It was not a surprise that former Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway was a top coaching candidate for a power-five conference school during their miraculous run to the Elite Eight this season.
The team ultimately fell short against the North Carolina Tar Heels. It was clear that the team was simply outmatched from a talent perspective when it came up against the blue blood North Carolina program. But it was not due to a lack of excellent coaching. Clearly, Seton Hall realized that and hired him on Wednesday.
Holloway has deep ties to the Seton Hall program, playing at the school for four years as well as joining their coaching staff as an assistant for a little over a decade under former head coach Kevin Willard.
Willard left the school this offseason to take the vacant job at Maryland and vouched for Holloway to be his replacement.
While it was likely an easy decision for Holloway to take a higher-level coaching job at his alma mater, he sent out a heartfelt message to the Saint Peters Peacock fans on social media Thursday thanking them for their support.
“Good morning, Thank you Peacock Nation for all your love and support. Words can not explain the appreciation and love I have for you all. Let’s make sure you all keep supporting the team with the same energy and passion you did all year long.. Love is love coach Sha!! !!”
It’s very clear that Holloway had a special connection to his Saint Peter’s team. During his introductory press conference at Seton Hall University on Thursday, he introduced the entire Peacocks roster, who received a standing ovation in a very classy show of respect to the players on their NCAA Tournament run.
Holloway will take over a Seton Hall program that has been very successful as of late, making the NCAA Tournament in five of the last seven years.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.