P.J. Carlesimo impressed by Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway? Making NCAA Tournament would be ‘overachieving’

P.J. Carlesimo is rooting for Seton Hall to make the NCAA Tournament this year and says doing so would be "overachieving."

P.J. Carlesimo is rooting hard for first-year Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway and believes he will make the program a perpetual NCAA Tournament team.

The Pirates -- winners of seven of their last eight after Sunday’s 69-64 victory over DePaul -- remain on the bubble heading into a huge game Wednesday with No. 23 Creighton (6:30 p.m. ET, FS1).

“It would mean they did an unbelievable job,” Carlesimo, who came into the Seton Hall locker room before the game, said of potentially making the tournament. “I know they got a chance, but frankly it would be overachieving. If they do that, it’s fantastic. I hope they’re able to.”

Carlesimo, who led the Pirates to the 1989 NCAA championship game against Michigan, spoke Sunday when the school honored his 1988 team, the first in program history to make the Big Dance.

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Carlesimo and his staff recruited Holloway out of St. Patrick High School, as well as former Paterson Catholic star Tim Thomas, knowing they were among the best players in New Jersey -- and the nation.

“We had identified him and Timmy Thomas and we knew they were going to be the best players in the state, so I’ve known him for so long even though he’s technically a [New York] City guy and George [Blaney] did the recruiting,” Carlesimo said at the Final Four. “It was somebody that we knew was going to be one of the best players in the state.”

Holloway ultimately chose Seton Hall over Kansas, Duke and Syracuse, and helped lead the Pirates to the Sweet 16 in 2000 under coach Tommy Amaker, who succeeded Blaney.

After leading Saint Peter’s on a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight last season, Holloway now has the Pirates (15-9, 8-5 Big East) on track for a potential March Madness bid. After an 0-3 start in Big East play, they have gone 8-2.

“Each week when you watch them, they’re better than they were,” Carlesimo said Sunday. “I think they have a chance.”

“I don’t want to put it on them and say, ‘They should be in the NCAA [Tournament].’ The truth is I don’t know if they should be but I think he’s got a great chance of doing it. I think it would be an over-achieve and I think it would be a great way for him to start his career here. He’s going to be here a long time, he’s going to have a lot of other teams and there’s going to be no mystery about whether they’re going to be there or not, but it would really be a great way to start to see these guys accomplish that.”

Said Holloway: “P.J. is big. Outside of Richie Regan, P.J. is Seton Hall. For him to make those comments for a team that’s still building, still getting better, I really thank him for that.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.

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