NC Forward Visits SEC School, Likes Others

The University of Tennessee welcomed Gerringer (NC) HS junior forward Jerry Hollis to their campus last month for an unofficial visit. We caught up with the 6-foot-5, 190 pound forward and talked about the Volunteers as well as the other schools that are recruiting him. Read on for more details in the Ultimate Ticket.

Hollis, a blue-collar forward, decided to make the trip to Knoxville with his family and took in the facilities as well as members of the SEC staff. While there he was able to gauge exactly where he stood with the Volunteers.

“I met the coaches and we talk about some details of their program. I met their players, too. (Coach Peterson) is a nice man. He told me the truth about what they needed and that he needed a shooter. He basically said, ‘If you give another year to playing like the way you are playing then there is no telling what we’ll do.’”

Need a translation? Hollis is a power forward in a small forward’s body and he said he isn’t the player that UT is looking for but more time spent in perfecting the wing position and things could be different this time next year. That is why Hollis has begun to change his game.

“I think I’ve played okay from last year to this year,” Hollis said. “My shot has really improved since last year. I’m shooting more threes. My coach told me that if I don’t grow anymore than I’d be a two or a three in college so I’ve tried to step out and start shooting a little further away from the basket.”

Hollis is averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, seven blocks and three assists on the season. He is a solid interior defender and is the energy player for Garinger (25-2). When we saw him back in January we were impressed with his do-whatever-it-takes attitude and work ethic.

Tennessee isn’t the only school he is interested in either. He said NC State, UConn, Wake Forest and Stanford have been recruiting him as well. Hollis gave us his opinion on each of the schools.

On NC State: “I really like their architecture and engineering program. That is something that I would like to do.”

On UConn: “I’ve been liking them since I was younger. I watch them on television all the time.”

On Wake Forest: “I really like Justin Gray and Chris Paul…I watched Josh Howard a lot when he was there. I think I can do what he did. I like to score and all that but defense is what I can do best. (Howard) was like that. He didn’t really score that much when he first got there. He just played defense and he got better every year.”

Stanford had tried to get into the picture early on but Hollis said, “They are all the way out in California. That’s just too far for me.”

We’ll be keeping an eye on Hollis during the AAU circuit. He said he might play for the Charlotte Royals but isn’t sure if that was finalized yet.