After a storied career for the Boston University men’s basketball team that culminated with an America East conference title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, senior forward John Holland will now embark on a basketball career beyond Commonwealth Avenue. Several opportunities have already presented themselves for the program’s second all-time leading scorer.
The 2011 AE Player of the Year participated in the Portsmouth (Virginia) Invitational Tournament last weekend, a round-robin tournament that serves as a chance for top seniors from programs around the nation to showcase themselves to NBA teams.
Playing on a Portsmouth Sports Club team with Villanova University guard Corey Fisher and University of Florida center Vernon Macklin, among others, Holland averaged 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game in three games.
Holland’s standout moment came in his team’s first game last Thursday against a Mike Duman team that featured the likes of Virginia Tech University guard Malcolm Delaney, University of Pittsburgh center Gary McGhee and Michigan State University guard/forward Durrell Summers. In the game, Holland went off for a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes of play.
“His size, scoring ability and versatility are all intriguing,” Matt Kamalsky of DraftExpress wrote of Holland’s performance and his rising professional stock. “And though he is still an under-the-radar prospect at this stage, his progress is still well worth monitoring.”
Holland’s team won that first game, but lost its final two en route to a fourth-place finish in the eight-team tournament.
Additionally, Holland is being looked at to possibly try out for the Puerto Rican Olympic National Team, according to a recent interview between Puerto Rico and University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and Hector Cruz of ESPN Deportes.
Thus far, Pitino has only extended tryout invitations to Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea and Boston Celtics guard Carlos Arroyo.
But in the interview, he mentioned that he was going to take a look at a handful of college players including Holland, University of Florida guard Mike Rosario and former Kansas State University guard Denis Clemente. After studying them, Pitino will make a decision on whether or not to invite them to try out.
Pitino noted that he will likely look for players that best fit his pressing style rather than the players that may be the most talented.
“The style that I’m going to coach may be different – it may be more man-to-man, it may be more pressing, more switching,” he said. “So it’s not necessarily the 12 best players, but it’s the 12 best players that fit into this system, and it’s really important that you’re able to shoot the basketball in this system.”
In the 2010-11 season, Holland averaged 19.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game playing as the Terriers’ lone senior.
The connection between Holland and Puerto Rico may seem strange at first glance, but the Bronx, N.Y. native’s mother is of Puerto Rican ancestry.
Holland was also drafted last month with the No. 2 overall draft pick by the Humacao Chiefs of Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional League. He has yet to determine whether or not he will accept the offer to play there.
BU coach Patrick Chambers sees a potential tryout as a great opportunity not only for Holland to gain increased exposure, but also a chance to learn and improve his game under the tutelage of the only coach in NCAA history to lead three different programs to the Final Four (without the appearances being vacated by the NCAA).
“I talked to Coach Pitino about John a few weeks ago about it and it would be a great opportunity if he does get that tryout,” Chambers said in an interview with The Daily Free Press last month. “All that stuff for John is all good.”
There is no timetable on when Holland would potentially receive an invitation to try out.
Both his performance at the Portsmouth Invitational and a potential Puerto Rican national team tryout represent strong opportunities for Holland to further his basketball career into the professional ranks.
Regardless of how things play out, Chambers acknowledges that these next few months will have a large bearing on Holland’s immediate and greater future.
“Now we’ve just got to make the right decisions moving forward,” Chambers said, “because these decisions are going to shape the rest of his career for at least the next eight to 10 years.”
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