Frank The Tank | Frank Walks
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00:00All right I'm standing here on the campus of Seton Hall University you know
00:05the Pirates just won the NIT should have been in the NCAA tournament but they
00:10showed just how good they are by winning the NIT and I'm about to go on a walk
00:14with their coach Shaheen Holloway you know Seton Hall means a lot to me a lot
00:20of people may not notice but my grandfather's cousin Monsignor Edward
00:25Fleming was once president of Seton Hall and worked to save the basketball
00:34program when it was going through a crisis and the reason why there's a
00:39division one program at Seton Hall is a lot to do with Monsignor Fleming and he
00:46was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986 so we'll
00:51get ready to walk with Shaheen Holloway so join along as we go on a beautiful
00:55day here in South Orange New Jersey on the campus of Seton Hall I'm here joined
01:13by Shaheen Holloway who's coming off a great performance in NIT second time
01:19Seton Hall's won the NIT championship I mean they should have been in the big
01:24dance but they made the most of it they made the best of it by winning the NIT
01:28and well thank you for joining me on this walk. I'm super excited about it man
01:32I'm super excited about the opportunity great I'm having a bunch of great things
01:37about the walk and I know you're a lot of great people and now it's time for Mons.
01:41Yeah I mean obviously the team was disappointed yes by this the committee
01:47who just had their heads up when the sun don't shine I mean I can't say that but
01:54you can yes I can but I mean Seton Hall I mean I just think about this you beat
02:04UConn this year yep I don't care who was banged up in that game you beat UConn
02:11yep and UConn went through the NCAA tournament like a tank there was no drama when UConn was
02:20on the court this year in the NCAA tournament and Seton Hall beat UConn and that just tells
02:27you the quality of basketball this team played this year and they weren't at the beginning of the season
02:34the forecast is bleak but this team came out and battled every night and had a great season
02:45and showed themselves just how great they are by winning the NIT now obviously the team was
02:52disappointed how are you able to focus them to win the NIT you know what you know it all
02:59comes down to culture right the culture of your program you know it all starts at the top
03:04you know it's this leadership right and you know I think the players understood that we got a raw
03:12deal right but at the same time you know when you're very competitive and you love this game
03:18of basketball you know we had a couple guys that were seniors that wanted to keep playing you know
03:23I left it to the guys on the team that they wanted to play and they wanted to play and I
03:27said fellas if we're gonna play then we're gonna try to win this whole game you know I think we
03:31came out with the mindset of of that and you know the first game was very challenging to be honest
03:36with you extremely challenging but once we got past the first game I think we got a rhythm back
03:42it kind of got back yeah I know I noticed that the first game was the toughest and then then you
03:46got to the final four and basically as the tournament was going on you're winning these
03:52games easily I mean Georgia you know you that game you're up 20 most of the time and then the
03:59championship game was a back-and-forth battle a road game yes you're playing in Indiana it was
04:05epic yeah it was epic for sure and it was elite you know but I thought it started you know after
04:11the st. Joe's game I think everybody kind of got the monkey off their back right we kind of stopped
04:17feeling sorry for ourselves that we didn't make the tournament I thought we came in good North
04:22Texas team who was really good who beat some really good teams and we kind of beat them you
04:26know I won't say easy but we kind of beat them and then we beat a really really good UNLV team
04:31but I would tell you this you gotta get credit where credit is due. Walsh Gym was elite and by me
04:41elite it was elite it was unbelievable playing in Walsh Gym I mean it was like maybe I don't know
04:46like 1,500 fans but it felt like it was 20,000 fans. Oh yeah the atmosphere
04:51I was just watching on home watching these games and the way they kept battling back in every
04:59game like the first game you can understand it there's a little bit of a letdown if you
05:03ever notice the bigger schools that's always the program they get picked off in the United States.
