Ryan Hollins has seen it all in his college basketball
career.
There have been so many twists and turns, so many changes to
adapt to and so many learning experiences to grow from.
Now in his senior year and third year under coach Ben Howland,
Hollins is playing the most productive basketball of his career on
the best UCLA team he’s ever played for.
“It’s been a bumpy ride, I can’t lie,”
Hollins said. “I’ve achieved things that I didn’t
expect to achieve, and at the same time there have been some
disappointments. But that’s all part of life and I’ve
grown up from it.”
Hollins’ arrival at UCLA as a freshman was something of a
surprise. Coming out of John Muir High School in Pasadena, the
tall, lanky center originally signed a letter of intent to go and
play for former Bruin assistant coach Lorenzo Romar at Saint Louis
University.
When Romar left for the University of Washington, Hollins
decided to leave Saint Louis and signed a Grant-in-Aid with UCLA in
June 2002 and started as a true freshman for then UCLA coach Steve
Lavin during the 2002-2003 season. That freshman year, Hollins was
also one of the top high jumpers on the UCLA track and field team,
placing ninth in the event at the NCAA Regionals.
After Lavin was fired at the conclusion of the 2002-2003 season,
when the Bruins experienced their first season with a losing record
since the Wooden Era began in 1948, Hollins had to adjust to yet
another coaching style under Ben Howland. While the change has been
quite extreme and has taken time, it has seen Hollins, a member of
the 2003 USA World Junior Basketball Team, thrive to levels that he
has never experienced before.
“I’ve been getting more comfortable with the coach
here, getting more comfortable with the players and understanding
the system and knowing my role here,” Hollins said.
In the 10 games Hollins has played in since returning from a
groin injury, he is averaging a much improved 6.3 points per game
and 5.1 rebounds per game in his 23.3 minutes per game on the
floor. The increased production couldn’t have come at a
better time for Hollins.
“As disappointing and crazy the way my freshman year went,
that’s why this year means so much more to me ““ just to
get UCLA back to where it should be,” he said.
Hollins split time with Bruin senior center Michael Fey for most
of his sophomore and junior seasons, but with an incoming crop of
freshmen ripe with post players this season, Hollins knew that it
was going to take more than just determination to keep his minutes.
Hollins dedicated the offseason to bulking up in the weight room
and improving his skills as a player to try and continue to be an
asset to the team. This work, combined with a heightened sense of
determination, has made Hollins satisfied with where he is right
now.
“I’ve grown up, I’ve added weight, I’ve
learned how to play the college game,” he said. “Rather
than sitting back and just learning and observing, I’m
playing more of a leadership-type role and helping our young guys
understand the game and understand what Coach wants.”
Hollins’ development as a team leader in his senior season
is somewhat remarkable for a person who has had to make so many
adjustments in his career, and it is just another way that Hollins
has been able to mature. His influence is something that the
younger Bruin players have appreciated and been able to use in a
positive light.
“He’s like a big brother for me personally,”
freshman forward/center Alfred Aboya said. “He leads by
example and he gives us good advice on how to cope with the
environment. He has a great work ethic and we feed off of his
energy.”
Even though Hollins is happy with the way things are going so
far, there are many more things that he would like to accomplish
this season. He was unhappy with his performance in the USC game,
where he didn’t score a point in his 22 minutes on the floor.
Howland was critical of Hollins not for the lack of points he
scored but for the little things that he could have done
better.
“He had 34 opportunities to screen (against USC) and he
connected on nine of them,” Howland said. “That’s
not very good.”
But it is this constant ability to improve on his game that has
been the driving force behind Hollins’ performance of late.
Hollins is happy with where he’s at, but he knows that even
though he and his team have accomplished a lot, there is still a
lot of work that he has to do personally and a lot of work that the
team has to do to accomplish its goals.
“We’re definitely capable of winning this Pac-10,
which is something I really hope that we do,” Hollins
said.
“If we keep level heads, stay humble and learn from our
mistakes then we have a great chance of doing that. As far as the
(NCAA) Tournament, we just have to take that momentum from the end
of the season and play our hearts out.”