Seton Hall Basketball

The Seton Hall Pirates are NIT champions for the first time since 1953.

Senior guard/forward Dre Davis made a clutch layup Thursday night to seal Seton Hall's 79-77 NIT championship game victory over Indiana State.

It was part of a wild end to the game for Seton Hall:

After heading into halftime tied 39-39, Seton Hall fell into a late deficit.

The Pirates then went on a nine-point run to finish the game, leading to senior Seton Hall guard Al-Amir Dawes tying the score at 77-77 with a three-point jump shot with just over one minute left.

After the win, Dawes was named the NIT MVP.

The tight game between the two teams, as well as the highlight-reel plays in crunch time by Davis and Dawes, led fans to question why Seton Hall wasn't granted an NCAA tournament bid.

The snub was a surprise for the Pirates, who won six of their last seven games, made it to the Big East Tournament quarterfinals and ranked No. 32 in the NCAA's NET rankings before being listed as one of the "first four out" of the Round of 68.

The Pirates finished the season with a 25-12 record and an NIT crown for head coach Shaheen Holloway.

Holloway was hired as the program's head coach in March 2022 after leading No. 15 seed Saint Peter's on an upset-packed run to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight.

Now Holloway will look to guide Seton Hall on a similar journey next season as the program fights for a ticket to the next Big Dance.

After coaching No. 15 seed St. Peter's on a magical run to the Elite Eight in this year's men's NCAA Tournament, Shaheen Holloway has accepted a deal to become head coach of Seton Hall.

According to Stadium's Jeff Goodman, Holloway has finalized a six-year deal to return to his alma mater. St. Peter's reportedly made a strong offer to keep him, but Goodman stated that the school "obviously couldn’t compete with Seton Hall money."

Holloway will be formally introduced during a press conference on Thursday, per Seton Hall's release. 

A former standout collegiate point guard, Holloway starred for the Pirates from 1996 to 2000 and led the team to the Sweet 16 in his final year. He holds the all-time program record with 681 career assists and was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.

Prior to taking the helm at St. Peter's, Holloway spent eight seasons as associate head coach of the Pirates under Kevin Willard from 2010-18. The staff led Seton Hall to the 2016 Big East Tournament championship.

Holloway is just the second former Pirates player ever to become head coach of the program.

"Life has a way of coming full circle," Holloway said in the release. "This is certainly a full circle moment for my family and I. ... To say that I'm excited to get started as the head men's basketball coach at Seton Hall University would be an understatement."

After coaching St. Peter's to the 2022 MAAC Tournament title, Holloway and the Peacocks became the darlings of March Madness after their massive upset win over Kentucky in the first round. The team followed up with wins over Murray State and Purdue before falling to UNC this past Sunday.

Saint Peters men's basketball head coach Shaheen Holloway, who led the 15th-seeded Peacocks on a historic Cinderella run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, is expected to be named head coach of the Seton Hall Pirates "in the coming days," according to Brian Fonseca of NJ.com.

A deal is expected to be completed before the Final Four, NJ.com's Adam Zagoria added. 

However, Holloway isn't focused on what could be after his team's 69-49 loss to the No. 8 UNC Tar Heels in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

"I'm not worried about that," Holloway said, according to Zagoria. "I'm worried about those 15 young men whose heart is down and what they've done the last two weeks. We're going to walk out of here the same way we walked in—with our head up."

Holloway's Peacocks became the first No. 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to reach the Elite Eight. They defeated the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats, No. 7 Murray State Racers and No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers before falling to UNC. 

Holloway went 64-54 in his four seasons as head coach at Saint Peter's. In addition, Holloway served as an assistant coach for Seton Hall for eight seasons before taking the Saint Peters head coaching job.

Should the 45-year-old decide to join Seton Hall, it would be a homecoming for the former Pirates star. He played for the program from 1996-2000 and helped lead his team to the Sweet 16 in his final season.

Seton Hall's former head coach, Kevin Willard, was recently hired as head coach of the Maryland Terrapins. He had been head coach of the Pirates since 2010, leading the team to five NCAA tournament appearances.

The unranked Seton Hall Pirates upset the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 67-65 on Tuesday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

Michigan had a chance to tie or win the game down 66-64 with 10 seconds remaining.

Wolverines forward Terrance Williams II missed a long-distance two from the top of the key with eight-tenths of a second left, but Seton Hall guard Jared Rhoden was called for a shooting foul.

Williams missed the first free throw and made the second. Off the inbounds pass, Pirates guard Bryce Aiken was fouled with two-tenths of a second remaining and made one of two free throws to end the scoring.

Michigan then didn't have enough time to get a shot off, capping the upset.

Rhoden led the Pirates with 16 points. Tray Jackson and Aiken each scored 13 off the bench. Jackson made all five of his shots, three of which were three-pointers.

Wolverines big man Hunter Dickinson led all scorers with 18 points.

Michigan guard Eli Brooks stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Backcourt mate DeVante' Jones had an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The Wolverines led by as many as 10 in the second half and held a 55-46 edge with 8:49 remaining, but Seton Hall responded with an 11-2 run capped by an Aiken three with 4:35 left to tie this one at 57:

Seton Hall ended up taking the lead for good on a pair of Aiken free throws with 33 seconds left for a 65-64 advantage.

Eli Brooks missed a jumper on the other end, and Pirates guard Myles Cale responded with one of two free-throw makes after a foul, leading to the final sequence.

The 3-0 Pirates will now play Ohio State next Monday in the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida. The 2-1 Wolverines will visit UNLV in the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Former Seton Hall basketball player Myles Powell is suing the school, his former head coach Kevin Willard and team physician Tony Testa for allegedly misleading him about the severity of a knee injury and allowing him to play with the injury, per Nicholas Katzban of NorthJersey.com.

