Kentucky Basketball: 20 candidates to replace John Calipari as Head Coach
By Joey Loose
Shaheen Holloway
Kentucky has fallen short in recent years, especially in the postseason. Why not hire the man who knocked them out of the Big Dance two seasons ago? Not only did Holloway do that during a historic run at Saint Peter’s, but he’s proven to be quite the resourceful basketball mind and coach early in his career.
A star point guard at Seton Hall in the late 90’s, Holloway played professionally before getting his coaching career started under Kevin Willard. He aided Willard for more than a decade at Iona and Seton Hall. Saint Peter’s gave him his first head coaching gig in 2018 and he gave them quite the story four years later, leading the 15-seeded Peacocks to the Elite Eight, including upset wins over Kentucky and Purdue. Holloway has been at Seton Hall the last two years and just led the Pirates to an NIT title last week.
It’s hard to resist a chance to coach Kentucky if it comes, but would Holloway actually leave his alma mater after just two seasons? He was the perfect hire and has Seton Hall trending in a great direction yet again. Realistically, he’s not going to be high up on the list of candidates for the Wildcats, though he’s certainly another name to watch in the coming years, especially if he can pull similar magic with those Pirates.