UT Tyler men’s basketball head coach Louis Wilson announced the hiring of Ra’Kim Hollis to complete the program’s coaching staff for the 2020-21 season.
 
Hollis, a native of Tyler who went on to star at Texas Southern and had a seven-year pro career in Europe, joins the previously announced hiring of assistant coach Dylan Hidalgo and returning assistant coach Kelly Hernandez. Wilson also added former pro basketball player Fred House to assist with skill development and Tevin Brown, who wrapped up his collegiate career at UT Tyler last season, to complete the coaching staff.
 
“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.”
 
Hollis starred as an all-state first team point guard at John Tyler High School, and he continued his career at Texas Southern, where he led the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in scoring in back-to-back seasons and was named SWAC Tournament MVP after he led the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the SWAC Tournament title in 2003.
 
After three years at Texas Southern, Hollis spent the next seven years playing professionally in Europe. He spent his first two pro seasons in Germany, then went on to play one year each in Austria and Finland before spending three seasons in Spain. After completing his undergraduate degree in kinesiology along with a master’s degree in health education at Texas Southern, Hollis began his coaching career with one year each at Albany College of Pharmacy (assistant coach, 2017-18), SUNY Adirondack (head coach, 2018-19), and Ranger College (assistant coach, 2019-20).
 
“Ra’Kim comes to us from an outstanding junior college basketball program at Ranger College, where he worked for a great coach in Billy Gillespie,” 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.”
 
House played collegiately at Southern Utah, where he led the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League) in scoring and led the Thunderbirds to the conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance as a 2001 senior. He started his 14-year professional career as the NBDL Rookie of the Year in 2002, earning a spot in the Atlanta Hawks training camp in 2002. He then went on to play throughout Europe with stops in Serbia, Lithuania, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, and Kosovo. He played for the NBA G League’s Texas Legends franchise in 2012-13.
 
Brown was one of six seniors on UT Tyler’s 2019-20 roster, playing in 10 games during Wilson’s first season as the UT Tyler head coach.

https://uttylerpatriots.com/news/2020/9/18/mens-basketball-completes-2020-21-coaching-staff.aspx