Basketball/ Senton Hall R2/ Mahon Interview

OK. Heidi if we could just start out first with some of the current members on the team because they now are seniors. I'm specifically thinking about Callan drilling and when they came here four years ago it was considered to be a great recruiting coup. For see. Great Expectations. Finally it seems like things are falling into place. Any reasons why. Well. You know there are seniors now and they should be. Dominating our end of it as far as Seton Hall is concerned and they have shown the leadership that they have to show with the young players that we have. Certainly if you look at the three other years of those boys have played they've done a great job. The big ace in scoring two years ago and he had a good average last year McNeil has played well for three years so I think they've performed excellently for the three years that they have been here and so far this year they're doing a fabulous job. The. Same players is a maybe and the coaching change has made a

difference in the quality of the team with a good start that you've had. Well you know I don't know about that. Certainly I do things a little bit different than Billy does and possibly the way I handle him in practice is different and Billy does but. I think it's just the fact that you know we we've we've played well in the beginning and we we did a had a great game against Houston I think that build their confidence up an awful lot. And we've struggled against Manhattan in Providence but we came out as winners so I don't know what the exact reason is but I'm sure happy with the results. Thank you. How was the transition then from one coast to another that's got to be a little bit of an awkward situation and you've got about a month now or so under your belt. How was the transition from one coach to another thing going. Well that's been no problem at all. We worked hard from the very first day in practice and certainly the results have shown that there has been no problem. Billy's been great as far as the thing

goes because he hasn't interfered one bit he's he's tried to stay away from. The games he has been at games but he hasn't been outwardly at the games. So I really appreciate that from him. And so I think that the transition's been terrific. Last couple of years thinking this time all the talk around the country is one of the best conferences certain the best companies in the east Nobody denies that. C. Hall however looks like they finally maybe will make a move to be a contender. Be that as it may already we don't have to necessarily touch on that. But I would like to ask you is in general terms in terms of the program here. What has to happen for Seton Hall to start or to continue to be a contender in the Big East. Well we have to retain the best players in Jersey I think is the biggest the first thing we have to start with and I certainly hope that you know with the exposure that we're getting with the TV and with the Meadowlands and with the.

With the Big East itself that we're going to we we saw the results last year where we're starting to get a few better players or we're in longer with them. So I hope that this year if we could continue going well we can we can salvage some of the the best players not that we haven't gotten the best some of the best we haven't gotten the exact blue chippers most of the time and if we can just get one or two of those. You know we could be what the pawn turned out to be five years ago or six years ago the way they got back into it so quickly. So that's what I'm looking forward to. I know a lot of the coaches in New Jersey because I was on the high school level for many years and I think that the my relationship with them can help us get players fired. I talked to the president about some of the not cosmetic changes but the fact that there had been talk about maybe building a new facility here although that seems to be on the back burner because of the Meadowlands complex and if you can play some games there all the time. Hopefully all the time. But I'm thinking more in terms of is that when you think of the other big east coast

like Georgetown like Villanova D.C. Syracuse etc. they have better. Call it whatever you want to call it facilities in terms of training and things of that nature. Is that something and and Dr. D'Alessio said that they are looking. That's an important aspect of the overall picture here. How do you look at things that are those things necessary to build up the program. Well sure they're necessary and there's no doubt about it. We all would like to have. The best facilities but I understand Seton Hall situation here and I realize that it's not. Practical of for them to put up a huge gymnasium just for basketball right at this point. Maybe at a future day that's a possibility but I think that there are things that we could use here before we need that facility. Certainly training room and and so they can be improved and we are working on it. I'm sure when the money is found they're going to put an end to it as soon as they can because they are into this big east and they have made the commitment to it and now it's just a matter of time as

far as getting a few more dollars and into the till. And I'm sure the Seton Hall will have. Exactly what we would like to have. There were other schools in the Big East that don't have it any more than we have so they're competing we're competing and we just hope that it will just keep improving gradually. Fine if we could turn a little bit to the what I think is an unusual situation here with a coach who was well liked and had done a good job here for many years. You were the assistant of course here under him speaking obviously about the Raftery leaves before the start of the season not a month not two months but literally a few weeks before the start of the season and you obviously that hasn't been that much of a problem in terms of the transition as you mentioned earlier. But Heidi if you could just maybe philosophize for me or just talk to me a little bit about. What kind of what you as an individual are going through this year this season knowing. That. It's almost like a MUST

NOT a must win situation but certainly you have to think in terms of a must win season. If you want to be a leading or the number 1 candidate for the job next year this is a long way of saying what goes through what. What are you dealing with in terms of your own make up this year. When I'm dealing with is a fact that I've been in coaching just as a coach not as a player but I've been in coaching since 1958. That's 23 years for what it's come down to is that if I don't produce this year I could be out of coaching after 23 years so it's very difficult that way because I don't want to get out of coaching. I enjoy it and that's why I stayed as an assistant college for so long. But. I'm still rational enough to be able to accept that it enjoyed the fact that I do have this opportunity this year to prove it. Going into the season I didn't expect that I would be the head coach when Billy resigned I certainly was surprised like everyone else with the bill he was leading but in that surprise I also was delighted that I was going to have the opportunity to have my shot.

