The company 900-victory Larry Holley keeps: Bob Knight and Duke’s Coach K

What may have been the most gratifying victory of the season for William Jewell and men’s basketball coach Larry Holley didn’t count toward the team’s record. The 86-74 victory by the Division II Cardinals over Division I UMKC at Municipal Auditorium on Tuesday was an exhibition game for Jewell.

So, Holley’s career victory total paused at 901 and holding steady in the quest to climb further up the ladder of college basketball’s winningest men’s coaches in all classifications.

No. 902 came the next time the Cardinals laced them up, on Thursday, another landmark coaching night.

Jewell hit the road and defeated McKendree 84-78. McKendree is coached by Harry Statham, who owns 1,122 career wins. That’s 2,024 victories between the two coaches.

But Holley is the latest to the 900-victory club, currently occupying ninth place on the list of all classifications along with the retired Bob Knight. Luminaries recently passed by Holley include Dean Smith (879) and Adolph Rupp (876).

Holley likely won’t reach Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (1,016) or Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (916), but he’s part of their small circle.

“It means I’ve been around a while,” said Holley, 72. “I know this, my won-loss record is worse than those guys.”

Yes, Holley’s 554 losses are the most among the sport’s Top 10 coaches. But if Jewell had remained a member of the NAIA, with 20-plus-victory seasons the norm, instead of jumping to Division II seven years ago, he might be pushing 1,000 wins over his 47 years spent coaching.

As it is, a 16-4 record and a first winning season as an NCAA program assured has Holley feeling upbeat these days. And it’s happening with a team unlike most in his career.

The Cardinals start five guards. How odd is that? On a wall in Holley’s office are photos of the program’s 18 All-America players, and 14 of them were forwards or centers.

“We lost a couple of recruits before the season and that left us with one center, one power forward and 12 guards,” Holley said.

But the combination has worked Tuesday. Against UMKC, point guard Keith Hayes sparked a 23-0 first-half run with four three-pointers. Starters Patrick Whelan and Pharroh Gordon arrived at the Liberty campus from Manchester, England, and combine to average 32 points. Jewell is a high-energy, good perimeter and free-throw shooting team that averages 88 points per game, and even finds a way to hold its own on the boards.

This is Holley’s 39th season at the school in Liberty. He grew up a basketball diehard in Jameson, Mo., a community of fewer than 200 in Daviess County. Dad was the school superintendent and coach until Holley reached high school. Mom was the principal, and Holley gradated with nine others in his class.

“Mom changed all the grades to make me valedictorian,” Holley joked.

Basketball held the extended family’s interest. Holley said he has an aunt who scored 102 points in a high school game back in the days when a jump ball followed every basket. His parents would make annual treks to Kansas City for basketball events like the Big Eight Holiday tournament after Christmas and the NAIA Championship in March.

“We’d load up one of those little school buses and come down,” Holley said.

When he played basketball at William Jewell, Holley’s teams didn’t qualify for the NAIA tournament. But he went to the tourney anyway and got a job sweeping the floors between games at Municipal.

After two years and a 1,122-point all-conference career at Jewell, Holley became the head coach at Central Methodist. Six years later and after a 61-93 record, he joined the staff of Northwest Missouri State as an assistant. The next two years changed his coaching outlook.

“Two of the best years I had in the business,” Holley said. “The game became much clearer to me. I wasn’t making decisions, I was making suggestions. The relationships with players changed because they were more comfortable talking to an assistant.”

Between that experience and becoming a coaching clinic regular — he loved hearing UCLA’s John Wooden and Knight speak — Holley was better prepared to lead a program when he became the Bearcats’ head coach. After a 26-26 record over two seasons, he was named head coach in 1979 of his alma mater.

The victories flowed. Holley’s Cardinals won 11 Heart of America regular-season championships, played in 14 NAIA Championships and four times reached the Final Four. He has led the program to four 30-victory seasons, and 20 more of at least 20 wins.

Holley started the William Jewell Holiday Classic high school tournament in 1980, and it remains a highlight of the local hoop season. Jewell’s floor at the Mabee Center is named for Holley, who has been enshrined in five halls of fame.

It wasn’t lost on Holley that career victory No. 900 came against Rockhurst on Jan. 11.

“For those who played in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and into the ’80s, if you ask them, to a man they’d say Rockhurst was our No. 1 rival,” he said.

Holley said he’s not certain how much coaching remains in his career, but retirement is in sight. He has three daughters and grandchildren.

“I’ll look at it at the end of each year, but I’m probably going to be spending more time with the grandkids in the next year or two,” Holley said.

If the roster provides a hint, the Cardinals start two seniors and three juniors and appear set for another solid season next year. But there’s this year to enjoy first, more victories to amass and familiar names like Knight to surpass.

“It’s nice to see your name up there,” Holley said. “To be even mentioned in that group is quite humbling and quite an honor.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "The company 900-victory Larry Holley keeps: Bob Knight and Duke’s Coach K."