Former Sports Illustrated Editor B.J. Schecter Loves Seton Hall

Jon Hart
Dec 15, 2025
4 min read

Editor B.J. Schecter spent two glorious decades at Sports Illustrated. Now, at Seton Hall, as the Executive Director of the Center for Sports Media, he's grooming the next generation of sports media professionals. B.J. took a few minutes to discuss The Hall, SI and lots of other fun stuff.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Straight to the point: What do you love about Seton Hall? How's it unique?

B.J. SCHECTER:

Seton Hall is a special place. There’s a tremendous sense of community and pride in every corner of the campus. Everyone looks out for one another and lifts each other up. There’s this gritty mentality at The Hall that I absolutely love and embrace every day.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

How does the Center for Sports Media come to be? What can students expect?

B.J. SCHECTER:

I came to Seton Hall in 2017 after leaving Sports Illustrated to build the Center for Sports Media. We want to train and develop the next generation of sports media professionals by creating experiential learning opportunities that are second to none. We’re built around the teaching hospital model. Develop the skills in the classroom and then go out into the field and apply them.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Let's backtrack. As an undergrad at Northeastern, you were the manager for the men's basketball team for three years, which is a huge commitment. Describe the experience. What was the best part of the job? The worst? Were you ever called in to suit up and scrimmage with the team? Fondest memory?

B.J. SCHECTER:

Being a manager was an awesome experience. I got to see college sports and a Division 1 basketball program from the inside out. It was a big-time commitment and involved a lot of grunt work and getting yelled at, but I loved every minute of it. The best experience is when we went into Cameron in 1994 and nearly beat Duke. I did suit up from time to time and learned very quickly that I couldn’t put the ball on the floor or it would be taken from me.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Matthews Arena will soon be no more. When you think of Matthews, what comes to mind?

B.J. SCHECTER:

Matthews was run down and dated when I went to school at Northeastern decades ago. We never drew well for basketball and was much more of a hockey arena during my time on Huntington Avenue.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

When do you cross over into journalism? How does that come about? Where do you begin? Are you thinking "career" right out of the gate?

B.J. SCHECTER:

I first got interested in journalism when I was in high school. I got the opportunity to be a stringer for my local newspaper, the Middlesex News, and I loved it. I knew I wanted to study journalism in college and chose Northeastern largely because of the co-op program. I got into The Boston Globe at the end of my freshman year and there was no looking back.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Who were your mentors? What lessons do you keep close to you?

B.J. SCHECTER:

My first and biggest mentor was Larry Ames, who was the high school sports editor at The Boston Globe. He drove me hard and taught me how to grind and find a way to get the job or task down no matter the circumstances.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

So you're working in The Boston Globe's sports section, one of the best in the country, in the '90s when print is thriving. What's that like?

B.J. SCHECTER: The Globe was the place to be when I was there. My mentors were the late Will McDonough, Dan Shaugnessy, Bob Ryan and Jackie MacMullin. It was a dream. So much talent.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

How difficult was it to make the leap to Sports Illustrated? How many hoops do you have to jump through? What do you think put you over the top as far as getting the job?

B.J. SCHECTER:

SI recruited me out of the Globe and I started on the lowest rung – reporter/fact checker. When I was hired it was largely Ivy League and I got the job because of my work ethic, ambition and willingness to do anything.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Describe working at SI. What was it like to work at one of the greatest magazines ever? Is it so intense and competitive that you can't enjoy it?

B.J. SCHECTER:

It’s hard to describe what SI once was. You want to talk about a murder’s row of writers. To work alongside some of the smartest, most talented people in the business is still a pinch-me experience. I’ve always been a really competitive person, so I relished the environment. It was a dog-eat-dog world, but we had a lot of fun along the way. I spent two decades at SI and loved every minute of it.

STADIUM JOURNEY:

Sports Illustrated featured some of the best writing. What SI pieces blew your mind?

B.J. SCHECTER:

The bonus pieces in the back of the magazine were inspiring and out of this world. Anything that Gary Smith wrote would blow your mind. The two pieces that come to mind were Crime and Punishment about former New York City high school basketball star Richie Parker is my all-time favorite SI piece. Smith’s profile on the late Pat Summitt is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. But there were so many others: Bill Nack, Scott Price, Steve Rushin, Tom Verducci, Jack McCallum, Tim Layden . And, of course, Rick Reilly. His Life of Reilly back-page column was brilliant.