Larry Holley retired at the conclusion the 2018-2019 season after 40 seasons as the head men's basketball coach at William Jewell, where the basketball court is named in his honor. Throughout his legendary career he has received 15 Coach of the Year Awards, most recently the 2018 Kansas City Sports Commission Coach of the Year. In 1996 he became the first NAIA coach to receive the prestigious Sears/NABC NAIA National Coach of the Year Award. He has also been selected to five Halls of Fames: the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the William Jewell College Athletic Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2011 he was honored by the Kansas City Sports Commission with the Earl Smith Award inducting Holley into the Greater Kansas City Amateur Sports Hall of Champions. In May of 2003 he was a court coach at the USA Basketball Pan American Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is also a recipient of the Gary Filbert Legacy Award (2014) for lifetime achievement in basketball in the state of Missouri. It is the highest honor given by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Holley’s coaching background includes one year at Harrisburg, MO High School, where he was the head coach of six teams, varsity, junior varsity and junior high boys and girls, coaching 91 games, with a record of 65-26. He took his first collegiate job at Central Methodist College, where he totaled a record 61-93 over six seasons and was named the Heart of America Conference's first Coach of the Year in 1972. He went on to spend four years on the staff at Northwest Missouri State, including two as head coach.
Returning to his alma mater in the fall of 1979 he went on to guide Jewell to 11 HAAC regular season conference championship and 14 to the NAIA National Tournament, including four who reached the Final Four, and three the Elite Eight.
Holley’s teams boasted two of the longest winning streaks in the HAAC, including a 43-game home court winning streak which began in January 1982 and lasted through the same month in 1987. The Cardinals also enjoyed a 45 game HAAC winning streak that included 21 consecutive road wins and lasted from January 1985 to February 1988.
Holley guided the Cardinals to twenty-five 20-win seasons, including the most recent 2018 squad who went 20-9 on the season. His 39-year record at Jewell is 831-458. His overall record in 48 years as a head coach was 918-577, making him the all-time winningest coach among four-year colleges in the state of Missouri. In addition, on January 25, 2018, just two weeks after winning his 900th career game, the Cardinals defeated McKendree to give Holley his 903rd win to surpass Bob Knight and move into ninth place all-time on the men's college basketball career wins list.
In that win over McKendree Holley's Cardinals took on Harry Statham and the McKendree Bearcats. Statham, who at the time was the all-time leader in men's college basketball wins, came into the game with 1,122 wins while Holley entered with 902. Never before had two head coaches squared off in a single game with more than 2,000 career wins between them.
Holley coached 24 NAIA All-Americans including six first team selections and one who was named NAIA-II National Player of the Year (Brook Russell: 1996). Twenty-six of his players were also named NAIA Scholar All-Americans. In addition, 149-of-155 of his fourth year players at William Jewell have graduated. During their time in the NAIA, Holley's teams were consistently ranked in the top-25 national polls, including No. 1 rankings in 1996 and 2004. They also received the No. 1 seed in the national tournament in 2004.
Holley was a 1967 Jewell graduate and lettered four times in each of three sports (cross country, basketball & track). He was captain of each sport and capped his career by being named Jewell’s Athlete of the Year as a senior. He scored 1,122 points in his basketball career at Jewell and was an All-Conference and All-District selection as a senior. Off the court he was heavily involved on campus, serving as President of his fraternity (Lambda Chi Alpha), President of the J Club, Vice-President of the 1968 senior class, a member of Aeons (senior men’s honorary fraternity), selected to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and was the recipient of the Colonel Alexander Doniphan Award that goes to the senior man deemed most likely to succeed. He was also a member of the Concert and Pep Bands and Chapel Choir all four years.
He was a graduate of Jameson High School (MO) where his dad was Superintendent of Schools and his mother a teacher. During his days at Jameson he was involved in numerous activities including basketball, track music and speech while graduating as valedictorian. In basketball, he became Jameson's first, first team All-State selection after leading the Huskies to a record of 33-1 and a third place finish in the state tournament. His jersey is now retired. On the track, he was a state champion in the mile at the indoor meet and fourth in the outdoor event. A talented musician, he received state ratings in trumpet and vocal solos, in addition to top ratings in poetry reading and radio speaking at the district speech contests.
Holley has three daughters with his late wife Anne, 1998 Jewell graduate Lindsay, 2002 Jewell graduate Lauren, and youngest daughter Lacey who attended Drake University. In addition he has four grandchildren Reagan, Evan, Brea, and Stevie. Holley passed away on May 12, 2022.
