Big East Basketball: Ranking all 11 head coaches for 2024-25 season

8. Shaheen Holloway (Seton Hall)

No stranger to the Big East, Holloway played point guard at Seton Hall in the late 90’s before a successful overseas playing career. After assisting Kevin Willard for more than a decade, including a long stint at his alma mater, his head coaching career began at Saint Peter’s back in 2018. Little happened in his first three years with the Pirates, though few have forgotten how he led the 15-seeded Peacocks to the Elite Eight in his fourth season.

Holloway parlayed that success into the head coaching job at Seton Hall, returning to his alma mater in 2022. Year one was an understandable struggle, finishing slightly above .500, though his program took a step forward this season. While Seton Hall was potentially snubbed from the Big Dance, the Pirates won the NIT title. Holloway is still yearning to lead his alma mater to the NCAA Tournament but is trending upwards as a head coach.

7. Ed Cooley (Georgetown)

A former player and coach at Stonehill, Cooley’s coaching career was greatly elevated by his association with Al Skinner. He assisted Skinner for a decade at Rhode Island and Boston College before getting his head coaching career started at Fairfield in 2006. He turned things around for the Stags before taking the Providence job five years later and great success in the Big East would follow.

Before leaving for Georgetown in 2023, Cooley took the Friars to the NCAA Tournament seven times, including a Sweet Sixteen run just two years ago. After those dozen years of success, he took over the Hoyas, a program that’s greatly struggled in the Big East in recent years. A 9-win campaign in his debut season wasn’t exactly great, especially with a 2-18 record in conference play. Still, it’s hard to judge Cooley or his new program by just one season.