05:09Absolutely quick fast yeah right so look at the teams in the biggies that got knocked off right
05:13Villanova lost Providence lost and I'll be honest you know I think I think as much as I love the
05:21Prudential Center I do love it a lot but I think if we play that st. Joe's game at the Prudential
05:26Center we lose. I'm gonna tell you why because the guys mind wasn't really into it but the fans
05:30really really rally behind us and kind of guys really psyching into it. And then the championship
05:36game that game went back and forth all game long you had it lead they closed the first half on a
05:43run yeah then you had the second half was back and forth and then they went up seven yeah and you
05:49closed in a 9-0 run to win that championship. Well I think you know it was something that we
05:56did the whole year right the whole year we kind of did things like that you know and I thought you
06:01know you know they went up seven with like two minutes left in the game two-thirty something
06:05like that I call a timeout and I say everybody relax we've been here before you know let's get
06:10our composure I thought we got our composure we had the guys made some big plays Qadari made a
06:15big play, Al made a big shot, Drake made a big shot and those three guys carried the whole year
06:19and we got right back into the game. I mean that was terrific and I and I and I hope that they give
06:26you guys a banner. They deserve to hang a banner for this. You know what I think I think they will
06:31right I think just because you know something that that was done that hasn't been done in a
06:35long time. I mean think about it I think 1953 the last time. 1953 the last time and it was a different
06:41sport back then. You know what back then the NIT was the NCAA tournament. Yeah the NIT and the NCAA
06:47people don't realize this at one time we're almost on par and some people said the NIT was better
06:52at the Garden. Yeah it was you know and I'll be honest with you I'm surprised that they took it away from the Garden.
06:58Yeah. I mean don't get me wrong the atmosphere in the atmosphere was big time but the Garden is the Garden.
07:05Hey Frank, there you go. Maybe when I come back. I tell you what, if it was at the Garden I would have been there for sure.
07:29Yeah, I thought you was coming down to Indiana or whatever. Scheduling. That's a great, I like that one.
07:37That's a great one. Scheduling. I had too much, I had walks I had to do. That's good that's good.
07:42Speaking of that, you got to be super excited for yourself man. Yeah. You know doing these walks and
07:47you know I heard all the pounding that you lost and just you're inspiring. You're inspiring a lot of people to want to do a lot of things.
07:52Thanks. Man don't take that light. That's that's that's big time. That's big time so I want to give you
07:58a hand for that man. Well thanks a lot. It's inspiring. I mean it I didn't it didn't start out
08:05like that way but it just it just grew it just grown and grown and grown it's become a movement.
08:10I mean I can't believe that guys come up to me saying that they're inspiring. I'm inspiring them.
08:15It's it's it's amazing. There's this guy we met that we walked with. Yep. Don, Don Gilbert. Yep.
08:24And he's battling cancer. Oh wow. And he says that he was bedridden and he started to watch me walk
08:33and it inspired him to get on his feet a little bit and start moving around and this guy is this
08:40guy's battling every day. And the fact that I'm getting him moving is something. That's an
08:49unbelievable story. So you know with that being said don't take you know your platform lightly.
08:55No. You know and I started realizing that the last couple years being back here. You know some things
09:00we say some things we do doesn't realize the impact that we have on people. And what you're
09:06doing and for a guy like that to say that it's super inspiring. Now before that now as a play as
09:14a coach. Yep. Do you I was able to reach these players better knowing it you played the game. I
09:21think so. I think that you know the guys can relate to me. I can relate to them. You know I
09:27understand what they're going through because I've been in their shoes. Right. And especially for me
09:33I'm a players coach. Right. So for example when guys come to the timeouts or huddles sometimes
09:39I ask the guys what you guys see out there. Because you guys on the court like what do you guys see that
09:45that we're not doing or if we're doing something wrong then maybe we need to do this. And I think
09:49that you know that kind of goes a long way. I mean the one thing that I don't know how
09:55many people actually notice but 1996. Best class in the country. You played in the McDonald's
10:03all-american game. Yep. And you're on the same team as Kobe Bryant. How about that. And you were named the
10:09game's most valuable player. Yeah. What was that like to play with Kobe one and two win the MVP of
10:17that game. You know what like to my players I'll never really talk about myself because it's not
10:23about me but you know to tell you the truth that was a tremendous honor. It was. I mean if you look at all the
10:29guys that was on that game. I mean we had about in that McDonald's game alone we had about I would say
10:3620 something pros in that game alone. So I'm just gonna name a few. Right. So think about you had
10:41God bless the day Kobe Bryant. You had Tim Thomas. You had Mike Beavitt. You had Steven Jackson. You had Rip
10:50Hamilton. You had Jermaine O'Neal. You know Corey Benjamin. Martin Cleese. I mean the list goes on and on and on.
