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Seton Hall to visit Monmouth for basketball exhibition, fundraiser
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- Seton Hall to visit Monmouth for basketball exhibition, fundraiser
After Seton Hall basketball rallied past Monmouth last November, Hawks coach King Rice said Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway was pulling the plug on the in-state series.
He was mostly correct, but there's a notable twist.
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The teams are planning to meet on the court this fall, but in the preseason – a public exhibition in West Long Branch to raise money for both programs' rosters. Details are still being finalized, but according to multiple people involved in staging the event, the date is Saturday, Oct. 24 with the tip time to be determined. If it goes well from a revenue standpoint, this could become an October staple in the future.
Shaheen Holloway and King Rice
The exhibition will mark Seton Hall's second visit to Monmouth's spiffy, 4,100-seat on-campus arena, now called OceanFirst Bank Center. The Pirates played the second-ever game there in November of 2009, prevailing 87-72 under Bobby Gonzalez.
Overall, the Hall leads the series 16-1, with the loss coming in 2024. Holloway and Rice are friends dating back to their days as rival MAAC head coaches, and Holloway scheduled Monmouth in each of his first four seasons as Seton Hall's skipper.
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Last year, the Pirates fell behind by nine points before winning 70-58.
"He (Holloway) told me tonight, 'We're not playing you anymore,'" Rice told reporters after that game. "He told me don't call him, he told me don't ask him again, and I respect that. I'm thankful that his opportunity came. Seton Hall's been good to Monmouth since I've been the head coach. They've played us a whole bunch of times, and that's helped our program tremendously. So for the 15 years I've been here, I'm thankful to Seton Hall for doing this."
From an exhibition standpoint, it makes sense for Seton Hall to play this at Monmouth because the arena's capacity is much higher than Walsh Gym's, and a notable portion of significant Hall boosters live in the area. Like many other programs, both the Hawks and Pirates are looking for any means possible to engage supporters in fundraising for roster-building purposes.
Both teams experienced high turnover in the offseason, with Seton Hall bringing back just one player, backup point guard Trey Parker, after a fourth-place Big East finish and Monmouth returning one starter in 6-foot-9 center Stefanos Spartalis after reaching the CAA Tournament final.
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A visit to the Palestra
Seton Hall's non-conference schedule, which should be announced soon, will contain a special treat -- a game at the Palestra, known as "the Cathedral of College basketball."
The 8,700-seat arena on the University of Pennsylvania's campus in Philadelphia was built in 1927 and retains all of its old-world charm. Details of the game are still being finalized, but the tentative date is Monday, Nov. 9 and the opponent is a member of the American Athletic Conference (possibly Charlotte, not finalized). This is part of a doubleheader, with Penn playing in the other contest.
Seton Hall's last visit to the Palestra took place in November of 2007, when the Pirates beat Navy and Virginia there under Bobby Gonzalez.
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Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com .
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall to visit Monmouth for basketball exhibition, fundraiser
