Shaheen Holloway wraps up Saint Peter’s historic NCAA Cinderella run: ‘They shocked the world’

PHILADELPHIA – Saint Peter’s got here into the NCAA Males’s Basketball Event as an underdog crew from New Jersey only a quick ferry or practice journey outdoors New York Metropolis.

On Sunday, the Peacocks left Philadelphia after an Elite Eight loss to North Carolina as the most effective Cinderella tales in males’s event historical past. That truth was not misplaced on head coach Shaheen Holloway.

Holloway addressed reporters after Saint Peter’s 69-49 loss within the East regional remaining to the Tar Heels. He stated he was pleased with the historical past the crew revamped the previous couple of weeks.

“{That a} group of men got here in right here nobody gave an opportunity to, nobody believed in, however the individuals in our locker room that is in our program, administration, us, and made historical past,” Holloway stated when requested what he was going to recollect probably the most. “They shocked the world. You’ve got received guys that is going to be remembered for issues that they may inform their youngsters and grandkids. It is a story inside a narrative. I am tremendous pleased with these guys. They got here in and made historical past. Level-blank, interval. Nobody has finished it. The final crew to do it was P.J. Carlesimo’s crew.

“Saint Peter’s did it. Interval. Saint Peter’s made it to the Elite Eight. Nice story.”

The Peacocks’ gradual begin to the sport in the end doomed them. North Carolina went on a run early and by no means appeared again and held the Peacocks scoreless for in regards to the first 5 minutes of the sport.

Fousseyni Drame had 12 factors and 7 rebounds off the bench within the loss. KC Ndefo had 10 factors, seven rebounds, six blocks three assists and three steals. Saint Peter’s shot 30% from the sphere the complete sport.

MARCH MADNESS 2022: NORTH CAROLINA ENDS SAINT PETER’S CINDERELLA RUN, ADVANCES TO FINAL FOUR

St. Peter’s head coach Shaheen Holloway reacts in the course of the first half of a faculty basketball sport towards North Carolina within the Elite 8 spherical of the NCAA event, Sunday, March 27, 2022, in Philadelphia.
(AP Photograph/Chris Szagola)

Whereas it wasn’t the end result they might have hoped for, their run was mystical. Saint Peter’s knocked off two Energy 5 colleges in Kentucky and Purdue and a stable Murray State crew to get this deep into the event. They had been the primary No. 15 seed to ever make the Elite Eight.

Holloway stated after the sport the long run is “shiny” for this system transferring ahead.

“I feel the long run’s shiny. We have one senior, KC (Ndefo). Clearly he is a giant a part of what we do. We have one senior, I feel. We have the 5 juniors that is coming again,” he stated. “I believed Clarence (Rupert) had an ideal season. I believed (Jalen Murray) had an ideal season. We had three guys sitting out. They received higher in the course of the yr. Oumar (Diahame) received higher. The long run is shiny. 

“So far as recruits, everyone received an opportunity to see our model of basketball. They received an opportunity to see us play and what we’re all about. So I feel there’s — if you get quite a lot of emails and calls about I would like my son enjoying for you, I like what you guys are doing, I feel the long run’s very shiny.”

Saint Peter’s can stroll out of the Wells Fargo Middle holding their head excessive. The crew confirmed they belonged within the dialog with the large colleges over the past two weeks.

The Peacocks went practically a month between video games from Dec. 18 to Jan. 14 and circled to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Convention and later grew to become the primary MAAC crew since Siena in 2009 to win a sport within the event. 

Head coach Shaheen Holloway of the St. Peter’s Peacocks appears to be like on earlier than the sport towards the North Carolina Tar Heels within the Elite Eight spherical of the 2022 NCAA Males’s Basketball Event at Wells Fargo Middle on March 27, 2022, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Patrick Smith/Getty Pictures)

The small Jesuit faculty from Jersey Metropolis received everything of Peacock Nation and the state of New Jersey behind them for his or her remaining 4 video games they usually confirmed out time after time. Saint Peter’s is bringing again most of their crew for the 2022-23 season and shall be primed and prepared for one more potential run later this fall.