Per a release from the school, Seton Hall and Shaheen Holloway have agreed on a six-year contract that would bring the former Pirates' star home to helm the men's basketball program.
This deal comes on the heels of Holloway's historic run to the Elite Eight as head coach of the St. Peter's Peacocks of the MAAC, a run where Holloway's team became the first 15 seed to ever be one of the NCAA Tournament's last eight standing.
The Peacocks became a pop culture phenomenon under his tutelage, and their wins over No. 2 Kentucky, a Murray State team in the midst of a 21-game win streak, and No. 3 Purdue had the entire college basketball world backing the MAAC Tournament Champions.
Holloway put a group of scrappy, team players on his back and outcoached names like John Calipari and Matt Painter on his way to history.
“I am incredibly excited to welcome Shaheen Holloway and his family home to Seton Hall,” Seton Hall athletic director Bryan Felt said. “Shaheen is a winner in every sense of the word, and he is not only an incredible coach, but also an incredible educator of young men. He works tirelessly to put his student-athletes in a position to succeed, and he makes them believe that they can achieve anything with hard work and determination. That is evidenced by his historic NCAA Tournament run this month.
Shaheen made an unforgettable impact here at Seton Hall first as a student-athlete and then again as an assistant coach, and now we’re ready to watch him take over our men’s basketball program as head coach and lead our Pirates to further greatness. Welcome home, Coach Holloway!”
Holloway played for The Hall from 1996-2000, wherein he averaged 13.7 points per game and was a senior leader on the last Pirate squad to reach the Sweet Sixteen. His 27 points and buzzer-beating game-winner in their first-round, overtime win over Oregon primed the team for a run despite the Queens, NY product going down with a sprained ankle in the first 10 minutes of their second-round game.
After playing overseas for a spell, Holloway joined Kevin Willard's staff at Iona College in 2007 and followed his Pirate predecessor when he took over the Seton Hall job in 2010.
As Willard's leading recruiter, Holloway secured the likes of Isaiah Whitehead, Desi Rodriguez, Angel Delgado, Myles Powell, and Sandro Mamukelashvili and developed them all into some of the Big East's best players since realignment.
His impact on the program was tangible even after his departure on April 10, 2018. Players he recruited raked in postseason awards and brought The Hall to the NCAA Tournament in 5 of the last 6 tournaments (omitting the 2020 cancellation).
His impact was more than just basketball. Holloway is known for building tight-knit groups which stick with each other through thick and thin, a culture that remained after he left Seton Hall and will come back with him from St. Peter's.
“Life has a way of coming full circle,” Holloway said. “This is certainly a full circle moment for my family and I. Seton Hall is near and dear to my heart; it’s where I became a man, where I met the love of my life, where I spent countless hours honing my crafts as a basketball player and a basketball coach. To say that I’m excited to get started as the head men’s basketball coach at Seton Hall University would be an understatement. Thank you to President Nyre and Bryan Felt for this opportunity. It is a dream come true. Pirates fans, I look forward to seeing you all in the community, on campus and at the Prudential Center.”
Holloway's introductory press conference is set for 1:30 p.m. at Walsh Gymnasium on Seton Hall's campus and is open to the public.
Brendan Balsamo can be reached at brendan.balsamo@student.shu.edu and on Twitter at @brendanbalsamo.
Photo via NY Daily News
