Hollowell right man in the right place at the right time for UNO

Alhough it is a different sport, the University of New Orleans made a home run hire with Stacy Hollowell as its new men’s head basketball coach.

Hollowell exhibited and exuded class at his introductory press conference.

He started by thanking and saluting Mark Slessinger, who exited stage left for an assistant coaching job.

He thanked his youth coach, his high school coach at Mandeville, the person that gave him his first job, and the entire Loyola contingent, with virtually all Wolf Pack personnel present, including athletic director Brett Simpson and Mike Giorlando, who hired Hollowell as an assistant at Loyola before Hollowell succeeded Giorlando.

He saluted Tim Floyd, Tic Price, Joey Stiebing and Ron Maestri, all of whom were present. He saluted Johnnie Jones of Texas Southern, who was present, as well as Kermit Davis, formerly of Ole Miss, his last two bosses. He coached abroad with Stiebing, giving him a wider perspective on the game and with people.

“I couldn’t be happier and more excited for this guy (Hollowell),” Jones said. “He did a tremendous job for the year he was with us. I was blessed to have him as part of our staff. I knew he was one of those guys that our time together wouldn’t be long. I thought he had all the potential to take that next step at a higher profile school. Like the NBA, he was one-and-done. This is a great opportunity for him. It could not be at a better place for him. I think the sky’s the limit for him.”

Hollowell cited Floyd as a major influence, sharing a story about living in the same Mandeville subdivision and how Floyd persuaded him to attend his UNO basketball camp at Lakefront Arena.

“This young guy has paid his dues,” Floyd said. “He wasn’t born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. He had to go to every single level of this business to get to his dream job. He has a great understanding of this university and the city of New Orleans. I think he’s going to do well. My advice to him is to ‘recruit, recruit, recruit.’ That’s easier said than done but his work ethic will take care of that. Details about the right things in coaching are most important. If you build it, they will come.”

Hollowell also thanked and gave credit to former UNO great Gabe Corchiani, a significant financial contributor to the program previously.

“We have to attract financial support and having a collective here will be very important,” Hollowell said. “We play a fun style of ball. We’ll go find the players. We have to get busy in the transfer portal and with junior college players. We’re going to have some challenges up front. We will have seven to eight ‘pay day’ games right away. It’s tough. It’s part of the challenge. I’m not scared. Coach Floyd has helped me in my life and with my professional decisions.”

While Hollowell’s undeniable success as a head coach was enough reason for UNO to hire him, his ability to bring significant support and supporters to the program is another crucial component to the hire.

Keep an eye on Matt Bowers, whose automobile empire is obvious.

Bowers, a Mandeville and Ole Miss guy, is a Hollowell guy.

Financial support is expected to follow and UNO, which has lagged behind in fundraising and did not even have a collective for NIL money in place, will now begin one with some of the names figuring prominently in the equation.

Having watch Hollowell coach at Loyola, his teams will play fast, pushing it whenever possible. His teams will play defense and will play hard. Hollowell won an NAIA national championship with the Wolf Pack in 2022, leading his team to a 37-1 record as he was named NAIA National Coach of the Year.

Interestingly, one of those wins came on Nov. 6, 2021 when his Wolf Pack went to Lakefront Arena and beat Slessinger’s Privateers 80-72. Perhaps that was a good audition.

Javan Felix, who coached with Hollowell at Loyola, will join him on his staff with the Privateers, a holdover from the staff of Slessinger. Felix is a born and raised New Orleans who starred at St. Augustine High School.

If Monday morning was any indication of what is to come, we can expect an upgrade in fan interest, community interest, sponsor interest and corporate interest in what was once a wonderful program under Ron Greene, Don Smith, Benny Dees, Floyd, Price and Stiebing.

University of New Orleans President Kathy Johnson and Athletics Director Tim Duncan made a good hire, make that an outstanding hire.

Though many were interested in the job, there is no one who fits the job better than Hollowell.

He checks all the boxes.

Hollowell is still young. He has enormous experience. He is local and knows the territory extremely well. He can recruit. He has won a national championship. He has friends in high places who can and will most likely support the program, a program in dire need of an influx of fans and finances.

The UNO basketball program has recessed most recently.

Slessinger did an admirable job in difficult circumstances, taking his team to the NCAA tournament in 2017. Since then, the Privateers had just two winning seasons. Over the last two seasons, UNO was a combined 22-43, including 11-25 in the Southland Conference.

Fan interest waned and evaporated to the point where a typical home game attracts in the hundreds, not the thousands. At some games, that number is in the low hundreds.

The university has struggled, going from over 17,000 students prior to Hurricane Katrina to where it now hovers around 6,000 students. While the exodus of citizens after Katrina was a clear factor, other universities, including Tulane, Southeastern Louisiana, Loyola, Xavier, Dillard, Nicholls and neighboring SUNO have seen pre-Katrina numbers return, for the most part.

After Katrina, UNO athletics struggled, regressed under budget constraints, leadership issues, a very poor decision to flirt with going to Division III status and a lack of funds raised.

As I have stated on many occasions, athletics are the front door to any university and its growth. Awareness through positive publicity and name recognition is important. Athletic success is a clear draw.

Now, the trick is to have success again at Lakefront Arena and to draw some lost fans back while creating new fan interest.

I was blessed to do play-by-play of UNO games for either television or radio when Smith, Dees, Art Tolis and Floyd coached at UNO. Those were great times and fun days and I have a couple of rings from Privateer teams that made the NCAA tournament which I treasure. It was a blessing to serve in a senior administrative capacity at UNO and conceived and executed the naming of Privateer Park as Maestri Field, a richly deserved honor for my friend.

UNO is a great, local institution which carries the name of the city. It was great to see many prominent figures in the school’s athletic history on hand this morning.

It is important for the university to return to prominence.

It would be great to see its men’s basketball program return to prominence.

To get there, you need good leadership.

By all accounts, Johnson appears to be a good leader.

Hollowell is the right hire at the right time in the right place. He is a proven winner. He is enthusiastic. He is home. Now, he simply needs the internal support from a fledgling university and the external support from long, lost fans while creating a new fan base in the process.

As we saw with Tulane football the past two years, if you win, you can attract fans, regardless of how bad or insignificant, inconsequential you have been over an elongated period of time.

The best marketing tool is winning.

UNO won with playing a game by hiring Hollowell, the right man at the right place at the right time, anda home run hire. Now, the university must give him the tools necessary to win.

Hollowell must now produce. Given the needed support, he can do so.

Based on observation, knowledge of the man and past experiences, here is betting he can and he will. The singles and doubles must come first before the triples arrive. If anyone can hit it out of the ballpark, it is Hollowell.

More…

Hollowell joined Ken Trahan on The Ticket 106.1’s All Access (interview starts at 39:13 mark):