10:58These are like stars. These are like. Guys that had great careers in the NBA. Yeah. You know and it was so much fun but you know
11:05the thing that sticks out the most to me was that it was just like that was an unbelievable moment. It was it was it was
11:10great because I got a chance to play with the other top players in the country and for me to get the MVP was just icing it on the cake.
11:16I mean it's that's a great legacy. Then you had a strong career at Seton Hall. You took him to the Sweet 16. I mean
11:24I did a good career there and Seton Hall I feel is a program that's poised on greatness. Yes. I mean my favorite moment is when
11:33when they hired you. Yeah. I was excited because. Thank you. Thank you. I saw what you did in St. Peter's. Yeah. To take a 15 seed
11:46and beat Kentucky, Purdue. You know why Purdue got to the championship game this year right? Purdue got to the championship game because they didn't have to go to Jersey school.
12:00Jersey school right? I saw FDU right? How about that? You know what? I didn't think about that. How about that right? Because two Jersey schools knocked them off.
12:13Back to back. So there was no Jersey school. Well they didn't get a chance. Well St. Peter's was back in it. Yeah. And Wagner made it right?
12:22So no. Well Seton Hall and New York. Yeah. You know Jersey is the same thing. And they ended up losing to UConn and where is Danny Hurley from?
12:32Jersey City. So it's all about New Jersey with Purdue. Yeah. Purdue can't handle Jersey. They said Jersey strong right? Yes. Jersey strong.
12:44And I remember when you were at St. Peter's, the big run. You talked about how the reason you were able to do it was because you recruited within the city. You had tough kids.
12:53Yes. Yes. I mean that stood out in my head when I heard that. That you like appreciate the city of New York and how tough it is to play there and the toughness there.
13:06You know what? That's something that I want to do even here at Seton Hall. Seton Hall to me is blue collar as well. Oh yeah. So you know there's certain type of kids that kind of fit my personality as a coach.
13:17And obviously kids from the city of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut. Those are the type of kids that you want to keep the good local hungry kids home.
13:26Yeah. So that's the kind of goal for me. This year, it's funny because on this team this year, right, you had Alameda Dawes from Newark. Yep.
13:36Right. You had Kodari Richmond from Brooklyn. Right. So you got Dylan Russo from the Bronx. Right. So you got guys on the team. You got Juan Sanders who's from New York as well.
13:46He's from Queens. Elijah, you know, he's from Jersey. So, you know, we had a combination of New York and New guys on that team. And I think that this is one of the reasons why our team was pretty tough.
13:55I mean, I look at New York, the street game in New York. I mean, Rucker Park. It's a different level, right? Rucker Park. Oh my goodness, man. It's a different level, man.
14:04Have you had any experiences at Rucker Park? Yeah. Yeah. I played out in Rucker. I played out in and now now it's Dykeman. Dykeman is a new thing right now.
14:11Dykeman. So, yeah. So, you know, I had experience playing out. And that's where it starts. Like it started there, especially for me. You know, being from Queens, from New York, I started playing in parks like that.
14:21It kind of made my way to Jersey in high school and kind of went from there. Is he going to say a lot about sports in New York City and around the area?
14:28I think the true sport that really captures the heart of New York is actually basketball. It has to be like it has to be.
14:35Now, we'll be wrong. The Yankees is really good, right? Football is really good. The Jets and Giants.
14:40But when you think about New York City and you think about, you know, excitement, you think about basketball.
14:47I mean, think about this for a second. How many people are so excited right now that the Knicks is winning? Everyone, right? And that's just kind of what it is.
14:54I think if the Mets win a World Series, which hopefully somehow, some way it happens.
15:01Talking to existence. I'm a Met fan, too. I'm from Queens. So, that's talking. See, I'm big. We're talking things into existence, right? So, talking to existence. When we win the World Series?
15:12I mean, it will be a crowd. When the Yankees win, it's, yeah, we won again. We're going to win again.
15:17Like we were supposed to win, right?
15:19Yeah. The Giants, they kind of like a little bit of an air, too. And the Jets, I think fans won't even know what happens if they win the World Series.
15:30So, if the Jets win, if the Mets win, if the Knicks win, how about that? And then us seeing all win. So, one way for everybody.
