It’s the second week of September and Shaheen Holloway is treating this workout like it’s mid-March.
The new Seton Hall coach is in constant motion, his mouth never stopping and his voice booming off the walls of Walsh Gymnasium, getting so close to his players in one drill that it looks like he’s a part of it.
The breakout star of last year’s NCAA Tournament is demanding all-out effort from his nine healthy players, intensely running this 90-minute session like he is coaching for his job.
“That’s who I am,” says the 45-year-old Holloway, Kevin Willard’s replacement at the school where he was once a star point guard and later an assistant coach. “That’s how I played. I want guys the same way.”
It has been a whirlwind six months for the Queens native, from being a nondescript low-major head coach at Saint Peter’s to the breakout star of March Madness to landing his dream job at Seton Hall. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Mets game, announced the Jets’ third-round pick (tight end Jeremy Ruckert) at the NFL draft in Las Vegas, appeared on the “All the Smoke” podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, and spoke at the Foot Locker Foundation gala.
All this while bringing in seven new players to fill out what was a depleted roster. His popularity at his alma mater is through the roof. Athletic director Bryan Felt says a number of season tickets were bought the day of Holloway’s introductory press conference, and they have been on the rise since. Holloway still gets stopped on campus for photos. Back in the spring, Seton Hall’s Center for Sports Media was hosting its speaker series, and Alex Rodriguez was one of the guests. Holloway joined him.
“Shaheen goes up on stage to see A-Rod and gets a standing ovation,” Felt recalls. “I’m telling you, this ovation brought the house down. Even A-Rod is like, ‘What the heck, I didn’t get half of this.’ Afterward, the line to see Sha’ was 10 times longer than A-Rod’s line.”
He added: “There’s a level of excitement with his arrival around our program that is at another level.”
It hasn’t changed the way Holloway operates, though. Assistant coach Rasheen Davis jokes that Holloway treated Saint Peter’s like Seton Hall and Seton Hall like the Knicks. He’s determined to win. He doesn’t feel — or act — like a celebrity.
“As a player, I had something to prove, and as a coach, I got something to prove,” Holloway says. “I’m in a Power Six conference. What I did last year, it doesn’t matter. I got to prove it to myself, I got to prove it to players, coaches, people in the league.”
There was an adjustment period for the Seton Hall players, one that is still ongoing. Holloway only knows how to coach one way. He doesn’t understand how anyone can play basketball without giving maximum effort. Watch the NBA, he says — nobody plays cool. They’re all hungry with something to prove. Breaks in his workouts are rare. It is one drill followed by another and another.
“At first it was kind of like, ‘Oh my God, he’s trying to kill us,’ ” says junior forward Tyrese Samuel, one of five returning players. “Now we embrace it. Coach Willard’s workouts were intense. His are just to another level. … He wants everybody to play balls to the wall.
“It’s really contagious. You see him so passionate on the court, you want to play for him. He drives guys.”
Holloway will get on players. He expects their best every day. He breaks guys down to build them up. That’s where newcomer KC Ndefo, his star forward at Saint Peter’s, plays such a big role. Ndefo has been there many times before with Holloway. He knows what the coach expects. His message to his teammates from the outset was simple:
“It’s not how he sends the message, it’s the message,” Ndefo tells them.
The focus of this workout is defense, which comes as no surprise to anybody who knows Holloway. When he first began as an assistant coach, under Willard at Iona, Willard gave him the defense.
Holloway preaches the importance of that end of the floor. You won’t see the court, he tells his players, without defending. During the practice, Holloway makes a point of emphasizing physicality. He’s most animated when Samuel blocks a shot at the rim, jumping up and down excitedly. In a five-on-three defensive drill, the players have to sprint if their defense isn’t up to Holloway’s standards. He punches the air in frustration after a few made baskets. “Keep the ball out of the paint,” the coach roars several times following one poor defensive set. After an offensive player is clearly fouled on a layup attempt, Holloway tells him to go up stronger next time. He wants contact during practice.
“We start it there and then we reel it back in,” Holloway says. “But you have to start somewhere first.”
Holloway hasn’t coached a Big East game yet, and the expectations for him are incredibly high. His sole focus is preparing for the season, and making up for ground he believes was lost this summer when Seton Hall’s workouts were almost all skill development because so many players were hurt. Holloway makes it clear this won’t happen quickly. At Saint Peter’s, it took him four years for that magical March run. The Pirates aren’t going to instantly be a top-20 team. His goal for this year is to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid and set the foundation for how his program will operate. But that doesn’t mean the bar isn’t being set through the roof by Holloway. He dreams of not just returning to the Elite Eight, but beyond.
“For me, it just made me work harder, because I want to be back there,” Holloway says. “I’ve seen that, I’ve felt that feeling. I want to get back to that. I want to take my school back to that, and that’s the goal. The goal is to get there, get past there and get to new heights.”
Asked if it’s realistic to reach a Final Four at Seton Hall, Holloway immediately smiles and nods his head.
