You ask 2 very different questions. As to whether this current system is better suited to schools like Seton Hall, I don't see any way in which this situation is better for Seton Hall. From every measurement of success, its not good for SH.
Our Program is struggling in every way possible, especially in comparison to the 7-year period of extended winning we had immediately preceding this new era in which we were 144-80, had 2 BE Championships and many players who earned Big East and National Honors.
Since the advent of the NIL/P4P/Unlimited transfer era, which coincided with Sha's arrival, we are 70-65, 0 for 4 in making the NCAAT, have just 1 BE season above .500, just 1 Win in the BET. We lose our top players after every season.
And those are just on the floor problems. Off the court, its worse. Our student interest and support is way down, our total attendance and season-ticket holders are down, we lose our best players every year. We are bottom third of BE in budget to pay players. Leadership-wise we are not setup to prosper under the new landscape. There are huge changes in rules and trends every year but our decision-making never adopts trends early and chooses to play it safe.
We were a 20-Win NCAAT team each of the last 7 Willard years except for the Covid-interrupted season. Our niche was finding under-valued underdogs who were willing to put in work over 2-4 years under our individual instruction program. We never lost good players we wanted to keep. Willard, Sha & Grant found their identity as Coaches, players spent their whole careers at SH and made great strides year to year. We weren't great at HS recruiting but we did well bringing in traditional sit-out transfers as well as Grad-transfers to bring in veteran players to complement our core.
To the other question of whether this system is more exciting? That's a matter of opinion. The month of April and May have taken on supreme importance as a complete 13-15 man roster must be built in a 6-8 week period. That can be exciting for fans as its a shrinking of the recruiting process into a round of speed dating and who can scout/find and make the best deals with players. I'd say that this is definitely a period of time I take great interest in but knowing SH's place in the financial pecking order, it can also be an extremely frustrating time of year.
Its easier to dump poor players now and to obtain proven players quickly. But to me there's nothing more exciting about it. I'd rather have the old rules with more player retention, individual improvement and team-building over the current system. That's my opinion and I believe that SH had a better chance to succeed under the old system.
