Holloway's Homecoming: “Dreams do come true”
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Whose world is this?
The world is yours, the world is yours
It's mine, it's mine, it's mine
Nas’ The World is Yours filled the historic Walsh Gym as Shaheen Holloway was introduced as the head coach for Seton Hall. He was welcomed with various standing ovations as he addressed the media and the Seton Hall community for the first time.
“Dreams do come true,” he said.
Shaheen Holloway taking the podium for the first time as Seton Hall’s head coach Anne-Marie Caruso|NorthJersey.com
Holloway is fresh off leading the Saint Peter’s Peacocks to one of the most incredible NCAA Tournament runs, which included wins over Kentucky and Purdue, becoming the first 15 seed, in history, to reach the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, UNC was the one to stop the Peacocks from continuing but as one chapter closes another one opens.
Now he’s back at his alma mater to coach the Pirates after Kevin Willard left to take the head coaching job at Maryland.
At Holloway’s homecoming were the Peacocks, who also received three well-deserved standing ovations.
“I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for those 15 young men,” he said. This led to the second standing ovation (the first when they walked into the gym).
Holloway was unsatisfied and knew that the audience could show more love to THE underdog team of the men’s NCAA Tournament.
“Pirate Nation, we can do better than that,” he said.
The room then filled with a roar of applause and cheers as the Peacocks got one last standing ovation.
“That was awesome,” Saint Peter’s guard Doug Edert said. “I love to represent New Jersey with our team and what we accomplished. I’m so glad we made everybody proud. He (Holloway) did everything for us. He’s a great guy. Seton Hall got a good one.”
There are a lot of expectations from Holloway but he is up for the challenge.
“I can’t mess this up and I’m not going to mess it up,” he said. “It’s too important. When you home, when you here, there’s a difference. It’s a big difference. You put in more time, more effort, more sweat, more tears—this is everything to me.”
Pirate Blue runs deep in the Holloway family. Holloway’s wife Kim is also a Seton Hall grad and they have two sons Xavier and Tyson. Xavier is named after Xavier Hall, which is where they met as undergrads. Shatanik, Holloway’s daughter graduated from Seton Hall in 2018.
On Sunday, Holloway’s grandmother Dorothy passed away a few hours before the Elite Eight game. He said that she wants to be buried in Pirate Blue or “Shaheen Blue”, as she called it.
From being the school’s all-time assist leader to an OT upset win in the 2000 men’s NCAA Tournament, he accomplished a lot during his four-year tenure as the Pirates’ point guard.
So he will certainly do great things as the head coach of Pirates and after leading the Peacocks to the Elite Eight, I, as well as many others, wouldn’t be surprised if he leads Seton Hall to a National Title.
Seton Hall junior forward Tyrese Samuel is looking forward to working with Holloway and says that his success puts pressure on the Pirates. “I think like as a player, I think you want to just continue to move on to where he left off. You know, he took a great team, Saint Peter’s, to the Elite Eight and he’s coming here trying to do the same thing. There’s no time to rest,” he said.
It’s an exciting time for Pirate fans everywhere, myself included. Coach Sha is a Seton Hall legend and has found success everywhere he’s been, so there is no doubt in my mind that he will find success coaching his alma mater.
So who’s world is it? It’s Sha’s World.
