it is, my guy! You know what I mean, big dawg? It’s what it is. It’s people’s opinions, it’s what all these experts think they know, they ain’t been in my gym, they ain’t been watching us, you know what I mean? Listen, all I could tell you is this: Seton Hall is gonna do what Seton Hall do. We’re gonna go out there, we’re gonna battle, we’re gonna scratch, we’re gonna claw, we’re gonna fight. This year, I’ve got some guys who could put the ball in the hoop and shoot the basketball, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m looking forward to our fans being happy with the guys we’re bringing in, and they’re all good character guys. That’s what I’m really excited about.”
Leave a Reply