Coaching profile
A favorite son of Seton Hall University has returned home.
Shaheen Holloway, a former associate head coach and standout student-athlete at Seton Hall, was named the new head men’s basketball coach at his alma mater on March 30, 2022.
Holloway returned to South Orange after leading Saint Peter’s on a miraculous run to the Elite Eight at the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The 2020 MAAC Coach of the Year, Holloway led the Peacocks to the 2022 MAAC Tournament title and three straight campaigns with 10-plus victories in conference play.
Holloway’s teams in Jersey City played with a toughness and intensity that mirrored the way he played the game at The Hall, where he holds the program record with 681 career assists and was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. He's the first Seton Hall graduate to lead the men’s basketball program since all-time great Richie Regan ’53 led the Pirates from 1960-70.
Holloway's first season at the helm of his alma mater was the best in the history of Seton Hall men's basketball for a first-year head coach. Holloway set program records for most wins (17), BIG EAST victories (10) and road wins (6) for a first-year head coach in school history. He was also the first Seton Hall head coach to lead the Pirates to a postseason berth in his first season since Tommy Amaker in 1997-98. Despite starting 0-3 in BIG EAST play, Holloway took a group of four returners and five newcomers and guided The Hall to a .500 record in league play for the eighth consecutive season.
The Pirates bought in to Holloway's philosophy on the defensive end of the floor in year one as they finished second in the BIG EAST and in the top 70 nationally in scoring defense (65.1 ppg), field goal percentage defense (41.5 percent), three-point field goal percentage defense (31.8 percent) and steals (8.2 steals per game). Seton Hall finished 20th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency ranking.
Seton Hall notched multiple marquee victories in Holloway's first season back in South Orange; a buzzer-beating 70-69 win over Memphis at the ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving, a come-from-behind 67-66 victory in the final seconds over eventual national champion UConn at Prudential Center on Jan. 18, 2023, retaining the Garden State Hardwood Classic Trophy in a 45-43 win over Rutgers at Jersey Mike's Arena on Dec. 11, 2022.
Holloway led Saint Peter's to a run of three consecutive top-three finishes in the MAAC from 2020-22, a first for the program since the school’s first three seasons in the conference in the early 1980s. Under Holloway’s tutelage, Saint Peter’s produced five All-MAAC selections, the NCAA Division I leader in blocked shots, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, and 10 student-athletes that were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team.
Saint Peter’s steady climb under Holloway culminated in a run that made shock waves across the nation in March 2022. It started with the Peacocks earning the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament and defeating Monmouth in the championship game to clinch the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Peacocks then did what many outside of Holloway’s squad thought was unthinkable, defeating second-seeded Kentucky in an overtime game in the first round before knocking off seventh-seeded Murray State in the second round and then toppling third-seeded Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen. Saint Peter’s became the first 15-seed ever to reach the Elite Eight. For his efforts, Holloway was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year, Ben Jobe Coach of the Year and Skip Prosser Man of the Year awards.
Prior to his tenure at Saint Peter’s, Holloway helped build a foundation at his alma mater that turned it into a program that competes for NCAA Tournament bids and BIG EAST championships on a yearly basis. In eight seasons as associate head coach under Kevin Willard from 2010-18, the Pirates experienced a multitude of success both on and off the court. The Pirates had three Associated Press All-America honorable mention selections, 12 All-BIG EAST selections, three BIG EAST All-Rookies and 36 BIG EAST All-Academic team selections. From 2016-18, Seton Hall became one of the premier programs in the BIG EAST as it recorded three straight 20-win seasons, three consecutive NCAA Tournament selections, and three straight BIG EAST seasons of 10 wins or more. That three-year stretch was highlighted by the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament championship, a run that was capped off with a 69-67 victory over eventual national champion Villanova in the title game at Madison Square Garden.
The core of that 2016 BIG EAST championship team was brought together by Holloway. With Holloway serving as a lead recruiter, Seton Hall boasted a top-15 national recruiting class in 2014, led by Isaiah Whitehead, the program’s first McDonald’s All-American since 2001 who went on to become a 2016 NBA Draft pick; Angel Delgado, the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award National Center of the Year and BIG EAST all-time rebounds leader; and Khadeen Carrington, who finished his Seton Hall career as the ninth all-time leading scorer in program history. Holloway was also the lead recruiter for Jared Rhoden, who was named All-BIG EAST First Team this past season and helped lead the Pirates back to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence.
Prior to joining Seton Hall, Holloway served on Willard’s staff at Iona, where he helped turn the Gaels program around. Inheriting a team that went 2-28 in 2006-07, Holloway and Willard recruited and coached student-athletes to one of the greatest turnarounds in college basketball history as their 2009-10 team won 21 games to complete a 19-win turnaround in only the third year of the administration.
During his original stint on the Seton Hall coaching staff, Holloway was an administrative assistant from 2006-07. Holloway was responsible for coordinating film exchange, analyzing game tapes and assisting with scouting of opponents. He supervised fall conditioning as well as the year-round weight training program. Holloway was also responsible for academic progress reports for team members as well as the organization of all aspects of team travel for the Pirates. Holloway made his way back to his alma mater after serving as an assistant coach at the high school level at Bloomfield Tech.
He was a four-year standout at Seton Hall from 1996-00 and helped lead his team to the 2000 NCAA Sweet Sixteen, which included hitting the game-winning layup in overtime to defeat Oregon in the NCAA first round. Holloway ranks 18th all-time in program history with 1,588 points and also recorded 231 steals (fourth all-time) and hit 185 three-pointers (eighth all-time) in 116 games. In 2000, he was named the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, while earning All-BIG EAST status three times and All-Metropolitan accolades in each of his four seasons at Seton Hall. A native of Queens, Holloway was a McDonald’s All-American who played at St. Patrick’s High School in Elizabeth, N.J.
After his collegiate success Holloway played professionally in England for the Chester Jets and London Towers as well as a season in Ulm, Germany and Istanbul, Turkey. Back in the U.S. he had stints with the Brooklyn Kings of the USBL and Newark, Las Vegas and Chicago in the ABA. He was invited to three preseason NBA camps with the Knicks, Nets and Golden State Warriors.
Holloway is married to his wife Kim, a 2001 Seton Hall graduate, and he is a proud father of three; daughter Shatanik, a 2018 Seton Hall graduate, and sons, Xavier and Tyson.
