Seton Hall basketball: Shaheen Holloway says 'we have more depth and talent' on new roster
Shaheen Holloway would rather not field an almost entirely new Seton Hall basketball team coming off a 25-win season that ended with an NIT title. But when that opportunity presented itself due to the churn of the transfer portal, he remade the Pirates in the style he always envisioned: deep, with interchangeable parts.
“I wanted more depth, more guys who could play multiple spots, more size at the guard spot,” he said Tuesday. “I wanted a team I could play 10-11 guys, where I don’t gotta try to play one guy 35 minutes.”
After a roller-coaster spring period that included the out-transfer of eight players, including All-Big East point guard Kadary Richmond (to St. John’s) and standout wing Dre Davis (to Ole Miss), the Pirates moved toward his vision with the infusion of eight transfers to join returnees Dylan-Addae Wusu, Isaiah Coleman and David Tubek, plus three incoming freshmen.
“For me as a coach, I want more options,” Holloway said. “I don’t want to think I gotta play certain guys because I can’t trust certain people with certain things. It’s better competition-wise as well.”
Summer workouts began this past weekend, though Holloway said only about half of his 14 players have arrived so far as the others finish up academic requirement at their current/previous school.
Still, he exuded excitement about the possibilities of this new-look team.
"My (original) thought wasn’t 'go get 10 new guys'; my thought was I’d (still) have a couple (more) guys from the team last year, and I'd have to get four or five new guys,” he said. “Now I said to myself, ‘OK I don’t want to do what I did last year, bringing (scholarship) guys on for practice (purposes) or just filling a roster spot. This year I wanted guys who can compete, so practice could be at a high level.”
Holloway employed a 10-man rotation at Saint Peter’s. That’s how he’d prefer the Pirates to play, with competition at every spot, fresh legs to wear down opponents, and options for the coaching staff in case of injury, illness, foul problems or slumps. This past season’s 7-man rotation, heavily reliant on the starters, was a tightrope act he’d rather avoid.
“So now I can look to the bench and I don’t have to worry about a drop-off, I don’t have to worry about playing X person for 36 minutes, because if I sit him for two minutes our lead’s going to go down,” he said. “I didn’t want that anymore, so I’m bringing in a bunch of guys who can play and compete and I think that brings the best out of a team.”
On the new guys
It’s always tricky to make pronouncements about depth when the first game is four months away, but at a glance the Pirates’ 2024-25 roster contains much more balance than last season’s front-loaded edition.
Here’s a quick rundown of the seven in-transfers:
Scotty Middleton: 6-7 sophomore wing who finished last season strong at Ohio State, where he shot 45 percent from 3-point range. Projects to have a major impact right away at the Hall.
Garwey Dual: 6-5 sophomore guard who didn’t find his footing at Providence but was regarded as an explosive, high-end talent coming out of high school.
Yacine Toumi: 6-10 postgrad and French national who averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 boards at Evansville. Expected to contribute right away.
Chaunce Jenkins: 6-4 postgrad guard averaged 15.9 points and earned All-Sun Belt honors at Old Dominion. He’s the Hall’s most experienced backcourt addition.
Prince Aligbe: 6-7 junior forward averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds over two seasons at Boston College. Former four-star high school recruit.
Zion Harmon: 6-0 junior guard who was a child prodigy/YouTube sensation. Earned All-SWAC honors at Bethune-Cookman each of the past two seasons.
Gus Yalden: 6-9, 250-pound redshirt freshman from Wisconsin who was a four-star high school recruit but sat out last season due to off-court issues in Madison.
Emmanuel Okorafor: 6-9 junior forward, who hails from Nigeria, played sparingly at Louisville. Possible rim protector.
Holloway discussed some of these guys in the interview.
On Dual: “He’s different (than Richmond). He’s very athletic, obviously a little quicker, younger. I’m looking forward to coaching him. I think he’s got a really good upside. He’s had a really good summer (in the NBA Draft process). I spoke to some teams, they were high on him. So I’m interested to see what he can do. I’m really intrigued.”
On Middleton: “Scotty’s got good size, he can shoot the basketball. Scotty’s best basketball is ahead of him. He did a decent job last year at Ohio State and towards the end of the year if you watched their games, he got really comfortable, started playing really well. He can shoot the basketball and I was looking for more shooting. Plus he’s versatile, can play multiple spots.”
On Toumi: “I’m really intrigued by him. He’s got good size, his skill set is unbelievable at 6-10, he’s doing things a guard can do. He can shoot, can do things off the dribble, he’s a good passer, good defender. I’ll be honest: I was shocked he came back to school. He had a really good draft experience. He just felt he could go higher and he wanted to challenge himself at the highest level. I’m very fortunate to have him.”
On the holdovers
Holloway also discussed his three returnees.
On Addae-Wusu entering the portal and then retuning: “It was a crazy time…Him and I had a talk, a big-boy talk. I told him what I’m expecting from him. If he can do those things, then he can have a really good year. If he can’t, then this is going to be a tough year for him because we have more depth and talent than we did last year. So I’m looking for Dylan to show some leadership and take a jump. I thought he took a back seat last year because of Al, Dre and Kadary, he was more of a glue guy. Now I’m looking for him to be more of an all-around player.”
On Coleman: “Looking for Isaiah to take a tremendous jump. Last year he showed you spurts, this year I’m looking for him to be more consistent. He’s shooting the basketball really good right now in workouts. You can tell he’s much more confident now, in his second year with me.”
On Tubek: “I want DT to be my KC Ndefo, my junkyard-dog type. The difference is his offensive skills are better than KC’s were early on.”
Asked about Richmond's defection to league archrival St. John's, Holloway said, “Right now I’m worried about the 10 new guys on my roster. Coaching against St. John’s will be just another game.”
Looking for leaders
The summer regimen, emphasizing individual instruction, is Holloway’s favorite time of the year. Going back to Holloway’s time as associate head coach under Kevin Willard, Seton Hall typically has been strong in the player-development department, and much of that work gets accomplished in the summer months.
The dynamics of that have changed a bit because there is so much turnover in every program now.
“We had a meeting and I told everybody: This year I’m looking for a leader,” Holloway said. “You’ve got the first month of summer school to show me who’s going to take control. You want to see who guys are listening to. Those are things I’m watching right now.”
Other program news
In other news: Seton Hall’s non-conference schedule is nearly complete. The Pirates host Oklahoma State, NJIT, Monmouth, Saint Peter’s and Wagner. They visit Rutgers, and will play three Thanksgiving-week games in the Charleston Classic. That field, whose matchups have yet to be announced, includes Miami, VCU, Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic, Oklahoma State and Nevada.
With two openings left, Holloway said they might look to add another high-major.
Construction on Seton Hall’s $50 million basketball practice facility, which is being built as an extension onto the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center, is moving along. Holloway said it may be ready for use by as early as October and called it “beautiful” and “a game-changer.”
Also worth noting: Holloway’s contract has been extended from its original six-year deal, Gannett New Jersey has learned. This was expected after Holloway guided the Pirates to a 25-win campaign and the NIT title in year two – and had Louisville showing interest in him for its coaching vacancy. Seton Hall does not disclose the terms of its coaches’ contracts.
Holloway wrapped up his interview by urging fans to be patient as he figures out this new roster. But the enthusiasm in his voice was palpable.
“If you watch my teams over the years, we get better as the year goes on,” he said. “To our fans I would say, ‘It’s going to be a process, but we’re going to get there.’”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball: Holloway excited about 2024-25 roster
