Previewing Seton Hall: Shaheen Holloway Comes Home

The new face of Seton Hall basketball isn’t all-that-new at all.

Perhaps the most predictable hire in all of college basketball last spring came when the Pirates replaced Kevin Willard (who took the lead job at Maryland) with Shaheen Holloway.

Holloway’s national profile exploded in March when he led St. Peter’s to the most unlikely Elite Eight appearance in NCAA Tournament history, as the 15th-seeded Peacocks shocked Kentucky in overtime in round one, beat a very good Murray State team, and then bounced Purdue in the Sweet 16 before falling to national runner-up North Carolina.

But to long-time followers of the Big East, the 45-year-old Holloway is anything but a fresh face.

Prior to playing for Seton Hall from 1996-2000, Holloway was named the Most Valuable Player in a McDonald’s All American game in which he teamed with Kobe Bryant, Tim Thomas, Jermaine O’Neal, Richard Hamilton, and Stephen Jackson (against a rather underwhelming West team by McDonald’s All American standards).

He went on to become a three-time All Big East selection, scoring over 1,500 points in his career, and led the Hall back to the Sweet 16 in 2000 for the first time since 1992.

For all his acclaim as a player, Holloway paid his dues as a coach — getting his start under Willard at Iona in 2007, before joining him at Seton Hall, and then taking over at St. Peter’s in 2018.

Willard and Holloway helped revitalize a Seton Hall program that had gone from 20007 through 2015 without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Holloway was critical in bringing stars like Isaiah Whitehead and Angel Delgado, and as the talent pool increased, wins followed.

Willard went his first five years without reaching the NCAA Tournament, then did so in four consecutive seasons. The Pirates would have been a very high seed had the 2020 Tournament taken place, and then they returned to the dance last year when they were trounced by TCU in round one.

Under Willard, Seton Hall became a consistent 20-win team. They won 20+ games in each of the last six full seasons. What they didn’t have under him was NCAA Tournament success — winning just one game in his 12 years as the head coach.

The hope in South Orange is that Holloway can elevate the program further.

Holloway inherits some veterans from a team that was ranked as high as #15 in the AP poll last year, thanks to early season wins at Michigan, and against Texas and Rutgers at home.

Willard repeatedly blamed a mid-December Covid outbreak for his team’s slow conference start last year. They were 3-6 in Big East play through January, but finished the regular season by winning eight of their final ten games, including the final five.

A win over Georgetown in the first round of the Big East Tournament would be their last of the season. They never really threatened UConn in the quarterfinals (62-52), and played like a team that knew its coach had one foot out the door in the 69-42 shellacking at the hands of TCU.

In Willard’s postgame presser after the TCU loss he essentially stumped for Holloway’s hiring as his successor. Little did he, or anyone else, realize St. Peter’s still had a few weeks of basketball left in them.

Seton Hall has reliable pieces coming back, but they likely lack the type of takeover scorer that helps pull games out when all else fails.

The backcourt will be anchored by the punishing 6’5 guard Kadary Richmond. Opinions are split on the one-time Syracuse transfer, who struggles with his jump shot and turnover issues, but at times looks like the type of player who is too strong for guards and too quick for bigger players. Richmond flashed star potential in scoring 27 points against UConn last year, and could be in for a bigger role after last year’s leading scorer, Jared Rhoden, graduated.

The Pirates will benefit from the consistent hand of Clemson transfer Al-Amir Dawes. Providence recruited the Newark native when he was in high school, and he turned into a double figure scorer and 39% 3-point shooter in the ACC. The senior is expected to play a big role this season.

Don’t be surprised if Holloway gets more out of graduate student Jamir Harris, an undersized shooting guard who does most of his damage beyond the arc. Harris was an explosive scorer at American, yet only showed flashes in his first year in the Big East (7.9 points, 37% from deep). Harris could be one of the best microwave scorers in the league this year. He’s dangerous.

The backcourt will be supplemented by a pair of three star freshman in Jaquan Harris out of New Jersey (Jamir’s younger brother who missed much of his senior year of high school with a knee injury), and Jaquan Sanders — a New York City guard who decommitted from St. John’s last September and signed with the Hall in November.

The Pirates also added two other ACC transfers in Dre Davis and Femi Odukale. Davis, who comes in from Louisville, is a 6’5 guard who scored just over seven points per game, while shooting below 30% from three the past two years. Odukale was a double figure scorer on a bad Pittsburgh team.

The frontcourt has experience. Alexis Yetna will turn 24 in October and came to Seton Hall after a productive career at South Florida. The lefty was solid last season, putting up over eight points and seven boards a game. He also grabbed 15+ rebounds against Villanova, Marquette, and St. John’s last season. Yetna will be one of the more slept on bigs in the league heading into this season.

Canada native Tyrese Samuel was once seen as a potential breakout star in the Big East due to his ability to stretch the floor and defend the rim. He’s been a solid player, but never turned into the star some projected. A 32% shooter from distance his first two seasons at Seton Hall, Samuel went just 6-30 from beyond the arc last year.

Their most intriguing newcomer is 6’7 shot blocker KC Ndefo — a three-time MAAC Defensive Player of the Year for Holloway at St. Peter’s. The grad student barely played (12 minutes) due to foul trouble against Providence last year, but he was a force in the NCAA Tournament, blocking six shots against both Murray State and North Carolina. Providence fans saw the impact Minaya’s defense had on the Friars’ season a year ago. The Hall will hope for something similar in Ndefo.

6’9 Illinois State transfer Abdou Ndiaye figures to provide frontcourt depth.

The losses of Rhoden and the 6’6 Myles Cale are significant. Holloway will look to Tray Jackson and Tae Davis to give him minutes on the wing. Jackson shot just under 40% from three last year, and had some big-time performances in league play, including nights of 5-5 against Xavier and 4-6 versus Villanova from three. The 6’7 Davis is a top 150sih freshman from Indianapolis. He was a Louisville commit, but decided to look elsewhere after Chris Mack was fired. He will team with his brother, Dre, at Seton Hall this year, marking a bit of an anomaly, as Seton Hall has a pair of brothers playing together this season.

Under Holloway, St. Peter’s was one of the best defensive teams in the country, ranking 25th in defensive efficiency per Ken Pomeroy, and seventh in Effective Field Goal Percentage. Opponents shot just 29.2% against them from three last year (13th in the country), and 44.2% (7th) from two.

Holloway brings an interesting mix of new energy to the league, combined with a bit of old school Big East flair from his playing days. Much like Ed Cooley at Providence, Holloway’s hiring was such a natural choice — one that not only helped lessen the blow of Willard’s departure, but offers legitimate hope that the program can transition its regular season success to March.