Seton Hall is expected to complete a deal with Saint Peter’s Shaheen Holloway as head coach of men’s basketball, according to Jerry Carino, who broke the news on Sunday afternoon, shortly after the end of the Peacocks Cinderella’s NCAA Elite Eight vs. North Carolina game. Holloway, 45, was a Star Point guard for the Pirates (1996-00) and most recently an Assistant Coach (2010-18) with the program under the former coach. Kevin Willard. Maryland hired Willard (2010-22) away from SHU on March 21st.

Following Sunday’s loss to North Carolina, Holloway declined to comment on job creation at Seton Hall.

“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about those 15 young men whose hearts are broken,” Holloway said.

Holloway made a breakthrough for the 2021-22 season with the Peacocks securing a place in the NCAA Tournament as an automatic bid for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The SPU made a series of three matches in the conference tournament, culminating in the 60-54 championship victory over Monmouth, to reach the Big Dance.

St. Peter broke a parenthesis on March 17 with a 85-79 upset in Kentucky with 2 seeds at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Peacocks’ Cinderella streak continued two days later with a 70-60 victory over Murray State with 7 seeds and the following weekend with a 3-seed Purdue upset at Sweet 16.

“I’m going to say this – it ‘s going to be a little crazy,” Holloway said on March 19. “I have kids from New Jersey and New York. Do you think we’re afraid of anything? Do you think we’re worried about the guys trying to initiate and harden us? We do that. They’re us. We’re a very natural team. Our bodies rather they do not look alike, but these guys play very hard and very physically.

“So that I do not worry about it at all. We have played with bigger teams all the time. So when they are a little older and stronger, it does not bother us. When you have tough, tough guys, they’re ready to play.”

Along the way, Saint Peter’s took on a Holloway-like mentality.

“I was playing to give him 110% all the time,” Holloway said. “I tell my kids all the time, you give me 100%, I give you 200%. I was a decent player. I’m small. People counted me. So I had something to prove every time. So I trained that way. “

The Peacocks hired Holloway on April 10, 2018 and completed its debut in the 2018-19 season with a record of 10-22 (6-12 MAAC). The SPU started to change things in 2019-20, scoring 18-12 overall and 14-6 against the conference game before seeing its possible post-season canceled due to COVID-19.

Saint Peter’s scored 14-11 (10-8 MAAC) for the 2020-21 season before surpassing last year. Took 19-11 overall and 14-6 against the conference before the March Madness series ended.

Prior to Seton Hall, Holloway was originally an assistant coach at Iona (2007-10). Willard was the Gaels coach at the time.

Holloway was a professional basketball player in the United States and abroad (2000-07) before coaching. A senior with the Pirates in 1999-00, he led his team to Sweet 16, beating Oregon (72-71) and Temple (67-65) in overtime until the 68-66 loss to Oklahoma State ended the season. SHU series.

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Holloway attended Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick and was the most valuable player at the 1996 McDonald’s All-American Game. Holloway is a New Yorker from Queen’s.