Shaheen Holloway has everything he needs to put Seton Hall back in the Final Four

In the long history of the cliche “winning the press conference,” never has a new head coach enjoyed a blowout quite like this. Then again, to even call what happened in South Orange on Thursday afternoon a press conference is silly, and it sure as hell wasn’t an introduction. The event that announced to the world that Shaheen Holloway was officially back at Seton Hall was part celebration, part pep rally, and part an episode of This Is Your Life.

I’ve covered a lot of these over the years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one this happy. I am certain that I’ve never seen this because it might be unprecedented in college sports: The players from Saint Peter’s, the team that Holloway led to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, sat in the fifth row to support their former coach — and received three standing ovations from the Seton Hall fans.

“I wouldn’t be up here if not for those 15 men over there,” Holloway said, and Walsh Gym erupted in applause. It was a great moment for Seton Hall, for Saint Peter’s and for the New Jersey basketball community as a whole.

Look: There isn’t anybody who doesn’t think Seton Hall made the right decision to hire Holloway, the star player from the last team to play into the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend and the hottest name in college coaching.

Bryan Felt, the Pirates athletic director, said he would have hired Holloway even if his Peacocks hadn’t gone on their magical March run. “He certainly made it easier!” Felt said with a laugh. He didn’t even talk to any other candidates, calling Holloway “the clear choice” — and, in an era when half of the people you meet wouldn’t agree on the color of the sky, this was unanimous.

And to think: The fans who came to celebrate Holloway’s return didn’t even hear his answer to a question to a small group of reporters after the main event died down. Holloway was asked to give his goals for his program, and after a bit of resistance — “Already, huh?” he said — he made it clear that he wants to raise the bar.

“I want to give Kevin Willard his props,” Holloway said. “What he did here was unbelievable. I mean, unbelievable. But I want to take it to the next level. That’s going to be hard work. What he’s done here, as an alum, I was proud of what he did and what he stood for with this university. I just want to take it to the next level.”

Given that Willard had gotten this team to the NCAA Tournament in five of his last six seasons before leaving for Maryland, that next level is a big step.

Shaheen Holloway introduced as new Seton Hall men's basketball coach

Having coach Shaheen Holloway get the head-coaching job at Seton Hall wasn't a surprise at all. The Pirates' career assists leader and star of the college coaching scene after taking Cinderella Saint Peter's to the Elite Eight, he was the only person athletic director Bryan Felt considered after Kevin Willard left for the Maryland job 10 days ago.

If there was a surprise Thursday as Holloway was introduced in a tiny Walsh Gymnasium crowd of about 1,000 people, the 15 players from his uplifting Saint Peter's team were in the audience to applaud him.

"It says a lot about Shaheen," Felt said of the Peacocks being there to celebrate their former coach. "It says a lot about him. It says a lot. What he pours in, he gets back."

This marked the second time Felt has hired Holloway. He was the Saint Peter's athletic director when Holloway was hired in 2018. Felt took the Seton Hall job in 2019 and hired Holloway again Wednesday.

The Peacocks of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. Their run to the Final Four was stopped Sunday in a 69-49 loss to North Carolina.

"I wouldn't be up here if it wasn't for those 15 young men," Holloway said shortly after being introduced. It was a remark that sparked the second of three standing ovations the Peacocks received. The first was when they walked in.

Holloway said he spoke with the Peacocks for three hours Wednesday, just before Seton Hall announced his hiring. He said it was extremely hard to leave the program he led for four seasons. He said the players made it easy for him, even teasing the 45-year-old who spent eight seasons as a Pirates assistant coach.

In replacing Willard, Holloway is taking over a Big East program that has been to five of the past six NCAA tournaments. It would have been six of seven had not the pandemic canceled the 2020 event.

Holloway, whose Peacocks beat Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue in the NCAA tournament, said he would put Saint Peter's back on the Pirates' schedule after a four-year absence. He also went out of his way to say how important it was for him to get this job.

"I can't mess this up and I'm not going to mess this up," he said. "When you are home, it's too important. It's a difference. It's a big difference, like you put more time, more effort, more sweat, more tears. This is everything to get an opportunity to coach at my alma mater. I'm not going to mess up this opportunity."

Holloway said he walked around Walsh Gym on Wednesday night and it brought back a ton of memories.

"I'm blessed, I'm humbled," he said. "It's unbelievable to me," Holloway said.

Holloway said he felt exhausted and drained by the past two weeks. The emotional burden reached a climax Sunday when his grandmother, Dorothy Holloway, died. She raised him.

She had told him she wanted to be buried at Seton Hall and Holloway will try to have her wish fulfilled.

His wish is to improve the Pirates' program.

"I want to take it to the next level, you always want to take it to the next level," Holloway said. "That's going to be hard work. It's going to be hard."

Looking at the Seton Hall players in the audience, Holloway told them to get ready to work.

Seton Hall junior forward Tyrese Samuel said Holloway probably is the most talked about coach in the country right now, and he is looking forward to working with him. He added Holloway's success is going to put pressure on the Pirates.