Sept. 16, 2010

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Jack Hollis, former Stanford University baseball standout and Cincinnati Reds professional baseball player, came to Oakland University and spoke with OU student-athletes on Wednesday night about the importance of academics and relationships that are forged along the way. Hollis, currently working for Toyota as the Vice President of the Scion Division, won a national title in baseball as a collegiate athlete at Stanford.

"With a roomful of athletes, it always gets me excited to talk about the future," said Hollis. "Companies like Scion want to hire student-athletes, who understand there is a balance between the athletic world and the education world."

"We are incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to have someone of Jack's caliber speak to our student-athletes about life after college, and the importance of building relationships while in college," said Assistant Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete services Holly Kerstner. "We not only thank Jack for his presentation, but we also would like to thank Toyota and the Scion division for this opportunity and their generosity."

The Golden Grizzlies really enjoyed having Hollis on campus and here are some of their thoughts:

Dan Gliot, senior baseball player - "I think it was great that he came here to Oakland. It's a great event and he talked about a lot of things that are really important to me being a senior, passion, hard work, relationships on and off the baseball field and the community. It spoke very well to me and I enjoyed everything he had to say. I learned a lot from the two hours with him."

Will Hudson, senior basketball player - "You have to develop meaningful friendships, because those friendships will build where you want to go and the direction of your career. Jack mentioned how important it was for him to be successful to be mindful of those relationships he developed years in advance and that is something that really hit home with me."

Brittany Dunn, senior volleyball player - "The biggest thing that I got from him was how important the relationships are that I am building while I am here with my team. I am currently in an internship, doing my student teaching, and how important that is in building relationships in the school that I am in. Also be aware on how important it is on how I present myself because you never know who is around."

Brittany Carnago, junior basketball player - "Jack really touched base on passion and relationships. It's so crucial that you build relationships and I thought it was great he talked about it. You do kinda of lose sight of building relationships with the people around you that can help get you a job. Athletics are only going to take you so far."

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