OBITUARY
Career Milestone Wins
| Win |
Date |
H/A/N |
Opponent |
Score |
| 1 |
Nov. 25, 1969 |
A |
Park University |
71-66 |
| 100 |
Dec. 11, 1980 |
H |
MidAmerica Nazarene University |
80-66 |
| 200 |
Nov. 22, 1985 |
H |
Harris-Stowe State University |
123-64 |
| 300 |
Dec. 8, 1990 |
H |
Hawaii Loa University |
88-67 |
| 400 |
Feb. 19, 1994 |
A |
Culver-Stockton College |
90-74 |
| 500 |
Jan. 5, 1998 |
H |
Peru State College |
95-77 |
| 600 |
Feb. 16, 2002 |
A |
MidAmerica Nazarene University |
73-66 |
| 700 |
Jan. 2, 2006 |
N |
Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) |
75-61 |
| 800 |
Nov. 9, 2010 |
H |
Park University |
59-56 |
| 900 |
Jan. 11, 2018 |
H |
Rockhurst University |
80-65 |
Holley Year-by-Year
| Season |
Overall |
Conference |
Postseason |
School |
| 1969-70 |
7-17 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1970-71 |
6-17 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1971-72 |
10-16 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1972-73 |
11-15 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1973-74 |
15-11 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1974-75 |
12-17 |
|
|
Central Methodist |
| 1977-78 |
11-15 |
|
|
Northwest Missouri |
| 1978-79 |
15-11 |
|
|
Northwest Missouri |
| 1979-80 |
10-19 |
6-8 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1980-81 |
15-13 |
12-4 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1981-82 |
22-8 |
14-2 |
HAAC Champions |
William Jewell |
| 1982-83 |
19-10 |
9-5 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1983-84 |
20-8 |
11-3 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1984-85 |
25-7 |
12-2 |
HAAC Champions |
William Jewell |
| 1985-86 |
25-4 |
14-0 |
HAAC Champions |
William Jewell |
| 1986-87 |
27-6 |
14-0 |
HAAC Champins |
William Jewell |
| 1987-88 |
32-2 |
13-1 |
HAAC Champion/NAIA Elite Eight |
William Jewell |
| 1988-89 |
14-14 |
5-6 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1989-90 |
12-18 |
4-10 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1990-91 |
20-11 |
10-4 |
HAAC Champions |
William Jewell |
| 1991-92 |
23-13 |
9-3 |
NAIA Elite Eight |
William Jewell |
| 1992-93 |
27-10 |
15-1 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Final Four |
William Jewell |
| 1993-94 |
25-10 |
11-5 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1994-95 |
29-10 |
10-6 |
NAIA Final Four |
William Jewell |
| 1995-96 |
30-9 |
10-6 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1996-97 |
29-10 |
14-4 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Final Four |
William Jewell |
| 1997-98 |
30-9 |
16-2 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Sweet Sixteen |
William Jewell |
| 1998-99 |
24-11 |
12-6 |
|
William Jewell |
| 1999-00 |
17-17 |
7-11 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2000-01 |
19-14 |
13-7 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2001-02 |
22-12 |
15-5 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2002-03 |
24-13 |
16-4 |
NAIA Sweet Sixteen |
William Jewell |
| 2003-04 |
33-5 |
18-2 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Final Four |
William Jewell |
| 2004-05 |
31-6 |
17-3 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Sweet Sixteen |
William Jewell |
| 2005-06 |
27-8 |
16-4 |
NAIA Sweet Sixteen |
William Jewell |
| 2006-07 |
17-15 |
11-9 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2007-08 |
20-13 |
14-6 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2008-09 |
23-11 |
14-6 |
HAAC Champions/NAIA Sweet Sixteen |
William Jewell |
| 2009-10 |
22-10 |
14-6 |
NAIA National Tournament |
William Jewell |
| 2010-11 |
25-8 |
15-5 |
NAIA National Tournament |
William Jewell |
| 2011-12 |
9-17 |
5-13 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2012-13 |
13-14 |
9-9 |
GLVC Tournament |
William Jewell |
| 2013-14 |
11-16 |
7-11 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2014-15 |
13-14 |
9-9 |
GLVC Tournament |
William Jewell |
| 2015-16 |
9-17 |
4-14 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2016-17 |
9-17 |
5-13 |
|
William Jewell |
| 2017-18 |
20-9 |
10-8 |
GLVC Tournament |
William Jewell |
| 2018-19 |
12-18 |
6-12 |
|
William Jewell |
| Jewell Total |
834-456 |
456-226 |
|
|
| Total |
918-577 |
446-226 |
|
|
