{{Short description|American basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Larry Hollyfield | image = Larry Hollyfield.png | image_size = | caption =Hollyfield shooting with UCLA in 1972–73 | number = 53 | position = Forward / guard | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 5 | weight_lb = 215 | nationality = | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|20|1972|2|8}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | highschool = Compton (Compton, California) | college =Compton JC (1969–1970)<br/>UCLA (1970–1973) | draft_year = 1973 | draft_round = 7 | draft_pick = 105 | draft_team = Portland Trail Blazers | career_start = | career_end = | highlights = * 3× NCAA champion (1971–1973) | medal_templates = }}
'''Larry Hollyfield''' (born {{Birth based on age as of date|20|1972|2|8|noage=1}})<ref name=ap_02081972/> is a former college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He won three consecutive national championships with the Bruins from 1971 to 1973, and helped the school to a record 88-game consecutive win streak.
Hollyfield earned player of year honors playing high school basketball in California before playing one year in junior college, where he earned all-state honors. He transferred to UCLA, where he was a starter in his third and final season. From his junior year in high school through his final season at UCLA, Hollyfield's teams lost just one game while winning championships in each of his six seasons. In 1973 he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) but never played for them. Instead he went overseas, playing during the 1975–76 season for ADB Koblenz in the German Basketball Bundesliga.{{Cn|date=January 2025}}
==High school career== Hollyfield attended Compton High School, where his teams lost only three times in his career.<ref name=kirkpatrick_02051973>{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick |first=Curry |title=Who Are These Guys? |date=February 5, 1973 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1973/02/05/617642/who-are-these-guys |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240526225956/https://www.webcitation.org/6N3RYQhbr?url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt%3Fexpire= |archivedate=May 26, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> He won championships in each of his final two years with a combined record of 66–0.<ref name="crowe_05142009"/><ref name=stewart_01272006>{{cite news|last=Stewart |first=Larry |title=It Would Be the Return of Match Game 77 |date=January 27, 2006 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-27-sp-briefing27-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222221419/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/27/sports/sp-briefing27 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In his senior year as a forward, he averaged 18.8 points in 30 games with a field goal percentage of 56 percent, and the Helms Athletic Foundation unanimously named him the 1969 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Player of the Year.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Larry Hollyfield Named "AAAA" Basketball Player of Year as Compton Goes Undefeated |date=March 26, 1969 |publisher=Helms Athletic Foundation |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/HELMS/Basketball/HelmsBasketballAnnual1969.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203015033/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/HELMS/Basketball/HelmsBasketballAnnual1969.pdf |archivedate=February 3, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==College career== Hollyfield played one season at Compton Junior College (later known as El Camino College Compton Center), where he averaged 22 points and was named to the all-state team. The team went undefeated at 33–0, and won the state title.<ref name=ap_02081972>{{cite news|title=UCLA Reserve Pro Prospect|date=February 8, 1972|newspaper=Lawrence Daily Journal-World|page=11|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19720208&id=fSUzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H-cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4308,4307151|accessdate=February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref name=stewart_01272006/>
He then transferred to UCLA for their 1970–71 season, when they won a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I championship.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick |first=Curry |title=Wise In The Ways Of The Wizard |date=November 30, 1981 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1981/11/30/826182/wise-in-the-ways-of-the-wizard-three-rushed-in-where-wooden-used-to-tread--then-split-now-comes-the-fourth-larry-farmer-truest-of-true-believers |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240526225956/https://www.webcitation.org/6N3RYQhbr?url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt%3Fexpire= |archivedate=May 26, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although he received minimal playing time during the regular season, he was ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA restrictions on junior college transfers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Berger|first=Dan|title=Don't Count Wooden's Whiz Kids Out Next Season|date=April 8, 1971|newspaper=The Sun|location=San Bernardino, Calif.|agency=Associated Press|page=D-6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2514331/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=May 30, 2015}}{{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Joe|title=Tournament Committee Replies to Questions|date=February 28, 1973|newspaper=The Daily Herald|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2514345/|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=May 30, 2015}}{{open access}}</ref> In his junior year, the {{convert|6|ft|5|in|m|adj=on}}, {{convert|215|lb|kg|adj=on}} Hollyfield was described by UCLA coach John Wooden as "probably the greatest physical talent on the team".<ref name=ap_02081972/> However, the coach also said Hollyfield's mistakes and inconsistent play made him more suited for UCLA's bench where "he gives us a big lift."<ref name=ap_02081972/> A natural forward, he moved out of position to guard as a senior, replacing the departed Henry Bibby in the starting lineup. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote, "The feeling was that Hollyfield had to be forced onto the starting five this season or be a detriment to the team."<ref name=kirkpatrick_02051973/> That season ended with a championship over Memphis State in the 1973 NCAA Tournament, extending the school's NCAA record winning steak to 75; the streak ended at 88 after Hollyfield left.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hoffarth |first1=Tom |last2=Painter |first2=Jill |title=REMEMBERING UCLA'S STREAK: Iconic run of 88 took Bruins and the nation on a roller-coaster ride |date=December 18, 2010 |newspaper=Long Beach Press Telegram |url=http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/20101219/remembering-uclas-streak-iconic-run-of-88-took-bruins-and-the-nation-on-a-roller-coaster-ride |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202124817/http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/20101219/remembering-uclas-streak-iconic-run-of-88-took-bruins-and-the-nation-on-a-roller-coaster-ride |archivedate=February 2, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Hollyfield finished his UCLA career with a championship in each of his three seasons.<ref name=haylock_05302012>{{cite news|last=Haylock|first=Rahshaun|title=Former Bruin Hollyfield still winning|date=May 30, 2012|work=FoxSports.com|url=http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/former-bruin-hollyfield-still-winning-053012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530065539/http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/former-bruin-hollyfield-still-winning-053012|archivedate=May 30, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=crowe_05142009/> Since his junior year in high school, his teams had a combined record of 184–1 with championships in each of the six seasons.<ref name=crowe_05142009>{{cite news|last=Crowe |first=Jerry |title=It's hard to disagree with TV analyst's take on the Lakers |date=May 14, 2009 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-14-sp-crowe14-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222214601/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/14/sports/sp-crowe14 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Post-college years== Hollyfield was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the seventh round of the 1973 NBA draft with the 105th overall pick,<ref>{{cite web|title=1973 NBA Draft|work=basketball-reference.com|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1973.html|accessdate=February 1, 2014}}</ref> but he never played professionally.<ref name=dufrense>{{cite news|last=Dufrense |first=Chris |title=Pursuing Perfection |date=November 16, 2000 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-16-sp-52937-story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140201092619/http://articles.latimes.com/print/2000/nov/16/sports/sp-52937 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bibby called Hollyfield "one of best players to go through UCLA and not make pros." According to his former teammate, Hollyfield played behind many great players at UCLA, but "he could have been an All-American on many other teams."<ref name=dufrense/>
When he was 32, he received a prosthetic left leg after a circulation problem in his left foot required amputation. In 2009, he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed.<ref name=haylock_05302012/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons cat}} *{{basketballstats}}
{{1971 UCLA Bruins men's basketball navbox}} {{1972 UCLA Bruins men's basketball navbox}} {{1973 UCLA Bruins men's basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollyfield, Larry}} Category:Living people Category:American men's basketball players Category:Carolina Cougars draft picks Category:Forwards (basketball) Category:Guards (basketball) Category:Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Year of birth missing (living people)