North Dakota Men’s Basketball Adds A.J. Holland as Assistant Coach

5/18/2026 1:14:00 PM | By: Corey Lichtman, FightingHawks.com

Holland comes to Grand Forks after four seasons at East Texas A&M.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota men's basketball coach Paul Sather announced the hiring of A.J. Holland as assistant coach for the Fighting Hawks on Monday, May 18, 2026.

"We are very excited to welcome the Holland's to the UND basketball family," said Sather. "A.J. brings a wealth of experience to our basketball program, but more importantly, he is a tremendous person and a perfect fit for our team. His vast experience working with some great coaches at different programs opens new doors and opportunities for our basketball program here at UND."

Holland joins the UND staff after spending four seasons at East Texas A&M, being an assistant coach for the last three years after starting off as the Director of Basketball Operations in his first season with the Lions in 2022-23.

"I'm excited and extremely grateful for the opportunity to work alongside coach Sather and the rest of the staff at UND," said Holland. "He has built a strong, winning program over the years with a great culture and talented players. I'm happy to jump in, learn from his [Sather] deep knowledge of the game and help the team continue to have success."

A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Holland helped the Lions win nine Southland Conference games in his first season on staff in 2022-23, which was East Texas A&M's first season at the division l level. In his four seasons total, Holland aided the Lions to two postseason appearances and 11 wins over division 1 non-conference opponents.

In March of 2026, Holland was selected to the Silver Waves Media Rising Stars Power Lunch, a gathering that recognizes up-and-coming coaches in college basketball. In the previous year, he was recognized on the Silver Wave Media's 75 Rising Stars: Impactful Men's Mid-Major Assistants" list and was an honored guest at the "Elite 50 Power Future Head Coaches Invitational" at the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio.

Prior to East Texas A&M, Holland spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Angelo State University where he helped lead the Rams to a 20-10 record and a Division ll NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021-22.

Before Angelo State, he was an assistant coach at the University of Texas Permian Basin from 2018-2020 and coached at the University of Arkansas Fort-Smith for the 2017-18 season. As an assistant at UAFS, Holland brought the Lions to new heights, guiding them to a division ll program record 24 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth. He coached DeVaunta Thomas from UAFS who was named the Heartland Conference Player of the Year, just the second player in program history to earn the award since joining the conference in 2009.

Leading up to coaching at the collegiate level, Holland worked with Elite Hoops Basketball as a skills trainer and the NIKE Southeast Regional Camp Director in Atlanta from 2013-2017. He was able to set a company record of $875,000 in revenue generated in 2015.

As a player, Holland began his career at the division l level at Rice University in 2009-10 where he totaled a career-high there of eight points on Jan. 2, 2010 against TCU. Following Rice, he spent a season at the College of Central Florida, before finishing his final two seasons at the University of Sioux Falls.

Holland earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management with a concentration in Coaching from the University of Sioux Falls in 2013. Below is a full list of his collegiate coaching and playing career leading up to UND.

Coaching History

School	Year	Position
East Texas A&M	2022-26	Assistant Coach (2023-26) Director of Operations (2022-23)
Angelo State	2020-22	Assistant Coach
University of Texas Permian Basin	2018-20	Assistant Coach
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith	2017-18	Assistant Coach