William Jewell College’s Larry Holley became a member of an elite club as he notched his 700th career basketball coaching victory Jan. 3 with an 83-57 win against Wesley College (Del.) He is the 28th NCAA or NAIA coach to reach 700 wins.
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Holley, a member of the William Jewell graduating class of 1967, has been at the helm of the basketball program at the private liberal arts college in Liberty, for 26 years. He is the career leader in wins in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Holley has posted 20-win seasons 19 times, with 12 of those seasons posting 25-game victories and four with 30 wins or more.
Nationally, Holley has the numbers to stack up with any coach. He ranks second in NAIA Division II coaches with 700 wins and is third among all NAIA coaches. Sitting at the #13 slot among four-year college coaches in both the NCAA and NAIA, Holley shows no sign of slowing down. He is only the 47th coach to win 600 or more games, and he ranks #1 all-time in career wins among four-year college coaches at Missouri colleges/universities only.
Holley owns 14 coach of the year awards, and is a member of four basketball halls of fame <197> 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 and the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Coach Holley was born and raised in Jameson, and graduated from Jameson High School in 1963. Holley’s parents were the late Lawrence and Linda Holley of Jameson. Lawrence Holley Sr. was superintendent of schools and Linda was a teacher at Jameson.