Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway got in a brief altercation with Wagner coach Donald Copeland following the Pirates win.
The Seton Hall Pirates advanced to 4-0 with a 72-51 win over the Wagner Seahawks on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first team in the Big East to hit four wins on the season.
However, the victory was marred by a postgame altercation between Pirates second year head coach Shaheen Holloway and Seahawks coach Donald Copeland.
The two were caught on camera arguing in the handshake line, before Holloway threw Copeland’s hand away in frustration, which led to assistant coaches separating the two.
Things were HEATED going through the handshake line for Seton Hall and Wagner 👀 pic.twitter.com/wQRt5URuBC
“I take full responsibility for that,” Holloway said after the game, as reported by Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press. “I like Donald. I respect him. He’s a good person, a good player, and a good coach.”
The altercation seemed to stem from Copeland’s decision to put on a full-court press toward the end of the game – despite being down 20 points – which Holloway took issue with.
This is not the first time Holloway has had issues with postgame pleasantries, as the Seton Hall coach refused to shake hands with Xavier’s Sean Miller last year after Xavier guard Souley Boum took a three-point shot with 22 seconds left in an 82-57 blowout.
The Pirates will have a hard time advancing to 5-0, with a tough matchup against No. 16 USC slated for November 23 in San Diego as part of the San Diego Invitational.
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I want New Yorkers to imagine a brighter future for the Knicks. Imagine: Madison Square Garden has a superstar player coached by a rising star.
Throw away reason! Wouldn’t it be sick if Donovan Mitchell was on the way? For a second, it doesn’t matter if New York’s front office doesn’t have the right trade assets to get a deal done. Mitchell is clearly frustrated after blowing another 25-point lead on Tuesday evening. Maybe it’s time to start a new chapter. Maybe that will happen in New York.
But what if he doesn’t? What if ownership decides to take the ultimate gamble and hire the darling of March Madness, Saint Peter’s Shaheen Holloway? He represented New York well during the tournament. He is a New York guy and everyone thinks he coached his you-know-what off during his miraculous run to the Elite Eight.
As far as we know, Mitchell hasn’t demanded a trade, and Holloway probably has a few more years of continued success before he is ready to make it work in the NBA. But for the sake of our fantasy, well, maybe we can at least plant the idea in your head and let it marinate for a bit.
The Tip-Off
Highlighting some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
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If you had to put your money down on two players to win the MVP award, you would probably pick reigning winner Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia big Joel Embiid.
However, our own Mike Sykes wants to make sure that you don’t forget about Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. Already a two-time regular season MVP, the Bucks superstar also took home his first NBA Finals MVP last season.
Milwaukee faced off against Philadelphia on Tuesday, and Sykes has the details of how it went down:
Antetokounmpo finished the game with 40 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. He also shot 66% from the field. There have only been three games like this in NBA history and that was one of them. The only other two players do to this are David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon. That’s it.
Okay, my goodness. Say it with me now: Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!
Celtics (-5.5, -210) vs. Heat (+170), O/U 213.5, 7:30 PM ET
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
While it was a bummer for the Celtics to lose Robert Williams for an extended period due to an injury, Boston is still riding an insane heater.
Meanwhile, however, Miami has the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are only one game back of the Heat in the standings, but hey, it feels as if anything can happen whenever Miami steps on the floor. So when two of the most exciting teams in the conference face-off and first place is on the line, you should definitely tune in.
One twist: Do teams want to have first place in the East if the Nets could await in the eighth seed after the play-in tournament? Would it be better to potentially face off against the Bulls, Raptors, or Cavs? Hmmmmmm!
Who’s in and out?
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— Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. (thigh) is questionable against the Spurs.
— Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford are all “probable” against the Heat.
— Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley (ankle) is not available against the Mavericks.
— Warriors’ Andre Iguodala had only played twice since Jan. 16 but returned to action on Monday. He is listed as probable (back) against the Suns.
Shootaround
— Former NBA All-Star Charles Oakley told us he is a better chef than he is a basketball player
— Charles Curtis shared a list of the best dad jokes Giannis Antetokounmpo has told.
— Rookie Wire’s Cody Taylor released his updated power rankings, and the Celtics cracked the top 5.
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Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway took down Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, but 22 years ago the Oregon Ducks were his first victim.
