Saint Peter’s Shaheen Holloway Hired By Seton Hall After Historic NCAA Run

Shaheen Holloway guided Saint Peter’s on an unprecedented journey to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Now that run has taken Holloway back to his alma mater.

Holloway will be introduced Thursday as the new Seton Hall head coach after gaining national recognition for leading the 15th-seeded Peacocks on an improbable trip through the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament. Seton Hall announced the hiring Wednesday.

Holloway is returning to the place where he has been a familiar name and face for more than two decades, dating back to when he led Pirates to the 2000 NCAA Tournament and a first-round win against Oregon as a star senior point guard.

Holloway, 45, will replace Kevin Willard as head coach. Willard, who coached the team for 12 seasons, resigned last week to become Maryland’s head coach. Holloway was an assistant under Willard at both Seton Hall and Iona and Willard publicly endorsed him as his successor.

The deal between Holloway and Seton Hall was agreed to in principle on March 16, a source said. That was two days after Willard agreed on the framework of a deal to coach Maryland and one day before Holloway and the Peacocks turned the NCAAs upside down by knocking off second-seeded Kentucky in overtime. That victory was followed by wins over seventh-seeded Murray State in the second round and third-seeded Purdue in the East Regional semifinals.

Holloway’s hiring is hardly a surprise, as high-major openings kept being filled while the Peacocks were in the midst of their run. This clearly is the job he wanted, and he is the coach Seton Hall wanted once Willard left.

Holloway already had the support of Seton Hall athletic director Bryan Felt, who hired him four years ago when Felt was the athletic director at Saint Peter’s and Holloway was Willard’s lead assistant. But Holloway made his own case emphatically by guiding Saint Peter’s to a historic run in the NCAAs, with the Peacocks becoming the first 15th seed to reach the Elite Eight. That journey ended with a loss to North Carolina in the East Regional final in Philadelphia on Sunday.

As for Saint Peter’s, assistant coach Ryan Whalen is believed to be the frontrunner to replace Holloway. Seton Hall associate head coach Grant Billmeier and Rutgers associate head coach Brandin Knight also are under consideration, a source said.

Billmeier, also a Seton Hall alum, is still in the mix to remain at Seton Hall on Holloway’s staff, a source said. Holloway also is thought to be considering bringing along Saint Peter’s assistant Rasheen Davis.

Holloway compiled a 64-57 record in four seasons with Saint Peter’s. He won his first MAAC tournament title with the Peacocks by knocking off Monmouth in the final on March 12. Coincidentally, the Hawks were led by ex-Pirate Shavar Reynolds, whom Holloway had worked with when Reynolds was a freshman walk-on in Holloway’s last season with Willard before leaving for Jersey City-based Saint Peter’s.

That 2000 Seton Hall team Holloway played on reached the Sweet 16, but Holloway was sidelined with a severe ankle sprain after playing only eight minutes in a second-round upset win over Temple. He sat out an East Regional semifinal loss to Oklahoma State.