Dan Hurley and Shaheen Holloway have a friendship built on old Seton Hall ties, shared history and years in the same basketball circle. The transfer portal, though, has a way of testing even the cleanest relationships.
This spring, Hurley found himself recruiting Na’jai Hines, the 6-foot-11 Plainfield, N.J. big man who had become one of Holloway’s best portal finds at Seton Hall. That made for an awkward twist, given the path both coaches took to get here.
Hurley was once a Pirates star himself, a Jersey City native who played five seasons at Seton Hall, scored more than 1,000 points and built the kind of relationships that lasted well beyond campus - including with his wife, Andrea. After Hurley graduated in 1996, Holloway arrived as the freshman point guard who followed him.
Now Holloway is in his fifth season leading the Pirates, and Hines was one of the players who helped Seton Hall exceed expectations. Picked to finish last in the Big East, the Pirates wound up fourth, with Hines leading the conference in blocked shots at 2.2 per game. He was joined by another under-the-radar success story, Budd Clark, who came out of Merrimack and turned into a second-team All-Big East pick before transferring to Ole Miss.
That combination of development and departure has been part of the sting for Holloway. Two summers ago, he lost Kadary Richmond, his first-team All-Big East point guard, to St.
John’s, where Rick Pitino helped lead the Red Storm to a Big East championship. Clark then left as well, heading to a program with a much larger NIL budget.
Hines followed a similar path in the spring, though Hurley made clear he believes the process stayed aboveboard.
“It’s awkward in the sense that you’re hoping that somebody you have a lot respect for understands that we didn’t tamper," Hurley told CT Insider. "We wait until names go in the portal, then we begin the recruiting process. We don’t recruit players into the portal, like a lot of people do and have done specifically to (Seton Hall).”
Hurley didn’t pretend the situation was ideal, but he also stressed the respect he has for Holloway.
“You didn’t want to have to do it," Hurley continued. "But, it’s just part of today’s game.
I couldn’t have more respect for a coach than I do for Shaheen. He’s probably one of the few friends that I have in coaching.”
Holloway and Hurley have crossed paths this summer on the recruiting trail and at the Big East spring meetings in Florida, where the basketball conversation apparently stayed comfortably generic.
"We just talked about the stuff we normally talk about," Hurley reported.
When Hines’ name came up, the answer was simple.
"We didn't really go there."
For Hines, the move to UConn was just part of the modern college game. He said Holloway has not reached out since the transfer, but he didn’t frame the decision as complicated.
"I wouldn't say it was tricky," Hines said of his decision, "because I knew what I wanted to become. It's part of the process of being a basketball player nowadays."
Hines is still adjusting to life in Storrs, including Hurley’s layered offensive system. At first, he said, it was a challenge.
"It started off difficult," he said, "but as soon as you start to get down the terminologies and sets, it actually gets really easy. Because you know there are certain things are going to happen."
The bigger adjustment may be Hurley’s practices, which can grind players down with their length and intensity. Last week’s media availability hinted that Hines was still finding his footing, though Hurley said that kind of struggle comes with the territory for every newcomer.
“These training camp-type practices are the hardest things they've ever been through, in terms of physicality, the focus, the intensity and length of the the practice, and having to sustain it from the beginning to the end at a certain level," Hurley said. "Being able to concentrate through the fatigue and soreness ... it's a lot to deal with. Our mindset is to train these guys under a lot of pressure and stress and anxiety, so that the games feel a little bit easier for them.”
Hurley will see Holloway again at Big East Media Day on Thursday in New York City. Then the two teams will meet twice in league play, with UConn visiting Newark, N.J., on Jan. 9 before the Pirates come to UConn on Feb. 17.
In Other News...
UConn Gets Dragged Into A Spending Debate Fans Will Notice
Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson has turned an early-season frustration into a broader college football debate, and UConn found itself right in the middle of it after beating the Golden Eagles. Anderson pointed to his teams losses as proof of what happens when a program runs into opponents with far more money devoted to the defensive side of the ball, a complaint that has become familiar in an era when roster building is increasingly tied to resources.
UConn athletic director David Benedict pushed back publicly, saying Andersons budget estimates were off base and challenging the way the numbers were being framed. The exchange gave the Huskies an unexpected place in a conversation that stretches well beyond one game, with the dispute now becoming part of the backdrop for how fans judge the cost of competing and the gap between perception and reality. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets A Syracuse Test Shaped By Two Huge Unknowns
UConns home matchup with Syracuse in East Hartford brings a familiar opponent back into the picture, and this one comes with an extra layer of intrigue for the Huskies. It will be the 15th all-time meeting between the programs, and there is a real coaching crossover in the game as well, with Vince Kehres now leading Syracuses defense and Nunzio Campanile calling plays for UConns offense.
What makes this one tougher to sort out is how much of Syracuses early-season identity is still taking shape. The Orange are expected to settle in around quarterback Steve Angeli after his return from an Achilles injury, and they also have a fresh weapon in wide receiver Calvin Russell III, who is set for his first collegiate game. For UConn, that means preparing for a team with a little history, a little newness and a couple of moving parts that could change the feel of the afternoon quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Andre Drummond Lands In A Role That Could Shape A Title Race
Andre Drummond has landed in a spot where the margins are thin and the expectations are clear. The veteran center is stepping into the Knicks frontcourt as the only major new addition after their championship season, bringing the kind of rebounding, physicality and locker-room presence teams lean on when the calendar gets tougher. Mike Brown and the players around him have already shown confidence that he can fit quickly and help steady a group that does not have much time for a long adjustment period.
For Drummond, this is also a return to a franchise he once watched from the outside as a Knicks fan, only now the responsibility is different. He is being asked to help fill the minutes and role left by Mitchell Robinson, and the fit could matter more than a routine roster move because New York is trying to stay at the top of a crowded race. The early sense around the team is that Drummonds experience gives them a real chance to keep the front line intact, even if the final answer will come only after he starts logging meaningful games in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]