And so it's been going great so far and I'm enjoying every bit of it and I just hope that we can continue to improve as a team and spring some more upsets through the year. There's no guarantees on that. We play a lot of great teams and a lot of the great teams we're going to play we still have to face so. You know we're going to work in a one game at a time and see what we can do and if the good Lord is with me I'll be back here next year certainly again as I said previously my application is going to be the first one there and I certainly hope that I get. As much consideration as a search committee could possibly get. So it's fair to say Heidi that obviously you'd have to feel some pressure not necessarily every single minute of the day or every day or every week but it's a it's a thing you can't think about that much obviously because if you thought about security you thought about the pressure. You couldn't deal with the current situation that is winning basketball games but

is it fair to say that the pressure is there. Sure the pressure is there but the security here. You know when you're when I was with Billy for the 10 years I had a one year contract each year. So as far as security went there was no security there. When I left Orange High School and went into college coaching I had tenure. I wasn't getting any tenure when I went to Fordham University as a freshman coach. I left that. And so I have never worried about tenure certainly as you get older you should think about those things but you know if you want to do something that you love that much then you've got to make some sacrifices. I've made the My family has made them and I'm happy with the situation right now. We've just about got to ask you this. I'm sure you've been asked this to your five you know now you ever thought about maybe asking right now you're doing so well what more do you have to prove. Give me the new contract right now. I've thought about it but if I could ever come back from the Kentucky throwing would be seven in all

I'd surely consider walking in there but. I don't know if I would be able to rush them or not I'd sure like to rush them and they say we don't need a search committee and let's hire How do you know. Because you can do the job. There's a possibility that they could think that way too. Is no reason that we should think that they must go to the search committee I guess. You know they have done it in many other schools where they've stayed right with the assistant coach so I hope that I can change their minds certainly at a closer period of time and they think they're going to need to hire a coach. It's fine I appreciate the opportunity talking to you. That's that's about it. Gentleman Yeah I would if you could just the Kraft thing I'm going to ask you one of these questions and I don't really need a response from you. Okay. But. No. No. I'm So I think. So. I know you're in a difficult situation here. Coming into a. Coaching

transition so to speak. Is this affected you overall at all the president said to me this morning what's in your five year plan. I just take it. So there's no problem with that sort of the problem is that answer I'd get would you want me to do that. Oh sorry. You're coming into a difficult situation going from one coach leaving right before the start of the season. How if you would just get to this situation overall we should really have done a terrible job. I feel like a kid. So I really going to have to. I think I'll probably resign this weekend before that before I can talk it over with and then you come back Sunday. That's right that's right is beautiful and I you know I couldn't agree more. We always want to be wanted to say OK I'm going to do another question. OK. The Big East is one of the best turn of the Big East is one of the best conferences in the country.

Everybody recognizes that. What has to happen here at Seton Hall for you guys to be a contender in the cut. Well they have to blow up this building. OK I got I got I got to go. I guess I'll tell you what they are so good you're making me laugh. You know really I beg you I need to be just for a few seconds just a little bit serious when you're asked but I want to ask that question again that was a good because you get a very good answer to that at the recruiting business. Everybody recognizes the Big East that's one of the best conferences in the country here to be a contender over the next few years. Well what I probably needed about $200000 slush fund. Right. Go out and buy five players. Besides that we've got to get him Karzai. There's just no way isn't a player should come to our

campus without a new Camaro. And then besides that you know I get a lot of broads as they were brought here. That's the only cutaway questions I'm going to use I just want to get a few odds with some serious intellectual talk. Really what you're talking the talk to anything you want to talk about. My major in college was economics. I was going to be a lawyer. You say like a fool I decide to become a basketball 23. Ron is this a two shot situation. OK. A little bit. It's. Been in it. No I can do it honestly and. Can understand why did you think of going outside yourself. But. On a basic it was out of recruiting feel satisfied that we got players. I think we have got good players. We haven't gotten the same. As most teams in the

country haven't gotten a real good sense. So I think if we could come up with us and like really felt like Richie felt you know as Phelps and Walter do you know come up with a legitimate since there's no reason why we can't be competitive with everyone else liquor. But. We're not easy to get. To work on every year. There are still comes down the North Carolina grabs and grabs talky grabs and we've got an abundance of. The smaller guys are stuck playing with 6 6 6 7 centers or 6 9 or 10 guys that are really really good. I think that's plenty. I hope you get.