Hollis

Former John Tyler High School standout Ra’Kim Hollis is returning to Tyler as he has been added to the UT Tyler men’s basketball coaching staff, head coach Louis Wilson announced.

“We have great young coaches, and our players will learn a lot from them and benefit from their incredible energy and leadership,” Wilson said. “I absolutely love our staff. With the hiring of Dylan Hidalgo and Ra’Kim Hollis, the return of Kelly Hernandez, the addition of Tevin Brown who played for us last year and now beginning his promising coaching career, as well as Fred House, a former NBA and European league player, coming on board to assist with skill development, we are very blessed.”

After a standout career at John Tyler that saw him earn All-State honors, Hollis went to Texas Southern, where he lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference in scoring in consecutive seasons. He was named the SWAC Tournament MVP in 2003 when he led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament.

Hollis spent seven years playing professionally in Europe — two years in Germany, one year each in Austria and Finland and three seasons in Spain.

Hollis joined the coaching ranks in 2017 as an assistant at Albany College of Pharmacy. He then became the head coach of SUNY Adirondack in 2018-19.

Hollis spent last season as an assistant coach at Ranger College under Billy Gillispie, a former head coach at Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech who is now at Tarleton State.

“Ra’Kim comes to us from an outstanding junior college basketball program at Ranger College, where he worked for a great coach in Billy Gillispie,” Wilson said. “Ra’Kim grew up in Tyler, played high school ball here, had a great career at Texas Southern University and went on to play pro basketball for a long time. He is a phenomenal person who possesses positive energy and is a living, breathing example to young kids in this community of what hard work looks like and how it can lead you to professional success. It can even bring you home again.”

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