2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

Our STATE of EDUCATION
A LASTING
LEGACY While
coach Shaheen
Holloway and
many of Saint
Peter’s players,
including Doug
Edert, have
moved on to
new schools,
their imprint on
the university
remains.
the cart before the horse.”
The rest is history.
Saint Peter’s stunned Kentucky with an 85-79 overtime win
on March 17, the first jaw-dropping result during an improbable
run. Two days later, the Peacocks advanced to the Sweet 16
after beating Murray State. Another gargantuan upset came on
March 25 when SPU outlasted Purdue in Philadelphia, a more
accessible location for the school’s modest fan base.
Led by an underdog group of players, including Jersey products
Daryl Banks III (Somerset), Doug Edert (Nutley) and Isiah
Dasher (Jersey City), and head coach Shaheen Holloway, a former
Seton Hall star, Saint Peter’s became
the NCAA Tournament’s first-ever 15 seed
to reach the Elite 8.
Ultimately, the magic ran out against
North Carolina, the tournament’s eventual
runner-up, on March 27, when Saint
Peter's lost 69-49. But the Peacocks had
already cemented themselves as an alltime
Cinderella story. What’s more, their
play left a permanent imprint on their
university, one that has already been felt
beyond the basketball court.
“We put Saint Peter’s on the map,”
Edert says. “There’s people all over the
country that didn’t really know Saint Peter’s.
We were able to put the school out
there and get people to realize that it’s a
good school.”
As Eugene J. Cornacchia, Saint Peter’s president,
watched the Kentucky game from the school’s section
at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, he noticed an arena security
guard kept looking at him. Finally, with the score tied at halftime,
the guard approached and said, “I just gotta tell you, your guys
are amazing. I thought they were going to be blown out of the
water in the first five minutes.” An honest Cornacchia says he
replied, “You and me both, buddy.”
Soon after the buzzer sounded, Cornacchia’s phone blew
up with similar interactions from trustees and alumni. Meanwhile,
a wave of curious hoops fans crashed the university’s
PHOTOGRAPHS: (EDERT) COURTESY OF SAINT PETERS/RICH SHULTZ;
(CAMPUS) COURTESY OF SAINT PETERS/AL FERREIRA PHOTOGRAPHY
72 SEPTEMBER 2022 NJMONTHLY.COM