Hollins offers DSU grads lesson in life's hard knocks
Former NBA All-Star point guard and pro basketball coach Lionel Hollins brought his quiet, easy-going demeanor to Dixie State University’s Burns Arena on Friday to provide a few lessons from the school of hard knocks to graduating students at his junior college alma mater.
“It seems the older I get and the further away I get from my accomplishments, the better they sound,” Hollins said. “But successful people just don’t explode on the scene. Forty-four years ago, I sat where you sit. … It’s not just your time today for being a graduate, but it’s your time to be an impact in the world and be a leader. That’s why you’re today — to move forward and replace people whose time has passed on. And there will be a time when your time has passed on and somebody will replace you.”
Hollins described being raised in Las Vegas by his grandmother at a time when the family was so poor all his clothes were patched and oversized, and he was “a vegetarian before it was in vogue” out of simple necessity.
But there were people who joined with his grandmother to inspire him and help him believe he could make something more of himself by developing his abilities and turning them toward good purposes.
“My destiny brought me here to Dixie College because I had to learn relate to all types of people. … When I got here, I lacked confidence. I was insecure. I was angry, bitter, and I didn’t know what direction I was going,” Hollins said, adding a tearful tribute to his former coach Doug Allred, a “surrogate father” who went on to become the Dixie College’s president shortly afterward, and Sherry Atkin, a professor who was about to become part of the SkyWest family legacy.
“Dixie State University laid my foundation. It was my first wilderness,” he said. “It’s true that I was an All-American basketball player here at Dixie College, also at Arizona State University. Also I was an NBA player,” he said, repeating some of the data from his pro career that DSU Provost Michael Lacourse used to introduce him.
“But as I reflect, the thing that is important for you to understand is, through all those accomplishments, none of that is who I am. That’s what I did,” he said. “What makes me the proudest is to be in a marriage for 36 years. … Make sure that you, in your idealistic way, understand that when you go out to change the world, you’ve got to change yourself first.”
Hollins noted changes at Dixie State — when he attended in the early 1970s, there was little in the way of grass and trees, he said. But perhaps most striking is that he graduated from Dixie during an era when not even a handful of black students had graced its halls, and none of those few who had come to St. George stayed long enough to become part of the community.
Facebook Live interview with Lionel Hollins:
He came from an environment that was the polar opposite — a neighborhood community where white people didn’t exist.
“My how times have changed,” he said. “I was the only black person on the basketball team after my first year. I was the only black person at the college. I was the only black in the city of St. George. … It’s incredible to see all the diversity, both on campus and around the city. It makes me very happy.”
Dixie State has in recent years continued to escalate its recruitment of students from outside Utah and from other countries. Staff members and trustees recount trips to Central America, Europe, the South Pacific and Asia to open doors for potential students.
The university reported that 32 of its graduates this year come from outside the United States, and another 263 come from outside Utah.
Fifty percent of the graduates received associate degrees but President Richard “Biff” Williams noted bachelor’s degree graduates have grown to near parity at 42.8 percent.
Liu “Skyler” Chang, one of the 1,699 total students receiving degrees Friday, said he is from Chengdu, China. Although he came to Dixie after attending high school in Los Angeles, his parents had to spend hours in the air as they flew from his native country to join him, his wife and their baby girl for the big day.
Chang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in painting and drawing and plans to pursue his passion for watercolor and photography at Utah State University, where he has been accepted into the master of fine arts program. Dixie provided him opportunities to learn from well-known artist Del Parsons while presenting his work in art shows and rubbing shoulders with other local talent, such as landscape watercolor artist Roland Lee.
“For me, it’s a long journey. … It’s really touched me,” he said. “Also, I’m (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), so this was good for me. It’s a more safe place, and also for the religion.”
Thora Moore, the baccalaureate valedictorian, likened the students to brain neurons that need to connect with each other in order to remain alive.
“People who do not connect wither,” she said.
Follow reporter Kevin Jenkins on Twitter, @SpectrumJenkins. Contact him at 435-674-6253.