Report: Chris Hollender resigns at Wichita State, T.J. Cleveland to fill role

Wichita State assistant coach Chris Hollender has resigned from his role due to personal reasons, The Wichita Eagle‘s Taylor Eldridge reported Tuesday. The Shockers wasted no time in finding his replacement, bringing on TJ Cleveland.

Hollender was hired back in April as one of the first members of new head coach Paul Mills‘ staff. He had previously served as an assistant under Cuonzo Martin at Missouri for the past five seasons. Now he leaves the Wichita State program before his time there really even ever began.

Cleveland has spent the past four seasons as the associate head coach at St. John’s. A former Arkansas player from 1998-2002, he played under legendary Razorbacks coach Nolan Richardson as well as briefly under Mike Anderson, who took over as interim coach in 2001-02 after Richardson’s firing.

Anderson left the next year to become the head coach at UAB, and Cleveland followed him there as a a video coordinator. He remained in that role for the next three seasons before being promoted to assistant coach in 2005-06.

TJ Cleveland has remained a staple on Anderson’s staff for the next 20 seasons, the entirety of both of their coaching careers. When Anderson left UAB in 2006, Cleveland followed him to Missouri and again when he returned to Arkansas in 2011-12. There he remained for the next eight seasons, guiding the Razorbacks to three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs while compiling a 169-102 overall record.

Arkansas fired Anderson following the 2018-19 season, and Cleveland again joined him on the staff at St. John’s. With his recent move to Wichita State, however, the 2023-24 season will mark Cleveland’s first without his longtime mentor by his side.

Cleveland has developed a reputation as a talented recruiter over the years in all of his past stops. Some players he even helped mentor to future NBA careers such as DeMarre Carroll and Bobby Portis.

Wichita State was one of the top mid-major programs in college basketball during 2010s under Gregg Marshall, making seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2012-18. However, the team has failed to reach 20 wins in the three seasons since Marshall resigned in 2020.

The Shockers fired coach Isaac Brown coming off of a 17-15 finish this past season and later hired Mills as his replacement. Mills was previously the head coach at Oral Roberts, leading them to a 30-5 record and Summit League title this past season.

Now he adds a valuable member to his coaching staff as he attempts to restore the run of success Wichita State fans have come to expect.