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The 2020 Big East men's basketball conference tournament kicks off Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, the "world's most famous arena."
The No. 3 seed, Seton Hall, takes on the sixth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles on Thursday night. Despite enormous hype and expectations coming into the year, head coach Kevin Willard's squad hasn't missed a beat.
Willard joined Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Tuesday afternoon on WFAN to discuss the 2019-20 season, the beginning of postseason play, growing up a New York Knicks fan and more.
"I feel great going into the postseason, I really do," Willard said. "Obviously, we didn't finish the year off like we wanted to. But offensively we're playing much better than we did earlier in the year. Defensively, I think we're really strong. I just like our balance right now, and I think we're getting a lot of contributions from other guys besides Myles Powell. And I just like our attitude, and I like the fact that our guys are determined to kind of get back on the right foot."
The Pirates had national championship-type aspirations coming into 2019-20. They've been ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll and despite back-to-back losses to Villanova and Creighton to end the regular season, they are still ranked No. 16 in the country as of Tuesday.
Last season, Willard became the first Pirates head coach to lead the team to four straight 20-win seasons. He has already climbed to third on Seton Hall's all-time wins list, behind Honey Russell and P.J. Carlesimo. Seton Hall fell to Wofford in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
"It was definitely a different experience, that's for sure," Willard explained. "The last four years, I've lived on the bubble as I've told people. We've been in, we've been out. This year with the expectations, dealing with a couple of injuries early on, we've had court stormings four times now on us. It's been fun. I think the kids have really enjoyed being in that position. I think they've enjoyed the fact that every team is getting up for us and it's a huge win if you beat us. So I think it was definitely a different experience, but I think my kids handled it great, and I think for the year that we've had, I think we handled it really well."
Willard grew up a Knicks fan. Roberts pondered the question of whether Willard would ever consider a move to the NBA. Willard has coached Seton Hall since 2010.
"I'm a longtime Knicks fan, so if the Knicks want to hire me," Willard said with a chuckle. "I grew up in Madison Square Garden. My dad was an assistant coach when I was in sixth grade. I used to take the Long Island Railroad by myself to be a ball boy for the Knicks. I root for them, I still root for them, I want them to win. I'm a die-hard Knicks fan.
But, what about Roberts' beloved Brooklyn Nets, who mutually parted ways with their head coach, Kenny Atkinson, on Saturday?
"Any coach in America that says no to Kyrie and Kevin Durant would have to get their head checked out," Willard said.