JOINED: April 2024
Stacy Hollowell enters his third season on the Lakefront after being named the 13th men’s basketball coach in school history in April of 2024. He replaced Mark Slessinger who spent 13 seasons as Privateers head coach and tallied the most wins in school history.
After an opening season filled with challenges Hollowell’s team showed marked improvement in year two of his tenure. The 2025-2026 team finished with 11 more wins than the 2024-2024 teams, and the just the second season on the Lakefront of 15 wins or more since since 2020.
It was the second-best turnaround in program history. Only Ron Green's 1973-1974 squad (+12 wins) had a bigger win difference from one year to the next. A 10-win improvement in league play matched Tim Floyd's 1992-1993 team for the biggest conference improvement in program history as well.
Coleton Benson, and Jakevion Buckley earned All-Southland Honors, and Churchill Abass was selected to the league’s All-Defensive team. Benson set both a program, and Southland record knocking down 92.5% of his free throws, and Abass became the first Privateer with 50 or more blocks in a season since 1995.
Benson, Irish Cocquia and Kedrick Osby were also named All-Academic selections by the Southland Conference – they were the first All-Academic selections for Privateer men’s basketball since 2022.
Hollowell came to New Orleans after spending one season at Texas Southern as an assistant coach under Johnny Jones. During his one season Hollowell helped the Tigers to a 12-6 mark in the SWAC and a run to the SWAC tournament finals.
During the 2023-24 season Hollowell joined Kermit Davis’ staff at Ole Miss as the Associate Athletic Director for Men’s Basketball. During his time in Oxford, Hollowell oversaw day-to-day operations of the program with a focus on development and mentorship of student-athletes. He also helped the program achieve a top-12 recruiting class that season according to ESPN’s rankings.
It was at Loyola (New Orleans) where Hollowell wrote his name into Louisiana folk lore. Hollowell left Loyola after the 2021-22 season as the second winningest coach in school history and a national champion.
Hollowell won 20+ games five times in eight seasons, won a pair of conference tournaments (2019, 2021) and a regular season championship (2021) during his time in charge of the Wolfpack, with a record of 166-78 (.680) and 90-51 (.638) in conference play.
His final team uptown won the 2022 NAIA National Championship - the second in school history and the first since 1945. That team set a Loyola record with 37 wins that season, and the record for winning percentage at .974. It also set school records for points in a game (143) and the largest winning margin in school history (78). In an odd twist of fate Hollowell beat the Privateers at Lakefront Arena 80-72 in an exhibition game to start his run to the national title.
Prior to being named the head coach at Loyola he served as an assistant on the Wolfpack Coaching staff starting in 2009 where he was part of another 20-win campaign. He coached 19 All-Conference selections, and individual student athletes to Conference Player of the Year, Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Conference Newcomer of the Year and Conference Freshman of the Year status.
Hollowell was instrumental in the recruitment and development of two of Loyola New Orleans' best ever players - Zach Wrightsil and Myles Burns. Wrightsil was named both the 2021-2022 NAIA National Player of the Year, and Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year following the national championship. He is the program's all-time scoring leader, and first all time in assists, and second all-time in rebounds and steals. He also owns both the most points and rebounds in a single season in school Wolfpack.
Burns was named a three-time Southern States Athletic Conference Defensive player of the year. He ranks No. 1 in Wolfpack history in career rebounds, and holds both the single season record, and single season number two mark for rebounding in program history. Burns also finished his career with the most steals in program history, and the second most points.
Both Wrightsil (Marquette) and Burns (Ole Miss) transferred to Div. I schools after the national championship - a testament to Hollowell's ability to develop talent. After graduating from Ole Miss, Burns’ has enjoyed a multi-year professional career in the NBA G-League.
Hollowell's career also boasts extensive international experience - having coached aboard in over 30 countries. Before first joining the Loyola staff as an assistant coach in 2011, Hollowell gained international experience coaching professionally in Qatar, Lithuania, Bahrain, and China. As assistant coach for the Qatar National Team under former New Orleans men’s basketball coach Joey Stiebing, Hollowell helped the team qualify for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the only world championship appearance in Qatar’s history.
Hollowell was born in Shreveport, La. and raised in Mandeville, La. He was a four-year basketball player at Mandeville High School. He and his wife Nicole have three children, Emma, Jett and Jax, and stepson Aaron Traub.
