'Tis the Season for Holle
A Longhorn Legacy Story
12/6/2022
For Shay Holle, playing basketball at The University of Texas was always the dream. She grew up just 15 minutes from the UT campus and attended Westlake High School where she starred in volleyball, track, and basketball. Competitiveness and athleticism came natural for Shay. In fact, they run in the Holle family. Shay’s dad played football in college and the NFL, her mom played college basketball, and her two older twin sisters played basketball at Texas State University. As the youngest of five girls, Shay had plenty of role models, however, the person who’s had the greatest impact on her life is her dad, Eric Holle.
“My dad knows what it takes and what you need to do outside of the sport and within it,” Shay said. “Just having him around to guide me and because he went to Texas, I’ve always looked up to him.”
Shay’s dad, Eric Holle, attended UT in 1979 and starred as a defensive end for the Longhorns football team before playing for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1984 to 1988.
“Texas was THE University back then,” Eric said. “I love the University and had a great experience in my time on the Forty Acres.”
While Eric always hoped his daughter would choose UT, he encouraged her to explore her options as he “wanted her to do what she thought was right.”
That UT offer finally arrived during Shay’s junior year of high school. The Holle family was at dinner one evening when Shay received the momentous call. She had been offered a scholarship to play basketball at The University of Texas.
Being able to see your child grow up and attend the same college that you played at is a parent’s dream. For Eric, seeing his daughter wear the burnt orange and white has been truly special.
“I just feel a deep sense of pride. Shay’s been going to football games since she was about four years old,” Eric said. “I'm just happy for her because she's doing really well in school and she's playing for an excellent coach with great teammates.”
In fact, Shay is doing more than well in school. A third-year general finance major, Shay is on pace to graduate this spring from the McCombs School of Business. Additionally, Shay has an internship with Downstream Investments and she hopes to enter the financial real estate field once her playing career is over.
Since arriving at UT, Shay has utilized every resource available to student-athletes to help her be successful on the court and in the classroom. And she is thankful to Longhorn Foundation donors for their passion and support which makes opportunities like hers possible.
I just hope everyone on our team realizes how blessed we are in this situation. Not every school is like UT. It’s important to take a step back and realize that we have so many amazing donors and not every school has such a cohesive group of people bought into one university.Shay Holle
During the 2021-22 campaign, Shay emerged as a key contributor for the Longhorns. First, she was a role player off the bench before she transitioned to the starting lineup down the stretch. Last year was the Longhorns' second straight Elite Eight run under Head Coach Vic Schaefer.
“It's a lot of fun playing for him,” Shay said when describing Coach Schaefer. “He's definitely very demanding and he has a standard that you need to uphold. But he knows what he's talking about.”
Schaefer’s Longhorns will look to improve upon last year’s Elite Eight run and make another deep tournament run.
“We have high expectations for this season.” Shay said. “But obviously, the goal is to be there at the end.”
Despite having several newcomers on the team, Shay is confident that through the team’s leadership, they can be successful.
“We have a lot of new faces,” she said. “I think there are seven new girls between transfers and freshmen, which is a lot for a basketball team. We also have some older girls who will add experience. And then all of our freshmen are super talented. But I feel confident in our returners and believe we can help show them the way.”
In October, Shay Holle was named to the 20-player watchlist for the Cheryl Miller Award which is given to the top small forward in the country. For Shay, this award comes as a major surprise and honor, albeit deserved.
“She realizes how lucky she is to be in her situation,” Eric said. “She’s working extremely hard every single day.”
Thus far, much like her dad, Shay’s collegiate career has been filled with success and accomplishments. As a result, Shay is well on her way to cementing her name at Texas, just as her dad did, and continuing the Longhorn Legacy of the Holle family.
