Terry Holland passed away

[WoadBlue]

You young uns may not have learned how lousy UVA basketball was, year after year, until Holland began to build a program. He pretty much had to build from scratch. Even VT had more basketball history than UVA when Holland started in Charlottesville. Holland took over a program that had just 3 wining seasons over the previous 21 years. He won the ACC Tournament, obviously UVA's first title, in his second season.

Now that is rebuilding. Knowing things like that is why I have no patience with anybody who assumes that a coach must get 4, 5, even 6 years so he has only his players. Holland did that with almost all players recruited before he arrived, when UVA was assumed to be dead last in the ACC, and the top of the league was a murderer's row.

 

[PeppersPizza]

Holland was a class act. He was a gentleman and a intellectual. He coached Ralph Sampson. He was the type of man and coach that made you think of Dean himself. Jim Larranaga coached under Holland, which is the best comparison that I can make to a current coach. Coincidentally, he was from my hometown in NC.

 

[WoadBlue]

Holland was a class act. He was a gentleman and a intellectual. He coached Ralph Sampson. He was the type of man and coach that made you think of Dean himself. Jim Larranaga coached under Holland, which is the best comparison that I can make to a current coach. Coincidentally, he was from my hometown in NC.

Dave Odom also was one of his assistants. Odom and Larranaga together were a truly exceptional pair of assistant coaches, like Roy and Bill Guthridge together on Dean's staff.

 

[UNCPJH81]

Always enjoyed his commercials for Food Lion.

 

[superstar57]

Meet him around 2018 one morning in Wilmington, he had on a old school Virginia t-shirt with portrait of the team, I was about to compliment the t-shirt, but as I looked up it was him. I think we ended up talking about the Raycom network, and watching him coach when I was young on TV.

 

[WhatTheHeel?]

Always enjoyed his commercials for Food Lion.

Ha. He did look like Tom Smith.

 

[dtodd4475]

Class act, great coach. RIP.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

He named his dog Dean Smith. 👎🏽No accolades from me for Terry Holland.

 

[JimmyinVA]

naming his dog dean smith doesn't bother me that much -- people love their dogs. it was a silly fantasy of being dean smith's "master" when the opposite was true on the court. what does bother me is how overrated terry holland was as a coach, not winning a title in four years with generational talent ralph sampson , letting sampson suffer the delusion of being a point guard, and sampson not really improving as a big man until he got to the nba.

 

[ChapelHeeled]

Class act, great coach. RIP.

Met him and liked him. He once handled a parking ticket for me...

 

[dtodd4475]

naming his dog dean smith doesn't bother me that much -- people love their dogs. it was a silly fantasy of being dean smith's "master" when the opposite was true on the court. what does bother me is how overrated terry holland was as a coach, not winning a title in four years with generational talent ralph sampson , letting sampson suffer the delusion of being a point guard, and sampson not really improving as a big man until he got to the nba.

Didn't Ralph win back to back player of the year at Virginia? Ralph played perimeter quite often in the NBA. They did knock us off in the elite 8 the year after Ralph graduated too. Hey, I have heard nothing but what a quality man he was, and with his passing people are remembering that. Oh, by the way he was a damn good coach.