Kori Ellis
12-23-2005, 02:41 AM
P.J. TALK FILLS HALL
By TIM SULLIVAN
http://www.nypost.com/sports/59340.htm
With speculation abound that Seton Hall coach Louis Orr is in his final season and new athletic director Joe Quinlan in need of hitting a home run as he tries to rebuild and reinvigorate the struggling program, there are rumblings that the school may go after the ever-popular P.J. Carlesimo.
Now an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, Carlesimo, a 1971 Fordham graduate, led the Pirates to the 1989 national championship game and went 212-166 from 1982-94 before embarking on a 12-year NBA career that included two head-coaching stints.
He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2002 and will return Feb. 9 to help induct one of his former players, Ramon Ramos. Of course, nothing is likely to happen prior to that ceremony. And to be fair, there isn't a position to be filled.
But if there was . . .
"I really haven't thought about it much," Carlesimo, 56, told The Post Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. "I loved it at Seton Hall. The 12 years I had there, I don't think I can be happier than I was when I was at Seton Hall. I'm in the pros now, and I'm very happy here, too.
"But, in the future, who knows what will happen."
For Seton Hall, it's the present that's the problem. In a monstrous, 20,029-seat building already famous for empty seats even when pros play, the Pirates seem to be performing in front of vendors. They are averaging just 5,046 at the Meadowlands.
To be just, The Hall (6-3) hasn't given much incentive to flock to the Swamp. Home or away, it's struggling against quality competition. The Pirates have played three opponents from major conferences — Duke (ACC), Richmond (A-10) and Northwestern (Big Ten) — and lost to all three.
"It's a tough time there," said ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, a Seton Hall alum.
It wasn't always that way. It may seem hard to imagine now, but the Continental Arena used to be home to frenzied college basketball.
There was a time when it rocked for the home team and not just a neutral game like Duke-Texas; a time when even the upper deck was loud and proud of the Pirates; a time when it was actually named after a governor — Brendan Byrne — and not an airline.
That was Carlesimo's time. And it once appeared about as long gone as the short shorts his players used to wear.
"We evaluate every coach during every season," Quinlan told The Post. "We're doing nothing different than we normally do."
But with a brutal Big East schedule and only two seniors — Donald Copeland and Kelly Whitney — to rely on, Orr has some work to do.
"I don't take anything for granted," Orr told The Post before the season. "I focus on the truth, not what people say."
Orr was named the 2003 Big East Coach of the Year and then led the Pirates to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2004, before going 12-16 last season — the second 12-win campaign of his five-year Hall career.
Quinlan, hired Sept. 26, has ties to Carlesimo. The two worked together in South Orange from 1986-89.
"From the moment I came to work here," Quinlan said, "the respect that I had for him was immediate."
Part of that, of course, had to do with Carlesimo's recruiting excellence. He was able to keep ballyhooed New Jersey products like Terry Dehere and Danny Hurley in state.
"I miss the interaction with the people. I really enjoyed that aspect of recruiting," Carlesimo said. "Because you were selling your school, your program and the Big East Conference."
There's still time for him to do it again.
"He is a coach that gets results," Quinlan said. "And I'll say this, that was always something that was very, very impressive to me.
"Having said that," he added, "we have a basketball coach."
For now.
By TIM SULLIVAN
http://www.nypost.com/sports/59340.htm
With speculation abound that Seton Hall coach Louis Orr is in his final season and new athletic director Joe Quinlan in need of hitting a home run as he tries to rebuild and reinvigorate the struggling program, there are rumblings that the school may go after the ever-popular P.J. Carlesimo.
Now an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, Carlesimo, a 1971 Fordham graduate, led the Pirates to the 1989 national championship game and went 212-166 from 1982-94 before embarking on a 12-year NBA career that included two head-coaching stints.
He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2002 and will return Feb. 9 to help induct one of his former players, Ramon Ramos. Of course, nothing is likely to happen prior to that ceremony. And to be fair, there isn't a position to be filled.
But if there was . . .
"I really haven't thought about it much," Carlesimo, 56, told The Post Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. "I loved it at Seton Hall. The 12 years I had there, I don't think I can be happier than I was when I was at Seton Hall. I'm in the pros now, and I'm very happy here, too.
"But, in the future, who knows what will happen."
For Seton Hall, it's the present that's the problem. In a monstrous, 20,029-seat building already famous for empty seats even when pros play, the Pirates seem to be performing in front of vendors. They are averaging just 5,046 at the Meadowlands.
To be just, The Hall (6-3) hasn't given much incentive to flock to the Swamp. Home or away, it's struggling against quality competition. The Pirates have played three opponents from major conferences — Duke (ACC), Richmond (A-10) and Northwestern (Big Ten) — and lost to all three.
"It's a tough time there," said ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, a Seton Hall alum.
It wasn't always that way. It may seem hard to imagine now, but the Continental Arena used to be home to frenzied college basketball.
There was a time when it rocked for the home team and not just a neutral game like Duke-Texas; a time when even the upper deck was loud and proud of the Pirates; a time when it was actually named after a governor — Brendan Byrne — and not an airline.
That was Carlesimo's time. And it once appeared about as long gone as the short shorts his players used to wear.
"We evaluate every coach during every season," Quinlan told The Post. "We're doing nothing different than we normally do."
But with a brutal Big East schedule and only two seniors — Donald Copeland and Kelly Whitney — to rely on, Orr has some work to do.
"I don't take anything for granted," Orr told The Post before the season. "I focus on the truth, not what people say."
Orr was named the 2003 Big East Coach of the Year and then led the Pirates to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2004, before going 12-16 last season — the second 12-win campaign of his five-year Hall career.
Quinlan, hired Sept. 26, has ties to Carlesimo. The two worked together in South Orange from 1986-89.
"From the moment I came to work here," Quinlan said, "the respect that I had for him was immediate."
Part of that, of course, had to do with Carlesimo's recruiting excellence. He was able to keep ballyhooed New Jersey products like Terry Dehere and Danny Hurley in state.
"I miss the interaction with the people. I really enjoyed that aspect of recruiting," Carlesimo said. "Because you were selling your school, your program and the Big East Conference."
There's still time for him to do it again.
"He is a coach that gets results," Quinlan said. "And I'll say this, that was always something that was very, very impressive to me.
"Having said that," he added, "we have a basketball coach."
For now.