15:40I say this though, if the Knicks ever win an NBA championship, the city of New York will shake to its core.
15:46It will shut down. It will shut down.
15:48It will be the, any team, other team could win. But if the Knicks win a championship, I think it will be the biggest sports celebration the city has ever seen.
15:58I agree. I agree with you. I agree with you. I mean, everybody excited right now, and we just in the playoffs.
16:05If the Mets had their chances a couple years ago, if the Mets would have won, there would have been about 500 people out there on the Brooklyn Bridge.
16:11Now, people are going to be mad at me when I say this, but you know, since the Mets left Jersey, it's really like, they say they Brooklyn now.
16:17It's like, who really cares?
16:19Yep. That's why I switched teams. That's why I switched teams. I finally said, you know what? They don't belong to me anymore. They left Jersey.
16:27It's the truth, though. It's the truth.
16:29They should have never left New Jersey. They were, their fan base is here. Leaving New Jersey is the worst thing the Mets ever did.
16:35It was crazy. It was crazy.
16:37I'm going to tell you something crazy. I used to play in the Mellowlands.
16:41Yeah.
16:43You know, with the Mets. And obviously, the Mets moved to Brooklyn. I mean, moved to Newark, and then they moved to Brooklyn.
16:47But, you know, I remember those games in the Mellowlands. It was something different.
16:52I mean, the Mets, I mean, yeah, I mean, that one year, that one couple years they had with Jason Kidd.
16:58Yeah.
17:00That was a great run.
17:02There was excitement.
17:04Yeah, absolutely.
17:06I mean, and they were down before that, and they've been down since.
17:08No, that's big time, man.
17:10But, yeah, it's, it's, but the city basketball game, that's, that's exciting.
17:18Yeah, and I think the more local recruits you can land, the better it's going to be.
17:22Like I said, it's...
17:24Well, that's the plan, to tell you the truth. It's a plan to try to get as many local kids as possible.
17:28Things change right now with this NIL thing.
17:32I mean, you know, the NIL is...
17:34I got to be careful, right, because, you know, I don't want to seem like I'm hating or whatever,
17:38but it's changing the game of, you know, changing the sport, period.
17:43On one hand, you know it's good, but is it going too far?
17:49Well, I'll tell you what, I'm not sure if it's sustainable, because it's getting really large.
17:55But, you know what, I think it's good, but I think it needs some rules to it.
17:59Like, right now, there's no rules to it.
18:01And I'm all for the young men making money, but just some of this stuff is getting out of control.
18:05I like that players now can, you can sell a jersey with a player's name, and the player gets the money.
18:11Well, that's what Name Emerson Langley was supposed to be about.
18:13Yeah, no one's ever treated me better when I go to games than Seton Hall.
18:17And, you know, it just so happens that my grandfather's cousin actually saved the basketball program here.
18:26Really?
18:27Monsignor Edward Fleming.
18:29Oh!
18:30He's my grandfather's cousin.
18:31Really?
18:32Yes.
18:33Wow.
18:34Small world.
18:35I'd like to give you this shirt, and thank you for taking this walk.
18:37No, thank you.
18:40I'm proud to support the university, especially in the legacy, memory of Monsignor Edward Fleming, you know.
18:48It's kind of like, I didn't have the grades nor the money to come here.
18:52I ended up going to Montclair State, but in spirit, I've always been a Pirate.
18:56No, man, this is tremendous, to tell you the truth.
18:59Thank you guys so much for having me.
19:01Oh, thanks.
19:02It's a tremendous honor.
19:03It was great.
19:04I love, you know, it's a great day out.
19:06I'm glad it was good outside today.
19:09And keep doing what you're doing.
19:11You're definitely inspiring people.
19:13And you guys are always welcome to Seton Hall, to all the games, as long as I'm the coach here.
19:16Hopefully, that's forever.
19:18Yes, and Seton Hall, I think they got a winner in the coach here.
19:23This guy's going to take Seton Hall further than it's been in a long, long time.
19:28And this guy knows how to coach.
19:31This guy knows how to win.
19:32And this guy's going to mean great things for the Pirates.
19:35Thank you for joining me.
19:36I appreciate you.
19:37Thank you.
19:38Thank you.