Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003212057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
"Jim said, `I've never asked you this since we talked back last summer, but have you ever had second thoughts,' " related Holland, who will become the athletic director at Davidson. "I said, `No, not in terms of changing my mind.'
"You second-guess, sure, but that's different from saying you should be doing something differently. I think all along Jim has respected my decision and has not tried to change my mind."
Many have suggested that Virginia do everything in its power to retain Holland, 47. The coach has had nine 20-victory seasons in 16 years at UVa, and has taken the Cavaliers to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the past 10 seasons.
"It's not a matter of money," said Holland, whose last team finished 20-12 after a 63-61 loss to Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional. "If that were the case, I would not be leaving coaching to be an athletic director.
"I've tried to be careful, when people have asked, to say, `No, he has not asked me [to return], but that doesn't mean he doesn't want me to.' Maybe you could have budged me if you'd caught me on the right day, maybe after one of our big wins, but not after I'd had time to think about it."
Holland announced June 23 that he would step down after the 1989-90 season, citing a desire to leave coaching on his terms. It also is known that he had become frustrated by a lack of improvement to the university's basketball facilities.
"We do have a facilities problem," Holland said Tuesday at a farewell news conference. "We can't solve it overnight. But [we need] to continue to pound away at it. I know Jim has committed to that and said as much. We've put it off for this year because we felt those are the decisions that need to be made by a new coach.
"He's committed a fair amount of resources to the program. You've got to make [University Hall] more presentable. With people in here, it looks fine because they cover up a lot of the flaws. But when we bring prospects in, quite often they're looking at it at its worst."
Holland indicated he favors construction of a new arena.
"I still believe there are a lot of fans who would like to buy tickets but can't. Those are the kind of fans who, when they spend $10 or $15, are going to use the tickets. I think the problem of no-shows would be solved by selling tickets to fans instead of contributors.
"I'd hate to see us build anything less than 16,000 in terms of size. But I think eight or 10 years is the [soonest] you can talk about it."
Holland said he will remain at Virginia until a new coach is named and was to begin a recruiting "swing" later Tuesday. He met with the players Monday.
"I wanted to get a feeling for where this team is mentally," he said, "to make sure we don't have anybody hanging their head and going off on a tangent, forgetting to go to class and that type of thing. I wanted to make sure they knew we're still here."
Copeland also met with the players on Monday.
"It made them feel that, one, he does appreciate their concern; and, two, helped them realize they don't know that much about the coaches who are out there," said Holland, who was not at the meeting. "It helped them come a lot closer together.
"The main thing to avoid is the feeling that [the players] are being left out and need to force their way into the picture as you've seen at other schools, where players say they're going to leave or transfer. There's never been any attitude of that."
Holland said he has taken the approach that he will remain at Davidson for five years, "or certainly a minimum of three years, unless my wife has other ideas."
Holland's wife, Ann, said they would re-evaluate his decision after one year.
Actually, Holland will be back at Virginia next year, but only when the Wildcats visit UVa.
"That's not here," Holland said to UVa associate athletic director Jim West, who attended Tuesday's news conference.
"Yes, here," West said.
Presumably, Holland will be on hand for the game, although Virginia is not the only school to ask if he will change his mind. He said he has been contacted about other positions.
"I say that I've already got two jobs and now is not the time to talk about a third," he said. "It's nothing that I'm likely to do, but let's not close the door completely."
When it was announced that Holland would resign, many attributed his decision to a lack of appreciation. However, Holland admits that he never has felt more appreciated than at the present moment.
"Absolutely," he said. "This year has been almost perfect, except for being able to win a couple more games. As far as the way we've been treated by opposing fans and our fans, we couldn't have asked for more.
"People talk about what a great program we have, but I'm not sure that hasn't been blown out of proportion. We've made our mistakes, but at least we've been up front and, when we've had problems, we've dealt with them."
by CNB