May 20—GRAND FORKS — A.J. Holland played for three teams during his collegiate career, and his final two seasons were spent at the University of Sioux Falls.
It was the farthest north he had ever lived.
This year, Holland, who grew up in Georgia and went to high school in Alabama, is returning to the Upper Midwest.
UND announced earlier this week that Holland will join its staff as an assistant.
“Now I’m in the igloo,” Holland joked. “I’m extremely excited about it. Coach (Paul) Sather has blessed me with this opportunity. He’s having a lot of success, he’s a likable person and he’s well-respected in the game. When he called me about this opportunity, it was a no-brainer.”
Former Fighting Hawks assistant coach Ty Danielson accepted the head coaching job at Northwestern Oklahoma State in the offseason, creating the opening.
Holland was recommended to Sather by his former Sioux Falls coach, Chris Johnson.
Johnson has coached the Cougars since 2008. Sather’s connection with Johnson dates to his time at Northern State, where he coached from 2010-19.
Holland has spent the last four seasons at East Texas A&M, which plays in the Southland Conference.
He was the director of operations in 2022-23 and was promoted to a full-time assistant the following year.
The Lions made the transition to Division I in 2022-23.
“(East Texas A&M head coach Jaret Von) Rosenberg is a great coach, an Xs and Os guy,” Holland said. “I was able to learn a lot offensively and defensively. He gave us a lot of freedom, recruiting-wise, so I was able to get out and really meet a lot of different people. … The biggest thing was coaching Division I, so now I’ve seen the landscape.”
Holland’s previous coaching stint was in Division II at Angelo State from 2020-22, where he was an assistant.
Holland’s coaching career began in 2017 at Arkansas-Fort Smith. After a year, he joined Texas Permian Basin as an assistant from 2018-20.
Holland believes offense has consistently been one of his strengths. In his two seasons at Angelo State, the Rams improved from the sixth-best scoring offense (75.3 points per game) in the Lone Star Conference to the second-best (78.8).
In Holland’s two seasons at Texas Permian Basin, the team ranked among the top three in the conference in points per game.
“All the teams I’ve coached have leaned toward being more talented offensively,” Holland said. “I think it’s how I recruit — it’s a lot easier to get a guy to defend than it is to make him an elite offensive player. I like to go get some offensive guys and then force them to play defense.”
Holland believes his defensive abilities improved at East Texas A&M.
“Coach (Rosenberg) is more defensive-minded,” Holland said. “I think I grew as a coach from that, and I was able to balance out (by adding) that defensive side.”
Holland is willing to work within whatever system Sather sees fit to use. Historically, Holland has preferred up-tempo offenses.
“If you get a stop, take the ball out quickly, push it up the floor,” Holland said. “We’ve taken the ball out quick, advanced the ball up the floor whenever possible and try to attack the rim and put pressure on the rim right away, that you can draw fouls. … I go get athletes that play above the rim, guys that can shoot the three. We have a 30-second shot clock, but if we can get something in the first five to 10 seconds that is a good shot, we jump up and shoot it.”
Holland also has a background in player development. After graduating from Sioux Falls in 2013, he worked with Elite Hoops Basketball as a skills trainer and the Nike Southeast Regional Camp director in Atlanta.
Holland ran basketball camps throughout the Southeast during that time. He calls development a “huge piece” of his coaching style.
“I think now more than ever, with guys transferring, you don’t have them long, so you need to develop them as much as possible in a small window,” Holland said. “Try to get them ready for the season and keep developing them throughout the season.”
Holland believes his coaching and recruiting experience has him ready for the new landscape of college basketball, which at the mid-major level, often means assembling a new roster every year.
That is certainly the case for UND, which will have just three players from the 2025-26 season on next year’s roster.
“That’s the landscape now,” Holland said. “The summer one, summer two sessions, since it is 15 new guys, they get the chance to bond and spend some time together, get to know each other. They get a chance to meet people and figure out who you want to live with. You get a chance to play pickup and figure out people’s strengths and weaknesses, so it’s not brand new when you show up in the fall. … Playing with each other and learning each other’s habits is huge. It gives you a little jump start.”