It has become routine for Shaheen Holloway.
His teams are typically overlooked.
They are dismissed.
It happened at Saint Peter’s and it’s happening at Seton Hall.
Last year, Seton Hall was picked to finish ninth in the Big East by the league’s coaches and they were one of the big surprises of the season by coming in fourth and winning the NIT.
A year later, nothing has changed.
The Pirates are projected to be 10th, ahead of only perennial doormat DePaul.
Now, it should be noted, Seton Hall did lose star players Kadary Richmond (St. John’s) and Dre Davis (Ole Miss) to the transfer portal.
Al-Amir Dawes is playing professionally in Greece.
The roster is almost completely new, the lone key returnees are Dylan Addae-Wusu and Isaiah Coleman.
It’s difficult to predict Seton Hall.
“It is what it is, brother,” Holloway said on Wednesday as the Big East held media day at the Garden. “People got time to sit around and pick other people’s teams, it’s kind of nuts. I’m not worried about nobody else. … You know me, I don’t really care if we’re [picked] first or last. Oh well.
“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s preseason. I just care about my team. You know me, you know my teams, we get better as the year goes on. So right now, I’m not happy where we are, but I think we’re going to be really good. I think we have a chance.”
Holloway doesn’t want anyone feeling bad for Seton Hall after it was hurt by the transfer portal, and he doesn’t expect any sympathy, either.
It’s the way of the sport now.
Plus, he seems to like what he has.
He sees depth, more options at point guard than last year’s team had and potential in this group.
Two of the key newcomers, Scotty Middleton (Ohio State) and Garwey Dual (Providence), didn’t have big freshmen seasons at their former schools, but they were highly regarded, four-star prospects.
“Scotty and ‘G’ have something to prove, to themselves and everybody else,” Holloway said. “With me, they got a fresh start, a new start. I’m curious to see how they take advantage of it.”
Coleman has been encouraged so far.
He believes there is more talent on this roster than last year’s NIT champion, despite Richmond and Davis moving on.
Perhaps most importantly, it’s a group of guys with a desire to improve, and now they’ll have even extra motivation.
“The guys, they’re hungry to get in the gym and just get better. Guys are hitting me, you trying to get some shots up, trying to get this workout in,’” Coleman said. “Guys are itching to get in the gym. That’s good to know.”
It’s part of why Holloway is “intrigued” by this team, a group of players with a chip on their shoulders.
Then again, the Pirates are even a mystery to him.
But there is reason to believe the man who took tiny Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight and overachieved a year ago with the Pirates will maximize the roster’s talent.
At this time last year, nobody expected much out of Seton Hall, and look how that turned out.
