NEW YORK — Seton Hall’s season is over and head coach Shaheen Holloway and his staff plan to get to work on next year’s roster with the NCAA Transfer Portal opening March 24.
“I think the only thing that helps us this year, last year, we made a deep run [to win the NIT], and we got done [playing] in April, and by the end, a lot of guys was kind of going other places,” Holloway said following his team’s 67-55 loss to Villanova in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
He added: “I think it’s also important that you get the right people, not just names, and not just look at numbers and say, okay, he averaged X amount of points at this place. I think he could average x amount of points here. You really gotta do your research, and you gotta take some chances, and you gotta trust your gut.”
Obviously, sophomore wing Isaiah Coleman is the most important potential returning piece on the roster. Coleman averaged a team-best 15.3 points and went for a game-high 25 against Villanova, but would be highly sought after in the portal.
“Obviously, I want him back and we’ll do what we can do try to keep him,” Holloway said.
Asked if he was optimistic about the program’s NIL situation going forward, the coach said: “In this climate of NIL and stuff like that, it’s important, you have to have it. You have to have it. You can’t be successful [without it]. And like I said, we trending in the right direction. But I gotta make sure the fan base understand, the alumni understand how important it is because no one wants to go through something like this again. I know I don’t.”
In the locker room, Coleman, Prince Aligbe, Garwey Dual and Godswill Erheriene all discussed their future plans.
Here’s what they said:
Isaiah Coleman: “I’m definitely looking forward to coming back here, just gotta chop it up with the fam, see what’s going on. See what’s best for me and my future.”
Asked when he might make a decision on his future, he added: “Nah, no clue. Right now I’m a Seton Hall Pirate.”
Prince Aligbe: “I’ll just leave it up to the man above about the future and whatnot. I try to take it day-by-day, keep my mind on what’s ahead. I see it as how can Prince can better, and I know once I get better, it’s going to help the team moving forward.”
Garwey Dual: “As of so far, I want to be back here.”
Godswill Erheriene: Asked if he planned on returning, he said, “Yeah, yeah. I don’t care about the other stuff, just grow as a person and grow with the program I trust. They never lied to me.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.