To say Saint Peter’s stunned the college basketball world on Thursday night would be an understatement, to say the least.
The Peacocks took down No. 2 Kentucky, one of the most popular national championship picks in the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
On top of a March Madness stunner, the win was also the biggest victory in program history for Saint Peter’s, which had never won a tournament game heading into this year’s dance. The coach behind the big win? Shaheen Holloway, who is in just his fourth year as a head coach, all of which have come at the helm of Saint Peter’s.
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Getting the better of a Basketball Hall of Fame head coach in John Calipari will certainly turn the spotlight to Holloway, especially as he prepares to head into a second-round matchup against No. 7 Murray State for a chance to move on to the Sweet Sixteen.
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What do you need to know about Holloway? Sporting News takes a look at the fourth-year head coach.
Historic success as head coach
Holloway does not have much experience in the coaching world, but in his short tenure with the Peacocks, he has orchestrated a drastic turnaround.
The year before he was hired, Saint Peter’s went just 14-18, and was coming off its sixth losing season in the past seven campaigns. In the 2018-19 season, Holloway’s first at the helm was not great — 10-22 — but he turned it around fast in his second year, guiding the team to an 18-12 record, including 14-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Those 14 conference wins were the most for the team in program history — a mark, he’d later tie again.
That year, Saint Peter’s finished second in the regular-season standings and had advanced to the conference tournament quarterfinal before the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. For the year, he was named The Rock MAAC Coach of the Year, becoming only the third Saint Peter’s coach to earn the honor.
But that wasn’t all. That year, the Peacocks set a program record with four players on All-MAAC teams and a conference-record three freshmen on the All-Rookie Team.
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In Holloway’s third season, Saint Peter’s did not advance quite as far, ending the year 14-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play, but the 2021-22 campaign was one to remember. The Peacocks finished second in the regular season standings with a 20-11 overall record (14-6 MAAC) before tearing through the conference tournament, winning the first two games by a combined 26 points and beating Monmouth 60-54 in the final to punch their ticket to the dance.
Saint Peter’s had previously reached the NCAA Tournament three times. Each trip ended with a first-round exit. The most recent loss came to No. 3 Purdue in the 2011 tournament. That changed on Thursday, with the Peacocks beating Kentucky 85-79.
Already, Holloway has the sixth-most wins as head coach in Peacocks’ program history with 62.
Sick before game vs. Kentucky
Thursday’s game against Kentucky was the biggest in the coaching career of Holloway since arriving at Saint Peter’s. He almost wasn’t there for it.
Days before his team was set to travel out to Indianapolis, Holloway got food poisoning from a trip with his son to McDonald’s, according to Asbury Park Press and Gannett New Jersey reporter Jerry Carino. He was unable to travel with his team, and said he needed to be on an IV before his team played Kentucky.
Shaheen Holloway said he actually missed the team’s trip to Indianapolis because had food poisoning after taking his son to McDonald’s Monday. He arrived late and needed an IV yesterday before the game.
“There was no way I was going to miss this.”— Jerry Carino (@NJHoopsHaven) March 18, 2022
Past March Madness heroics
There will be plenty of fans in Jersey City, N.J., that remember this win against Kentucky for years to come. But this is not the first time Holloway has thrilled New Jersey college basketball fans.
Back in the 2000 NCAA Tournament, Holloway was a guard for Seton Hall, with the Pirates dancing for just the seventh time in program history. Seton Hall entered the field as the No. 10 seed in the East region, and was matched up against No. 7 Oregon.
The Pirates and Ducks went to overtime with the game tied at 64. Oregon took a 71-70 lead after Frederick Jones knocked down a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining in the period. Holloway took the in-bounds pass and drove the length of the court, carving his way through the paint with ease before banking in a go-ahead layup to put Seton Hall up 72-70 with 1.9 seconds remaining. Oregon’s last-ditch shot came up well short as Seton Hall advanced to the Round of 32.
Great moment for Saint Peter’s HC Shaheen Holloway, a Queens native & one of nation’s best high school guards in the class of ‘96. I’m sure this was noted on the broadcast, but this isn’t the first March highlight for Holloway, Ian Eagle & Jim Spanarkel: pic.twitter.com/ufQwpmyGzD
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) March 18, 2022
“Growing up as a little kid, you watch the NCAA Tournament and you see people doing stuff like this and you say to yourself, ‘One day I want to be a part of that,'” Holloway said, according to ESPN. “I’m just happy we got the opportunity to come here and play.”
Holloway had a game-high 27 points. He was injured in the team’s next game against Temple, though his team was able to win in overtime 67-65 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Pirates fell to Oklahoma State 68-66.
Nearly played for John Calipari
Before coaching at Kentucky, Calipari had built up an annual powerhouse at UMass that consistently reached the NCAA Tournament. He found himself at St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, N.J., pursuing a pair of talented players.
One of them might have been too good to recruit. According to the Courier Journal, Calipari wanted Holloway to join the Minutemen, an Atlantic-10 team, but knew he was going to be a tough player to recruit. Instead, Calipari wound up signing St. Patrick forward Winston Smith, and did not work too hard to convince Holloway.
“Every kid in the east, your whole goal was to go to the Big East,” Calipari said, according to the Courier Journal. “So, if he said to me, ‘Big East,’ I probably didn’t. I probably went in and got Winston.”
Holloway told the Courier Journal that he indeed wasn’t recruited by Calipari, but wouldn’t say whether it was because he was too good.
“I’m not going to say I was too good,” Holloway said, per the Courier Journal. “It was a different time.”
Calipari only had one final season at UMass before he was hired to be the head coach of the New Jersey Nets. That last season was a good one, however, as he guided the Minutemen to the Final Four. Holloway and the Pirates would not reach the NCAA Tournament until the 1999-2000 season, when it reached the second round.
Back to alma mater?
Holloway’s playing career at Seton Hall propelled him to a brief professional career before he turned to coaching. His first coaching stint was as an assistant for three seasons at Iona, before Holloway found himself back with Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J., as an assistant on the Pirates’ staff.
Now, there’s rumors that he could find himself back with his alma mater after the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
According to NJ.com, Holloway would be one of the top options to replace Kevin Willard, who has long been speculated to be the next head coach at Maryland.
Holloway certainly has plenty of ties to Seton Hall. He helped guide the Pirates to the Sweet Sixteen in 2000 and finished his career as the all-time leader in assists (681). His 1,588 points rank 17th all time in program history, his 231 steals are fourth and his 185 3-pointers are eighth.
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After eight years of professional basketball, Holloway returned to Seton Hall to work as an administrative assistant in the 2006-07 season, where he assisted with tape and opposition scouting.
Holloway had been a longtime coaching protege under Willard. Willard was the head coach at Iona from 2007-10, and brought on Holloway to be an assistant. When Willard left for Seton Hall, Holloway followed him over and remained on his coaching staff as the lead recruiter for the team. In 2012, he was named to the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame for his time as a player.
Given the success Holloway has found at Saint Peter’s and his history with the program, it would make sense that the Pirates would push hard for him to become their next head coach. Iona coach Rick Pitino told NJ.com that he believes Seton Hall would call Holloway first if Willard decided to leave and noted that he would be an “awesome fit.”
Willard also told NJ.com that he believes Holloway might not be at Saint Peter’s for much longer.
“[Saint Peter’s has Holloway’s] toughness, they have his grit but I think they also play with his intelligence,” Willard said, per NJ.com. “His offense has his feel from when he was a player so I just think he has all the intangibles and I feel bad for Saint Peter’s because I think they’re going to lose a really good coach.”