Now seven months into his homecoming, Shaheen Holloway is still talking up Seton Hall, but is more excited about coaching his alma mater and building it into something greater. (Photo by Seton Hall Athletics)
NEW YORK — Seven months ago, Shaheen Holloway was the toast of the college basketball town, overseeing history as his Saint Peter’s team became the first No. 15 seed to play in an NCAA Tournament regional final.
The whirlwind of emotions — from the passing of his grandmother hours before Saint Peter’s played North Carolina on the last Sunday of March with a trip to the Final Four hanging in the balance to the Peacocks being feted with a parade through the streets of Jersey City, while Holloway’s former boss, Kevin Willard, left Seton Hall for the University of Maryland — did not let up as Holloway replaced his one-time mentor in South Orange, nor has it anytime soon as the Pirates stand just 22 days from opening the season — and the fourth chapter of a native son’s legacy — on November 9 against Monmouth. The scene inside Madison Square Garden Tuesday, where the Big East Conference held its annual preseason media day, only served to confirm that.
“I wish,” Holloway quipped when asked if time had slowed down during a seven-month tour de force that included throwing out the first pitches at both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field prior to New York Yankees and New York Mets games, as well as flying to Las Vegas to announce tight end Jeremy Ruckert as the newest draft pick of the New York Jets. “It’s been a long five months of doing this, a lot of media stuff, going out (and) talking to alumni. From when I first got here with Coach Willard to now, it’s still surreal, me being here today at Big East media day representing the university is something I always dreamed about. It’s a great moment.”
“It’s special, but I’m just looking forward to the guys playing hard, playing for each other, not worrying about the me factor, but worrying about the we factor. I’m just excited to get going. I just want to coach my team, man. That’s all I care about, getting these guys ready to go to war in the best conference in America.”
Therein lies the charm of the charismatic Holloway, not as much a reluctant star as he is a no-nonsense, grinder of a coach who approaches his life’s work the same way he did as a player three decades prior, with the same lunchpail mentality that first endeared him to Seton Hall fans that have only seemed to amplify their excitement for the latest incarnation of Pirate basketball under a leader who found it impossible to resist the alluring tone of his alma mater’s call.
“With what Coach Willard and the players have done here the last couple years, the fan base should be happy and should be excited,” a candid Holloway observed. “You’re going to see a group of guys scratching, clawing, playing a brand of basketball that, I think, the fans are going to like. When you think of Seton Hall, it’s blue-collar, right? I think that’s what our guys are going to represent. We’re not going out there trying to be pretty, we’re going out there trying to get the job done by any means necessary. I think people are going to leave saying, ‘wow, that team plays hard, and they play together and do things the right way.’”
UConn head coach Dan Hurley, himself a former Seton Hall point guard who actually preceded Holloway in South Orange and now serves as one of the Pirates’ chief adversaries, applauded his new counterpart’s style, likening it to his own while simultaneously extolling the tremendous gift it can duly function as.
“I’ve known him my whole life, as a player when he was battling my dad (Bob)’s teams at St. Pat’s and that whole rivalry,” said Hurley of Holloway. “And he followed me in at Seton Hall, and he was much more successful as a point guard there than I was. I just have a lot of respect for his career. He starts out as an assistant coach at a public high school in Bloomfield Tech, and just had worked his tail off and had to earn every opportunity in coaching to the point where now, he’s the head coach of his alma mater in the Big East.”
“I love his old-school values as a coach. He’s got an incredibly high standard. I coach the same way, and I think we mirror a lot of the way we go about our job. We’re old-school, we set high standards for how we’re going to practice, how our guys are going to carry themselves on and off the court. We’re not the easiest people to play for, but I think we make our players better, we build character, and we win a lot of games.”
Holloway will not be under much pressure from Seton Hall to win right away, in fact, most of the onus to produce will likely be of his own making if his introductory press conference — where he emphatically stated he “can’t mess this up” is any indication. What will be an immediate characteristic of his first Pirate team is the versatility he honed to perfection at Saint Peter’s, with a blend of youth and experience that may not provide the immediate depth his teams are known for, but will come with established playmakers who will make an instant contribution, such as transfers Femi Odukale and Al-Amir Dawes, coming to New Jersey by way of Pitt and Clemson, respectively.
“I wanted to bring in more versatility, more guards,” said Holloway, hinting at an almost-constant three-guard lineup he employed at Saint Peter’s. “Femi was a guy I targeted because he’s 6’5”, could play three different positions extremely hard for us, and then bringing in Al, he’s a local kid who, I thought, was one of the better transfers in the country. For a guy that played 30 minutes a game for three straight years and averaged 11 points a game, not too many transfers have those numbers. I don’t think he’s getting what he deserves, but that’s going to come in due time.”
“It’s a gift and a curse,” he added with regard to the composition of his roster. “It’s good to have older guys, but at the same time, it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks. Some guys have been at certain programs for X amount of years and learn different things, and I’m trying to teach them something different. It’s going to take time, but the guys have made a good adjustment to it. When you bring guys in, you bring guys in that fit what you want to do. Those guys I’ve brought in kind of fit what I’m trying to do, and the guys playing multiple positions is just going to be good for us.”
Fifth-year senior forward KC Ndefo, who spent the past four years with Holloway at Saint Peter’s and now brings an amount of gravitas to match that of fellow upperclassmen Jamir Harris, Tyrese Samuel and Alexis Yetna, has been instrumental in the teaching process, and made the transition from Willard to his former assistant easier.
“He’s been talking to these guys about what to expect with me,” Holloway said of Ndefo. “I think that’s been big for us and big for them. KC does what KC does, working hard, a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. That’s the type of stuff I’m looking for him to bring to Seton Hall as well.”
Point guard Kadary Richmond, a preseason second team all-Big East selection, is also being counted on to produce, both to bolster his own professional aspirations as well as any hope Seton Hall has of being a postseason outfit this season.
“We need him to play at a high level for us to be good,” Holloway bluntly stated. “He’s got to understand that with him being in college three years now, there’s certain expectations. He wants to be at the next level, so every day, you’ve got to prepare to be at the next level. We’ve got a bunch of guys that play at a high level in practice every single day, so he’s getting pushed and I think that’s just going to help him. We’re trying to get him in better shape, get him to play a more uptempo style. He’s been good. Since I got there, he’s back healthy, getting healthy every day, and we need him.”
Bringing the entire moment full circle, Holloway waxed poetic when once again asked what coaching at the place where his career took flight a quarter-century ago meant to him both personally and professionally, and whether he would be able to carry the same energy from Saint Peter’s historic advancement through March Madness. And as only Holloway could, he was equal parts introspective and ambitious in his response.
“It’s about building, right? Each year, you want to get better and better and better as a coach, as a player,” he said. “For me, I want to do the same thing. Last year was great for us, but last year is over. This year, it’s time for me to build here, get my legacy started here and go from there. I went to Seton Hall as a young boy and left as a man, played ball, then came back and left and came back. My whole life has kind of been around Seton Hall, so to me, it’s super important that I make sure I handle myself the correct way, the team the correct way. I want to do well for the school. I want to win, I want to take it to new heights. I want to do what P.J. Carlesimo did. What he did for a small school at the time is why we’re here today, to be totally honest with you.”
“When you get the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament and make a run like we made to the Elite 8, I’m hungry. Now I want a Final Four, I want the national championship. That’s the goal. For me, I’m just a coach that’s a sponge, man. Every day, I want to get better. I’m in the best conference with the best coaches in the country, so I gotta step my game up.”
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