Former UVA basketball coach Terry Holland dies at 80 NPR

Former Davidson basketball player, coach, athletic director and former Virginia coach Terry Holland was photographed at the jersey’s retirement ceremony in Davidson, North Carolina in January 2022.

Brian Westerholt/AP


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Brian Westerholt/AP

Former Davidson basketball player, coach, athletic director and former Virginia coach Terry Holland was photographed at the jersey’s retirement ceremony in Davidson, North Carolina in January 2022.

Brian Westerholt/AP

Terry Holland, who catapulted Virginia basketball to national fame for 16 seasons as a coach and later went on to have a distinguished career as a sports administrator, has died, the school announced Monday. he was 80 years old.

Holland died Sunday night, confirming the death of his family, according to the school. I stopped taking courtside seats.

Holland took over the framing program in 1974. The Cavaliers have only won three of his seasons in his 21 years, but Holland has created a culture that proves his formula for success.

Although two of his first three teams lost records, Holland put together a 326-173 record, leading Virginia to nine NCAA Tournaments, two Final Fours, and the 1980 NIT title. Only one remaining lost the record. He also led the Cavaliers to his first Atlantic his Coast his conference title in 1976, despite his modest regular season record of 15-11.

Including his five years at Davidson, Holland’s record stands at 418-216.

But his biggest win was perhaps luring the country’s most coveted recruit, Harrisonburg’s 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson, to join the Cavaliers for the 1979-80 season, when , the turnaround began.

“Terry Holland,” Sampson said in an Associated Press interview earlier this month when asked why he chose emerging Virginia over established suitors. School, good teammates, good education, ACC.I mean, there was Dean Smith and the people around him, but he understood my attitude and was perfect for what I was looking for in a coach. “

The Cavaliers won the NIT in Sampson’s freshman season and played in the NCAA Tournament the last three years, reaching the Final Four in 1981 before losing to North Carolina in the national semifinals.

A future Hall of Famer, Sampson has won National Player of the Year honors every year for the past three seasons, and the profile his presence provided certainly helped the Netherlands build their program. . Virginia returned to the Final Four in his first season without Sampson, lost in overtime to Houston in the national semifinals, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament as coach in four of Holland’s last six seasons.

Holland has also built a large coaching tree, with many assistants becoming successful head coaches. Among them are Indiana Pacers’ Rick Carlisle, Miami’s Jim Larrañaga, Old Dominion’s Jeff Jones, and former longtime college coaches Dave Odom and Seth Greenberg.

Holland, who has two daughters, also appreciated the women’s game, according to former Cavaliers coach Debbie Ryan.

“He knew we had to go to Clemson and Georgia Tech, so he helped the league schedule us both on the same day to play the doubleheader.” “We flew to Clemson, we took the bus to Georgia Tech, and then the men’s and women’s teams flew back together. That way we avoid all the wear and tear.” can do.”

He was also always worried while doing the right thing, she said.

“He wasn’t impressed with himself at all,” she said, describing him as a Southern gentleman. I was there to check

When he retired from coaching at the age of 48, he returned to his alma mater, Davidson, as athletic director, beginning a tenure as manager that would see him return to Virginia in the same role five years later. In 2001, he moved to special assistant to the university’s president, and in 2004, he began serving eight years as athletic director at East Carolina University before retiring in 2012.

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159965372/terry-holland-ncaa-virginia-basketball-dead Former UVA basketball coach Terry Holland dies at 80 NPR

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