Chavannes

“Don’t get caught up with his size,” Holloway told Chavannes.

Nowell moved in with Chavannes, who is also the school president.

Nowell once explained to Chavannes that when he was younger, a building fire had forced his family into temporary homelessness.

“He embodies every part of it,” said Chris Chavannes, who coached Nowell in high school.

Seton Hall Coach Shaheen Holloway, an alum who at the time recruited the New York area as a Seton Hall assistant, insisted Chavannes accept him.