Tributes to Terry Holland from the world of college basketball
Posted on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, 9:03 am
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Compiled by JerryRatcliffe.com staff members
Bryant Stith and Coach Holland
Tributes to former Virginia basketball coach Terry Holland, who passed away Sunday at age 80, continued to pour in from all corners of the college basketball world on Monday. Here are some of the salutes to Holland collected from various forms of social media:
–Dick Vitale, ESPN broadcasting legend: “Heartbreaking learning about the passing of Terry Holland from @JerryRatcliffe, who covered him during his career. Terry was a CLASSY winner who was a man of integrity & loyalty. Terry was a big time WINNER in the GAME of LIFE! May he RIP!”
–John Calipari, Head Basketball Coach, Kentucky: “Terry Holland passed away. Got to know him well in Conference USA when he was AD at ECU. He’s known for his time at Virginia w/Ralph Sampson, but he was WAY more than that. A great husband & father and he and his wife, Ann, always treated me like family. We lost a great man. RIP.”
–Jay Bilas, ESPN basketball analyst & former Duke player: “Saddened by the passing of former Virginia head coach Terry Holland, one of the ACC’s greatest coaches, and one of the game’s finest gentlemen. RIP Coach Holland.”
–Jim Larrañaga, Head Basketball Coach, Miami, and former Holland assistant: “Everything I’ve accomplished in coaching was due to following his incredible example. Ann and Terry took two kids from the Bronx and made them a part of their family. That began a life long friendship that words can not describe. RIP. We lost a great friend, the perfect mentor and the best role model a player or coach could ask for.”
Terry Holland with Jimmy Miller and the late Frank Birckhead.
–Seth Greenberg, ESPN basketball analyst & former coach, former Holland assistant: “RIP Coach Holland. I was fortunate to have you as a mentor and a friend. You helped guide me through almost every major decision I have made in my adult life.”
–Dawn Staley, Head Women’s Coach, South Carolina, and former UVA player: “Mr. Terry Holland we love you. May soul rest with God. Godspeed to your family, loved ones and all of us who love you!”
–Davidson Basketball: “When Terry Holland was the Director of Athletics at Davidson, he helped bring women’s basketball back to campus after the program was cut in the late 80s. We are forever indebted to him and his contributions to Davidson Wildcats.”
–Tim Brando, college TV broadcaster: “Just landed in Newark and unfortunately saw this. Terry’s another former partner of mine. Shortly after his (coaching) retirement, we did a few games on ESPN. The epitome of class. RIP.”
–Mike Brey, Head Basketball Coach, Notre Dame: “RIP Coach Terry Holland. He was the example for ACC coaches on how to be a class act and a gentleman as a leader!”
–Terry Gannon, television sports broadcaster and former NC State player: “I introduced him to my father, a 30-year high school coach, at an ACC Tournament. He spent a half hour talking hoops with my dad, coach to coach. Terry Holland was pure class. RIP Coach.”
–David Glenn Show: “Terry Holland was among the most kind, thoughtful, intelligent gentlemen I’ve encountered in 35+ years covering sports. Condolences to his family, friends and fans.”
–Hoo Crew: “Current UVA students weren’t alive when Terry Holland was coaching, but we all know the name and the impact he had on the university. Rest peacefully, coach. Your memory will live on forever, through all of us.”
–Bob Rathbun, ACC basketball play-by-play man and Voice of the Atlanta Hawks: “Saddened to learn this morning of the passing of legendary Coach Terry Holland. You all know his basketball accomplishments. But he was a good friend and Raycom Sports broadcast partner. Tough saying goodbye to your friends.”
–Doug Smith, former UVA player: “The best I can say as a coach, Terry Holland treated everyone the same. And he treated us like men (when we deserved it). I am sure his one-on-one conversations with say Bryant Stith and John Crotty were different than a first-year me, but he still ALWAYS had them. He made me and Bryant Stith waffles one morning on my visit. I remember walking off the court together with Coach Holland after his last game vs. Syracuse in the Richmond Coliseum in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. We lost and Coach walked all the way to the lockerroom with his arm over my shoulder.”
Terry and Ann Holland with Jim and Liz Larrañaga.
–Jim Phillips, PH.D., Commissioner of the ACC: “As both a successful coach and respected administrator, Terry Holland leaves an indelible imprint on the University of Virginia, the ACC, college basketball and college athletics. He was a true gentleman that embraced his players and colleagues as family. Our hearts will remain with his wife Ann and the entire Holland family.”
–Bryant Stith, former Virginia player, current assistant coach UNC-Greensboro: “I am heartbroken by the passing of my basketball coach, my mentor, and my friend. I am a better person because a man from Clinton, N.C., saw something in a kid from Freeman, Va. I hope people truly appreciate your legacy. Your heavenly wings are awaiting you … RIP Coach.”
–Jimmy Miller, former Virginia player, current analyst UVA basketball radio: “Coach Terry Holland changed the trajectory of my life. He was a great coach and mentor…and even better husband and father. My heart goes out to his amazing wife, Ann, of 56 years, and two terrific daughters, Kate and Ann-Michael, and their families.”
–Jim Boeheim, Head Basketball Coach, Syracuse: “They beat us in Atlanta (1984), I remember that, and then we barely won the game in Virginia (1990), but my real interactions with Terry were after that more on the basketball committee for selecting USA junior teams, or college teams. He was the chairman of that committee and I was on it. He’s just an unbelievable guy. One of the nicest people I’ve ever known and one of the, just the easiest guy you could ever work with. I learned a lot from him about being a chairman of the committee, running that committee and then I took over after he left, for about eight years. He’s just an unbelievable person and I can’t really adequately describe what a great man Terry Holland was.”
–Jerry Ratcliffe, sportswriter who has covered UVA athletics since 1982: “Everybody knows what a brilliant coach and classic gentleman Terry Holland was. I have a personal story that personifies Terry off the court. When my son nearly died in an auto accident in 1996, I was staying at a low-rent but affordable motel somewhere in Norfolk for a few weeks until he could be transported back to Charlottesville. To this day, I don’t know how Terry found me down there, or even knew I was there, but I was sitting outside on the steps gathering my thoughts one day and here comes Terry, checking up on me and wanting to know if I was OK or needed anything, and how my son was doing. He did countless goodness like this during his life that few people know about. He was just that kind of guy.”
