Kevin Willard says he has blinders on. But he knows the truth: His Seton Hall basketball team will be in the preseason Top 25, with expectations of pushing entrenched power Villanova for the Big East Conference title and advancing past the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend.

Sizing up his team after last week’s opening practice, here is what Willard had to say in a Q&A with USA Today Network New Jersey:

What kind of excitement are you sensing around this program right now?

“It’s still only late September. I feel it and I know it, but at the same time we’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’ve got my blinders on. If you look at our schedule, we can’t relax. It’s great where we are, and we’ve worked to get here, but at the same time you can’t get comfortable. We got here by having an edge, by playing tough and unselfish, and that’s how we have to continue to think and play.”

What’s the biggest difference from last season?

“Our size. At the four spot you have Tyrese (Samuel, listed at 6-foot-10), Sandro (Mamukelashvili, 6-11) and Taurean (Thompson, 6-10) and at center you have Ike (Obiagu, 7-2) and Ro (Gill, 7-2) and those combinations – you can have fun with those. You can interchange them and play, technically, small with Taurean and Tyrese or big with Sandro and Ike."

Which returning player has improved the most?

“(Sophomore wing) Jared Rhoden was on his way, but he’s been hurt these last two months. It’s a nagging ankle. I don’t know (the timetable for a return to contact action). Hopefully we'll get him back soon.”

Does Sandro seem more confident to you?

“His confidence is getting better and it should be, based on what he did for us last year, battling the biggest guys, playing 30-plus minutes per game and averaging almost 9 (points) and 8 (rebounds). Plus he had one of the best summers he’s ever had.”

What are your early impressions of Samuel, for a freshman?

“He’s good. What I’m most impressed about is how quickly he’s picking things up. He’s a sponge. Most freshmen aren’t that way. He’s got the athletic tools, and being around these other guys on consistent basis, seeing how they work, has really been good for him.”

When did you first realize Myles Powell would be special?

“Midway through his sophomore year, when he really started understanding, ‘The harder I work on this, the better I get.’ He would spend hours and hours after practice, before practice, working on it. I’d come back from a recruiting trip at 10 o’clock at night and (the shooting machine) would be up and he’s shooting. He could always shoot the basketball, but he had a fire that I don’t think a lot of people really understood.”

Where is the leadership coming from, other than Myles?

"Quincy (McKnight) on the court has been really good. He did a good job with that last year. All of these guys have to find another gear. It can’t just be Powell leading. As they get more comfortable, you’ll hear a lot more voices than you did last year.”

How is (sophomore point guard) Anthony Nelson looking?

“What I loved about Ant last year, he was able to get in the lane for us and create by making defenses contract. He’s worked hard on his shot and he’s had good, steady progress.”

Takal Moslon (a transfer guard from Canisius) seems like he fits right in. You thoughts on him?

“He’s my type of guy, a junkyard dog. Reminds me of Desi Rodriguez or Fuquan Edwin, who can play multiple positions and be tough at all of them. Guys like that don’t look pretty but they can win you games.”

Your brutally hard non-conference schedule, why did you do this?

"Well, I didn’t do it. Three games I was given (Michigan State, Iowa State and Rutgers). The Battle 4 Atlantis is arguably the best tournament now, so that’s a great help for us. The Big 12 Challenge was thrown on top of us. Getting the chance to play Michigan State is obviously special. And the Rutgers game every year is brutal. I scheduled Maryland and St. Louis before I knew the Big 12 thing was going to happen.”

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get tested. The league is as good as it’s been and as deep as it’s been, and this schedule will get us ready for that.”

What’s your biggest advice to your players about handling expectations this winter?

“If we don’t have the same attitude of being underdogs, and having to battle and scrap the way we have in the past, expectations are going away really quickly. That’s going to be my message all year long.”

More Seton Hall

WATCH: Clips from Seton Hall's 1st practice in the video atop this story

Preseason: 5 pressing preseason questions for Seton Hall

What's coming? What national preview magazines say about SHU

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Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.