Background
Hollins was born in Arizona on November 8, 1991 and moved to Memphis, Tennessee in sixth grade. As a child, Hollins would practice basketball for hours until his father forced him to leave.
Hollins was born in Arizona on November 8, 1991 and moved to Memphis, Tennessee in sixth grade. As a child, Hollins would practice basketball for hours until his father forced him to leave.
Hollins attended Germantown High School, where he lettered on the basketball team under coach Newton Mealer.
He averaged just under 16 points per game as a junior playing alongside future Belmont signee Ian Clark on a team that went 20-12. Hollins drew attention from college programs including Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon State and the University of Memphis. As a senior, he averaged 18.9 points per game in leading Germantown to a 24-9 record.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal named Hollins to the Best of the Preps Class American Automobile Association Team.
Despite sharing a last name, growing up in the same part of Tennessee, and wearing the same Number. 20 jerseys in high school, Austin and Minnesota teammate Andre Hollins are not related.
As a freshman at Minnesota playing under coach Tubby Smith, Hollins averaged 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He started five games and posted a 13-point performance against Indiana.
After the team failed to receive an invitation to the National Institute of Technology, Hollins considered transferring.
In his junior year, he became recognized for his stifling defense. "I take a lot of pride in that and it"s kind of fun, locking down another team"s top guy.. you may not hold them to zero points, but just making it tough for them -- it"s fun," said Hollins. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, Hollins contributed 16 points, four steals and a career-high seven assists against University of California, Los Angeles in the Round of 64.
He tallied 10 points and three rebounds in the season-ending loss to Florida in the Round of 32.
As a result, he was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the week of December 16, 2013. In his senior year, coach Richard Pitino referred to Hollins as "a coach"s dream" for his strong work ethic and lead-by-example style.
In the quarterfinals of the 2014 National Invitation Tournament, he went 6-11 from behind the arc and scored a career-high 32 points to help defeat Southern Mississippi He scored 12 straight points in the first half to help Minnesota retake the lead.
He made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 46.1 seconds remaining and was named National Institute of Technology most outstanding player.
Foreign his career, Hollins played in a school-record 140 games, breaking the record previously held by former teammate Rodney Williams. He led the team in steals with 75 and finished second in scoring average with 12.4 per game. Hollins went undrafted in the 2014 National Basketball Association draft.
On August 2, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Denain of the LNB Pro B. In 34 games for Denain, he averaged 8.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
On June 20, 2015, Hollins was locked in to play for the Brooklyn Nets in 2015 National Basketball Association Summer League. Hollins is the son of Angela and Lionel Hollins.
He has three siblings: Lamont, Jackie and Anthony. He is currently the head coach of the National Basketball Association"s Brooklyn Nets.