Hall of Fame coach explains why Seton Hall is ‘dangerous’

NEW YORK - Bob Hurley Sr. has coached enough winning basketball in his time to know the necessary ingredients.

And the Naismith Hall of Fame coach has been impressed with Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall as the Pirates have gotten off to a 9-1 start entering Saturday’s Garden State Hardwood Classic against Rutgers (5-5).

“Seton Hall’s whole is so much better than the parts,” Hurley told NJ Advance Media during a filming in Manhattan of the upcoming documentary “The Scout & The Scholar” about legendary scouts Howard Garfinkel and Tom Konchalski.

“They’ve done a great job of integrating players,” Hurley added. “They play hard, they have timely shooting right now, and they’re dangerous because you can’t load up on a particular player. They’re very balanced in the way they play.”

After going a dreadful 7-25 a year ago, the Pirates have already eclipsed last year’s win total. They are coming off an impressive 78-67 win at Kansas State on Saturday that marked the program’s first win over a Big 12 opponent since 2021.

Their stout defense held PJ Haggerty, the nation’s leading scorer, to just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting and high-scoring Monmouth transfer Abdi Bashir to 11 on 4-of-10 shooting.

The Hall’s only loss was a 2-point defeat to eventual Maui Invitational champion USC in Hawaii.

The Pirates woke up on Monday ranked No. 38 in the NET Rankings, fourth among Big East teams after they were picked to finish last in the conference.

“We’re just trying to keep building and this was a good win,” Holloway said in his post-game radio interview. “This is a hard place to play.”

Holloway brought in 10 transfers after identifying players like Budd Clark, AJ Staton-McCray, Tajuan Simpkins, Mike Williams, Elijah Fisher and Stephon Payne who could implement his style of play.

“I think Sha enjoys coaching guys that are going to try to dispel their rankings, and probably gets annoyed with guys that are talented that don’t work as hard as they should,” Hurley said. “I think he loves the ingredients that he has right now, and it’s going to be every time you play him this year, you’re going to have to beat them. They’re going to be ready to play every game.”

Luckily for the Pirates, they don’t have to be ready for another week when Rutgers comes to Prudential Center in the last non-conference game before Big East play begins.

Holloway said Staton-McCray “got hit in the eye and couldn’t see too much” and Williams “hurt his wrist” in the Kansas State game, so they need “treatment.”

“So gotta make sure that those guys are good,” he said, “and just these guys need some days off.”

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