The Minnesota Timberwolves will hold their first six-man workout on Thursday at Target Center. Among the prospects the team has invited to the workout, is former Gophers standout Austin Hollins.
Hollins graduated from the University of Minnesota this spring after helping to lead the Gophers on a post season winning streak to capture the NIT Championship.
It was during that run, that Hollins scored a career-high 32 points against Southern Miss in the NIT quarterfinals. He then finished with 17 points in the semifinal game against Florida State and 19 points in the championship game against SMU.
He was named the NIT’s most outstanding player, for those efforts.
#Twolves workout tomorrow: Chane Behanan, Langston Hall, Austin Hollins, Mike Moser, Adin Vrabac, Chaz Williams. Couldn't get Ejim. #gophers
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 28, 2014
During his 141 games with the Gophers, Hollins averaged 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 34 percent from the three-point line. According to the Pioneer Press, he is one of 40 Gophers to score more than 1,000 points in his career, he is also second in school history with 213 steals.
It’s Hollins’ first workout for an NBA team, according to the Star Tribune’s Amelia Rayno.
Despite Hollins’ being the most well-rounded Gopher player last season, Rayno says there are some questions about how he will perform at the next level.
The concern has been that while Hollins was unquestionably the most well-rounded Minnesota player last season, he might not do anything at the NBA level. His shooting ability has been largely inconsistent throughout his career and though his lengthy wingspan diminishes size concerns, it could be difficult for him to guard opponents at the next stage.
In an interesting twist, Hollins’ father Lionel is one of the top candidates in contention to be the next coach of the Wolves.
The Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda reports the elder Hollins was interviewed for the job weeks ago, and was willing to take the position with or without Kevin Love.
But there are other suitors for Lionel Hollins now, including Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers.
I hope the Timberwolves sign Austin Hollins, with Lionel Hollins as the coach, & then draft Andre Hollins in 2015. #Hollinsanity to the max!
— K Mill (@K_Miller_31) May 28, 2014
