March Madness - Saint Peter's coach Shaheen Holloway's Sweet 16 moment finally arrives 22 years later

PHILADELPHIA — Back in the summer of 2009, two 20-something Iona assistant coaches walked out of an Orlando AAU event together. Out of nowhere, Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski approached one of the men, draped his arm around Shaheen Holloway and informed him of his obscure niche in Duke lore.

More than a decade earlier, Holloway had twice visited Duke as a recruit. When Holloway walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium as a high school senior in 1996, a scene he described as being «like a movie» unfolded, as eight students painted the letters of his last name on their chests — H-O-L-L-O-W-A-Y.

Holloway would become the MVP of the 1996 McDonald's All-American game, besting Kobe Bryant, Richard Hamilton and Mike Bibby. But he ultimately decided to turn down Duke, Kansas and Syracuse to attend Seton Hall.

That prompted the friendly parking lot headlock from Krzyzewski. «This is the only guy not to commit to me after taking two visits,» former Iona assistant Dan McHale recalled Krzyzewski saying that day.

As Krzyzewski walked away, the defiantly understated Holloway shrugged his shoulders and said to McHale: «I just couldn't leave my barber in Jersey.»

This week, Shaheen Holloway has joined Coach K on one of college basketball's grandest stages through the unconventional path he forged by staying home and staying loyal. Holloway, 45, has guided Saint Peter's into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, one of the most improbable stories in the history of the event.

The 15th-seeded Peacocks toppled No. 2 Kentucky and then thumped No. 7 Murray State, advancing to play Purdue in the East Regional in Philadelphia on Friday night. The victories have thrust the gritty commuter school in Jersey City, New Jersey, into the role of