And that's exactly the problem. People have their heads in the sand because of what this guy did on the court 25 years ago, yourself included.
He's not that good of a coach and he certainly isn't a good program manager.
No, I'm just clear-headed enough to understand what I'm seeing, and grasping the context in which he is operating. I loved him as a point guard -- he's still my favorite player we've ever had -- but I have no problem compartmentalizing that and evaluating him on the merits of his coaching career.
I'm also not reactionary enough to look at one season -- and it was dreadful; we all can plainly see that -- and think that undoes every other accomplishment he's accrued to this point. It doesn't, and that's the truth.
I actually grade our coaches pretty harshly, which is why I wasn't disappointed to see Willard leave for Maryland. I thought we had plateaued with annual ones-and-done in the NCAA Tournament, which I didn't see as the maximum ceiling for our program. To be honest, even at the time, I would've rather had a coach who knew how to propel a team through a tournament with a chance to reach a Sweet Sixteen or more every now and then even if it meant missing the NCAAs once every second or third year as we reloaded. Just making it every year makes you Iona, and that doesn't excite me.
But nothing shows that someone doesn't understand college basketball in 2025 like saying we haven't made the NCAAs in three seasons, so it must follow that the coach isn't qualified. The entire operation context of the sport is
nothing at all like it was in 2021 or 2022. Now, if a coach doesn't have the full financial support of the administration (coupled with a competed Athletic department), he cannot succeed, or at the very least, will have to overcome mountains in order to do so. That's just the fact. And to this point, Shaheen Holloway has had the benefit of neither of these. I mean, we're talking about a university that hired a president who should've been shunned rather than elevated, and is burying its head in the sand now rather than firing him and starting completely over. And I'm sorry, but the athletic department leadership is clueless. That needs to be said, and I've been pretty silent around that subject. They are the ones in way over their heads, and it's screamingly obvious.
Now having said all that, I won't shield Holloway from accountability. He's not totally blameless, but he is also far from the reason this season went in the shitter so quickly. He made a mistake trying to build a roster in the way he did having only a pittance to spend, but he went for it. Gambled and lost. I've seen other coaches try to find their footing in this pay-for-play environment and struggle to land, too. Holloway knows more about this game than everyone on this board combined, so I'm confident he realizes his miscalculation. Still, with just $1.5 million to spend, his chances of having a very good team were akin to buying a lottery ticket (which, coindidentally, is also Seton Hall's approach to development).
I have a feeling, despite what the school told HallDan, that we are waiting until the House settlement is okayed before we start empytying the bankroll. That brand of scared financial conservatism is always Seton Hall's M.O., so why would it not be here? But we are far from the only program proceeding this way. Notice it's only the most moneyed programs singing multiples of guys, the ones with cash to spend independent of the rev sharing.
To me, Sha's biggest failure is his refusal to open up his program to fans and media, his lack of accessibility to them, and his (apparent) refusal to get out there and hit the fundraising trail himself on a consistent basis. This is important, but (at least as far as I can see) he isn't embracing this, and that's a mistake. This is all important.
In the end, I'm not going to bury a guy with a track record of success after three seasons when he is clearly sailing against the strongest headwinds in the history of the sport. I was 100 percent in on Kevin Willard after three seasons, even when his third brought us only one more conference win than this one did, so I'm granting Holloway the same grace. Willard was operating in a landscape that was downright idyllic compared to what this guy is facing today.