Powell is claiming in the lawsuit that the school, Willard and Testa were negligent in allowing him to play on a torn meniscus in his right knee, and that by doing so he further damaged the cartilage and hurt his chances at an NBA career. 

Powell said in the lawsuit he suffered an injury in the second game of the season, though Testa told him it was only an ankle issue and he could play without further injuring it. 

But he claims that his right knee began to hurt more and more as the season progressed, though he said Testa maintained that it was nothing more than a bone bruise. Powell said Testa treated the injury with medication to alleviate the pain. 

He claims that he should have sat out the rest of the 2019 season after suffering the meniscus tear. He believes Testa misdiagnosed and mistreated the injury.

He also blames his former head coach, Willard, alleging he was "aware of the advice he was given by Testa and that professionals associated with the NBA had 'suspected or discovered' his untreated injury, ruining his chances in that year’s lottery," per Katzban.

Along with negligence, he's also accusing Willard and Seton Hall of "breaching their contract with him and obligation to exclude him from gameplay and practice that would worsen his health."

Powell played four seasons for Seton Hall, averaging 17.5 points and 2.3 assists per game in his college career. He was a first-team All-America selection and the Big East Player of the Year in his 2019-20 senior campaign, posting 21 points per game. 

He went undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft and signed with the New York Knicks, though he never played for the team. He instead joined their G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, playing in 13 games for the team last season and averaging 17.8 points per game. 

Former Harvard guard Bryce Aiken announced Thursday he will play for Seton Hall next season as a graduate transfer:

Aiken is from nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey and was considered the No. 3 player in the state out of high school, per 247Sports' composite rankings.  

The 6'0" player averaged 16.7 points per game this past season with the Crimson but a foot injury limited him to just seven games. The injury gives him the ability to play games in a fifth collegiate season after entering school in 2016.

Staying on the court has been a problem for Aiken throughout his career, dealing with knee problems the previous two seasons. It's limited him to just 39 total games over the past three campaigns.

He's been a difference-maker when healthy, however, averaging at least 14 points per game in each of his four years in school. He was at his best in 2018-19 when he averaged 22.2 points per game, which would have tied for the best in the Ivy League if he played enough games to qualify.

The guard also knocked down 39.8 percent of his three-point looks that year and is a 34.7 career shooter from the outside.

This made him a hot commodity on the transfer market, especially considering he will be eligible to play next season. He eventually chose Seton Hall over Maryland, Michigan and Iowa State.

"[I] was going back and forth between Maryland and Seton Hall, I really love Maryland. But ultimately my heart just chose to stay home," Aiken told Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. "I followed my heart this time around and I knew where I wanted to be for my final year and it was important for me to be home and be able to share this experience with my friends and my family, along with the state of New Jersey."

Seton Hall is coming off a big 2019-20 season with a 21-9 overall record while earning a share of the Big East regular-season title with a 13-5 conference record.

Aiken can help replace seniors Myles Powell and Quincy McKnight as the squad tries to remain a top contender next season.

Oregon Ducks freshman Lok Wur issued a public apology after tripping Seton Hall Pirates star Myles Powell from the bench during Wednesday night's game. 

"I want to apologize to Myles Powell and the Seton Hall team for my actions on the bench Wednesday night," Wur said in a statement Thursday, per ESPN.com. "I acted in an unsportsmanlike manner. I am truly sorry for that and regret my actions."

Late in the first half, Powell was tripped up after knocking down a three-pointer near the Ducks bench:

Powell managed to stay on his feet, but it was clear the Seton Hall star felt the act was intentional. No foul was assessed on the play.

Powell had 10 points in the first half as the Pirates took a 34-30 lead into the break. The senior guard finished the game with 32 points, though it was not enough as the Ducks rallied late for a 71-69 victory. 

He also had to be helped from the court following the game, but Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said after the game that Powell was dealing with cramps rather than an injury suffered as a result of the trip.

Wur did not play in the contest, nor has he made an appearance through any of Oregon's first six outings.

With Seton Hall Pirates star Myles Powell feeling it during Wednesday night's game, one Oregon Ducks player appeared to go to extraordinary lengths to slow down the 2018 Big East Most Improved Player of the Year.

After Powell knocked down a three-pointer in the corner late in the first half, a player on the Ducks bench appeared to trip the Pirates guard:

No foul of any type was called on the play.

Powell scored 10 points in the first half while helping Seton Hall take a 34-30 lead into the break. He came out of the locker room ready to play, draining four triples in the first four minutes of the second half, including three in a 60-second span.  

Seton Hall men's basketball program has been hit with sanctions by the NCAA stemming from a tampering case that began in 2016.

Per Tom Canavan of the Associated Press, Seton Hall received three years of probation, lost one scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year and will have limited recruiting over the next two seasons. 

As part of the sanctions, Seton Hall received a fine of $5,000 fine plus one percent of the annual men's basketball budget. Head coach Kevin Willard is required to attend an NCAA rules seminar next year.

Per Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press, the sanctions stem from former Pirates associate head coach Shaheen Holloway tampering with Taurean Thompson's transfer from Syracuse to Seton Hall in 2017. 

Holloway, who was hired as head coach at St. Peter's in April 2018, was suspended for four games, including the first three of the 2019-20 regular season. 

Seton Hall announced on Oct. 29 it suspended Willard two games, including the season opener against Wagner on Nov. 5. 

The Pirates began this season ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25. They won their first two games before dropping a close 76-73 matchup against No. 3 Michigan State on Thursday.