article on Essie Hollis

[garf]

Article published Jun 9, 2009 at goerie.com

Hollis holds court at camp
Erie great gives pointers to kids
By TIM ROHAN
[e-mail]
Essie Hollis palmed the basketball on the Martin Luther King Center court Sunday as a group of children gathered around him.
Hollis drew their attention to the ball.
"How do you think you get to this?" he asked.
The ball bounced away, and Hollis walked to a courtside table to pick up a book that he just as quickly dropped on the court.
His message: "You can't do this" -- basketball -- "without that" -- education.
Hollis, the 6-foot 6-inch former Strong Vincent and St. Bonaventure star, was back in Erie on Sunday and Monday to teach basketball and life lessons at the King Center, 312 Chestnut St. The two-day camp was created in honor of his brother, Charles Hollis, who died in 2008.
"From watching the kids and looking at them in the gym, I think they should have a little more guidance," Hollis, 54, said. "Now, when I grew up here, I had a lot of guidance ... I don't see a lot of that going on here. Maybe people don't have time or whatever. I think they should put more time into the youth that are here."
Charles Hollis had worked at the center as a recreation aide for 11 years before he died of cancer. Essie Hollis said his brother would not only teach basketball, but would do anything to keep them out of trouble.
Hollis' brothers and sisters rebounded for him on the very same court while he developed the jump shot that helped catapult him to city stardom (he averaged a record 30.1 points per game as a senior in 1973), an NCAA Division I scholarship and a pro career in the NBA and in Europe. Essie said he was always closest to Charles, who played at Strong Vincent and Clarion.
"Out of all my brothers, (Charles) was my biggest fan because he knew what I was going through," Hollis said. "He had gone through it earlier in his career. And everything I talked about to him, he could relate to it. He was like a carbon-copy of myself in terms of the basketball and the sports. ... That made us closer."
Charles Hollis' colleagues at Erie Insurance Exchange, where he worked for 18 years, raised funds for his cancer battle.
He died before their contributions could be put to work, and the money they had raised instead went to create a camp for the youth of Erie at the King Center.
The camp drew more than 50 children Sunday, and about 15 showed up for Monday's session. It was free, and open to anyone in the fifth through eighth grades. And every participant received a "Chaz Hollis Basketball Camp" T-shirt.
Essie Hollis led the students in dribbling and drills, both offensive and defensive. But he also stressed the importance of fundamentals and how it's necessary to develop those skills at a younger age these days.
The former Strong Vincent standout worked easily with the players. He teaches elementary school Spanish and technology and coaches basketball in Coconut Creek, Fla., and knew how to get his message across to their age group.
Hollis put his teaching skills to work Sunday to highlight the value of hard work. Hollis put the kids in a make-believe candy shop and posed the question: If one person is given five minutes to grab as much as they want, and another person is given 10 minutes, who would have the most candy? The kids realized that the more time and effort they put into their endeavors, the more they would get out of it.
Hollis also returned to his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, on Saturday to induct his former teammate and best friend, Jim Baron, into the school's athletic hall of fame. Hollis, who starred with Baron on the Bonnies' 1977 NIT championship team, saw his No. 25 retired by the university in 2008.
Most of the campers Monday didn't know his history, but they understood his point. When he held the basketball and asked, "How do you get here?" one camper answered by placing a book in the middle of the court.
The Hollis' message -- Essie's and Charles' -- was being heard loud and clear.

[OceanStateBonnie]

Erie's Easy Essie.

A classmate, very talented and one of my all-time favorite Bonnies.

Way to go, Essie.

[fjs64]

I wonder if Essie's son Damian would have come to Bona's if Baron was coaching. Of course that was the Solomon era at Bona's and I guess GW seemed better for him. Anyone know the story.

[Copenhagen]

Interesting on how that worked out.

At the time he committed to GW, who could argue with his choice as GW was on a roll and we were still in a free fall but how times have changed.

But it is very likely that GW reverses there fortunes this year since they do have a squad of good athletes and incoming frosh.

[Nordender]

Not only would Damian have been playing at Bona but Essie also told me he would have been helping Baron coach the team! Nobody will ever know how that would have worked out but just as the 1970 team, I would have liked our chances. Congratulations to Jimmy Baron on his induction into the Bona HOF. Jimmy worked very hard while in the brown n' white and was a modle student at St. Bonaventure University. I thought there would have been more of his former teammates and former players in attendance.....

[bakinour]

his teammates and friends heard of your public humiliation & berating of chris ford

they stayed home rather than withstand your low blows