Shaheen Holloway

Holloway just led Saint Peter's on a magical March Madness run to the Elite Eight. He'll replace Kevin Willard at Seton Hall.

Now he’s headed back home to Seton Hall, where he won as a player and an assistant coach. He brought that ability to do more with less to Saint Peter’s, molding a team of unheralded and unrecruited prospects into an Elite Eight team. The 45-year-old Holloway returns to South Orange, N.J. — where he was a star player and successful assistant coach — after leading Saint Peter’s to a magical run to the Elite Eight and guiding the MAAC school to the first three NCAA Tournament wins in program history. He could keep Seton Hall assistant Grant Billmeier, if Billmeier doesn’t follow Willard to Maryland. Billmeier is also expected to be a candidate at Saint Peter’s, as will Holloway’s top assistant there, Ryan Whalen. Holloway played a significant role in the development of several under-the-radar recruits into Big East stars, players like Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez, Myles Powell and Sandro Mamukelashvili. His break came after one season in his first go-round at Seton Hall. Willard, then the new Iona College coach, was looking for an assistant coach with local connections. “It’s important to learn from the bottom up,” Holloway said recently. Willard campaigned for Holloway — moments after the Pirates’ NCAA Tournament loss to TCU — and former Seton Hall star Isaiah Whitehead did as well. According to sources, he recently took a pay cut at Saint Peter’s, due to financial constraints brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that came after he was making roughly $300,000 per season. Needing to be around to take care of his daughter, Shatanik, Holloway got into coaching after a seven-year professional career mostly spent overseas. “I think it would’ve been a good hire four weeks ago,” said former Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo, who has known Holloway dating back to his days as a top high school prospect. One of the big stars of March Madness is going home, returning to his roots at Seton Hall as its next head coach.

Seton Hall was a middling program when Willard arrived in 2010, before he gradually made the Pirates fixtures in the N.C.A.A. tournament. His best team may have ...

Seton Hall was a middling program when Willard arrived in 2010, before he gradually made the Pirates fixtures in the N.C.A.A. tournament. In his final game, amid speculation that he was departing, eighth-seeded Seton Hall was routed by ninth-seeded Texas Christian in the opening round of the N.C.A.A. tournament, 69-42. He was inducted into Seton Hall’s Hall of Fame and remains the career assist leader. A former high school all-American who spurned Duke to stay home — he grew up in Queens before moving across the Hudson to attend the St. Patrick in Elizabeth, N.J. — Holloway had a successful career. Holloway captured the essence of his underdog squad when he was asked after the Murray State victory how it had held up in a rough-and-tumble game. After Iona beat St. Peter’s earlier this season to seize control of the conference race, its coach, the Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, complimented Holloway, calling him a future star.

Legendary Seton Hall player and NCAA Tournament coaching star Shaheen Holloway is returning to his alma mater to fill the program's head coaching vacancy, ...

Pirates fans, I look forward to seeing you all in the community, on campus and at the Prudential Center." In just four years as a head coach at the college level, Holloway built Saint Peter's from a 10-22 team in Year 1 to a program that enjoyed three consecutive winning seasons. Just 45 years old, Holloway played for the Pirates in the late 1990s and was a three-time All-Big East performer.

Holloway just led Saint Peter's to the Elite Eight and was the starting point guard when the Pirates advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2000.

He knows what we did for him, and what he's done for us," said Saint Peter's junior guard Daryl Banks III. It's way too important to me," he said. I went into the locker room around 3:00, and we probably stayed in the locker room from 3:00 to around 6:00. And it made it so easy on me, because those 15 young men understood why I was making this decision. Holloway said it has been an emotional roller coaster the past week. "Dreams do come true," Holloway said. Thursday, he got a hero's welcome at his alma mater.

Shaheen Holloway led the Saint Peter's men's basketball team to a historic NCAA tournament run this year. The Peacocks became the worst seed in tournament ...

The crowd at Seton Hall gave the team a standing ovation for their success this season. The Saint Peter’s team attended their now former coach’s introductory press conference on Thursday. Holloway gave the Peacocks a shout out, which resulted in a thunderous applause from the audience. Following their exit from the tournament, Holloway announced he would be leaving Saint Peter’s to become the head coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall.