Terry Holland, the legendary college basketball coach who spent 16 seasons with the Virginia Cavaliers men’s team, died on Monday, the University of Virginia announced. He was 80 years old. According to the school, Holland died in Charlottesville, Virginia after a bout with Alzheimer’s disease.
“He just made you feel good and peaceful,” current head coach Tony Bennett said of Holland. “You just always wanted to put your arm around him and get a hug from him. He just had that way about him. It’s a sad day. Certainly, I had the greatest respect for him basketball-wise, but the more I came to know him and even his wife, Ann, the more I loved them just as people.”
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Holland began coaching at Virginia in 1974 and led the team to the NCAA Tournament in his second season. He then put the Cavaliers on the map in 1981 when he led the team to a Final Four appearance. In that season, Virginia finished the year with a 29-4 record and lost to North Carolina in the national semifinals. Holland got his team back to the Final Four in 1984 but came up short of winning a national title after losing to Houston in the semifinals. During his time with the Cavaliers, Holland was named ACC Coach of the Year in consecutive years (1981, 1982), won three ACC regular season titles, won the ACC tournament title in 1976 and won the NIT Tournament in 1980.
“Coach Holland built the foundation of Virginia basketball,” said Rick Carlisle, a co-captain of UVA’s 1983-84 Final Four team and the current head coach of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. “More than anything, he cultivated an atmosphere of respect and family and positively impacted the lives of everyone he touched. An amazing man with a historic legacy.”
Before his time at Virginia, Holland was an assistant coach for Davidson in 1964. He became the head coach of the Wildcats in 1969 and led the team to four Southern Conference regular season titles and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament once in his five seasons. After leaving Virginia in 1990, Holland became the athletic director of Davidson and held the position for four years. He returned to Virginia in 1994 to be the athletic director before stepping down in 2001. In 2004, Holland became the AD at East Carolina and was with the school for 10 years. Holland, who played college basketball at Davidson, is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