On Thursday evening, the first full day of March Madness, the Kentucky Wildcats and coach John Calipari were upset in stunning fashion by the Peacocks of Saint Peter’s, a No. 15 seed out of the MAAC.
It was an upset for the ages, perhaps the greatest upset in NCAA Tournament history, but for Peacocks head coach Shaheen Holloway it was a somewhat familiar scene.
Holloway has been a part of college basketball for the better part of the last 25 years, playing ball at Seton Hall from 1996-2000 before embarking on a seven-year professional playing career. He returned to coach at Iona as an assistant from 2007-2010, and then went back to Seton Hall for eight years before taking over as the head coach at Saint Peter’s in 2018.
While Thursday’s upset may not ever be topped, Holloway was a part of another remarkable tournament run back in 2000 – and Ernie Kent’s Oregon Ducks were one of his victims.
Holloway averaged 13.2 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.1 rebounds for the Pirates during the 1999-2000 season, a year where they went 22-10 and earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They faced off in the first round against No. 7 seed Oregon, a team that went 22-8 under coach Kent behind stellar play from senior guard Alex Scales and sophomore and future NBA Dunk champion Fred Jones.
Holloway was a monster in this game, dropping 27 points on 11-17 shooting as the Pirates managed to prevail in overtime, 72-71 to advance to the Round of 32 and end Oregon’s promising season far too early.
While a No. 10 upsetting a No. 7 is hardly on the same level as a No. 15 seed over a No. 2 seed, the Pirates did follow that up with a win over No. 2 seed Temple in overtime, 67-65, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in school history – and to date the last time they have done so.
Oregon missed the tournament the following year before the remarkable 2001-2002 season, where they earned a two seed and advanced to the Elite 8 before falling to Kansas by a score of 104-86.
Oregon certainly hopes never to feel the pain of a first round surprise exit ever again, but the goal for Dana Altman and company at this point is just to get back to the big dance after a late season collapse cost them a spot in the madness this year.
The win put the program on the map and gave Saint Peter’s fans a ton to cheer about in the process. Although the bracket-busting performance had excellent contributions (especially from Daryl Banks and Doug Edert on the offensive side and KC Ndefo on defense), it was the team’s coach who stole the show.
Although he was matched up against a legend in John Calipari, Holloway (who was an excellent college basketball player at Seton Hall) never backed down and continued to fight until the final seconds of the game.
Holloway also showed extreme confidence during walk-off interviews, too. When asked if he was nervous during the game, he slyly answered that he did not — it’s just basketball.
That mentality is exactly what brought Holloway’s team into this big moment despite the fact that the resources Saint Peter’s has at its disposal are nowhere near what a program like Kentucky offers.
Public records indicate Kentucky spends more than ten times as much as Saint Peter’s does on their respective basketball teams. In fact, Kentucky reportedly has four assistant coaches who make more money on their salaries than Holloway does as head coach.
But that didn’t matter when the two teams actually matched up on the floor.
St. Peter’s is considered by many the hardest job in the MAAC. It exists in a different solar system than Kentucky in terms of budget, facilities and support. Credit to Shaheen Holloway. This is truly an all-timer.
Despite the lack of resources, Saint Peter’s only even made it into March Madness by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) conference. Then, with a win over Kentucky, his legend only continued to grow.
In the process, Holloway made a lot of new fans around the nation. Now, especially after the massive win over Kentucky, many believe that his recent successes are only just the beginning for Holloway.
One of those individuals is former Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino, a two-time NCAA tournament champion. Pitino, who currently coaches at Iona in New York, was named MAAC Coach of the Year over Holloway.
As a UMass alumnus I'll stick my two cents in: Shaheen Holloway, head coach at Saint Peter's, would be a super star hire for my alma mater.
Pitino, who played college basketball at the University of Massachusets in the early 1970s, said he believes Holloway could be an excellent candidate to replace Matt McCall at UMass (via NJ.com):
“I think Shaheen is one of the young superstars in coaching. He has the total package that fits UMass … He’s a terrific recruiter. He knows how to recruit inner-city kids, which UMass needs. He plays a tough style of play to go against. He was a great player himself from an area that he would have to recruit the University of Massachusetts, so I think he checks all of the boxes. He’s a wonderful guy.”
However, it is not just Pitino who walked away impressed by Holloway. Former NBA players including Magic Johnson and JJ Redick shared their thoughts, and so did many fans around the world.
