After joining the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League on Dec. 9, former Boston University guard/forward John Holland was rewarded for his hard work. In his second season in the D-League, and sixth overall as a pro, the 2011 graduate of the College of Communication was awarded on Friday with the 2017 NBA D-League Impact Player of the Year award.
The honor is designated for a player who joins a NBA-D-League team after Nov. 26 of each season. The six-foot-five workhorse led the Charge to a 24-14 record while on the roster, with the team earning a spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
“I had gotten a taste [of the NBA] and I felt one more year of [the D-League] would be a good opportunity to hopefully get into the NBA,” Holland said.
The Charge are the NBA affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team which Holland spent training camp with prior to joining Canton. In three preseason games with Cleveland, Holland averaged 10.7 points per game including a 23-point effort against the Chicago Bulls.
The six-year pro upped his scoring average by nearly seven points per game during his sophomore season in Canton.
“That’s just a product of coming back and being familiar with everything,” Holland said. “I was able to pick off where I ended last year,” Holland said. “I always try and improve and I think that improvement was a result of a little bit of everything. Being familiar with the system, familiar with the players and the work I put in during the offseason.”
Current BU head coach Joe Jones took over the program the season after Holland graduated. However, he has met him many times and coached against him during his time at Boston College. The Terriers’ current coach speaks highly of Holland, who came back to Case Gym this past season to watch his alma mater play in the Steve Wright Classic and spent the summer working out in Boston.
“He’s a guy that’s been grinding it out. It’s an incredible achievement for someone who’s worked so hard,” Jones said. “Him being a Boston University product, we’re just awfully proud of him and it shows that young men that come from schools like BU can have great success at the highest level of basketball.”
Holland spent a lot of the summer around Terriers Justin Alston, Cedric Hankerson and Eric Johnson playing pickup and enjoying his time back on campus.
“I was with all the guys just hanging out and on campus everyday,” Holland said. “It’s not like I wasn’t around. We would have pickup and everyone would be there, it was really Ced, Eric Johnson and Justin Alston and also Blaise.”
Last year, Holland earned an NBA call up to the Boston Celtics during the Charge’s own playoff run. He appeared in an NBA Eastern Conference Playoff game against the Hawks, recording just one minute of play. The former BU star who led the Terriers to their last NCAA Tournament appearance is hungry for another chance to crack the NBA.
“The dream is the journey is what they say,” Holland said. “I’m still on the journey and I want to get there. It’s something that I have a goal of. I got a little taste of it but I’m still hungry, I still want it. I am going to keep fighting for it.”
Lots of credit to John Holland! I hope he gets another chance. Good luck, John!