"All the love she showed, she deserved some kind of recognition or representation out there," Hollis-Jefferson said. "And putting Hollis on there, pretty much did that."
Hollis-Jefferson, 20, is the oldest of Hollis' two children. Her other son, Rondae, 17, who uses only Jefferson as his last name, is a 6-foot-7 standout junior combo guard at Chester High, where Hollis-Jefferson played.
"I have [four] other brothers and [two] sisters out there from my father," Hollis-Jefferson said of his father, Ross Jefferson.
But it was the Hollis family that steered Hollis-Jefferson into sports. First came football and then, with a push from his grandfather Carl Hollis, Rahlir got into basketball in the fourth grade.
"A lot of people were like, 'Oh, my God. He's big for nothing. What is he doing out there?' " Rylanda Hollis said. "And once he caught on . . ."
Hollis-Jefferson excelled, and his mother was there through it all. She was a fixture when he struggled in the Chester biddy league games. And when there's not a conflict with Rondae's games at Chester, Rylanda Hollis attends his Temple games.
"She is my world," Hollis-Jefferson said. "She did a lot for me and my little brother. Everything I do, I just try to thank her for what she does."
But changing the name on the back of his jersey means more than telling Hollis he loves her for the trillionth time.
"I'm honored," said Hollis, who cried when she first saw the jersey. "He didn't have to that. I never pushed for it.
"I wasn't rude [when people just called him Jefferson], because I know what I do. And I know what I named him."
Now, everyone seated in the family section at Temple home games knows it. That's because after he makes a great play, his family members yell: "Hollis!"
