Courtesy of Shutterstock
Courtesy of Shutterstock
Being a member of a Division 1 team for one of the country’s most storied basketball programs in a historic conference is everything Jonathan Holmes dreamed it could be.
The former Columbia High School grad is a proud member of the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC after earning his keep as an unknown walk-on.
Holmes insists he was so locked in on the day of tryouts, he can’t remember if Coach Mike Anderson was even in the gym to oversee the action. Either way, he was hell-bent on making sure he was someone the veterans wouldn’t easily be able to forget.
“I skipped a class to be there,” the former Eagles star told the SE Illinois News. “I was so prepared; I told myself I was going to be a part of every play that happened.”
Those are the very attributes Columbia Coach Mark Sandstrom came to expect and depend on from Holmes while he was starring with the Eagles.
“That’s just Jonathan,” he said. “He’s a small guy with a giant heart -- a guy with unbelievable toughness and edge. He’s one of those guys you just can’t tell no. He may not look like a guy that would be on a SEC roster, but if you know him at all it’s really no big surprise.”
Holmes simply sees it as being true to who he’s always wanted to be. For as long as he can remember, he’s dreamed of playing Division 1 basketball. At the end of his sophomore year, he devised a plan to make it happen.
“A lot of people didn’t believe,” he said of his plan. “Arkansas is the school I had settled on attending anyway because it’s such a great school. I knew it’s where I wanted to be; and from the summer of my junior year, I worked my butt off to make it happen with the basketball.”
That included Holmes sending footage from his games to the Razorbacks’ video coordinator, and letting him and other coaches know he would be on campus.
As for the added workload, by his senior year, Holmes' levels of improvements were obvious to all, as he averaged nearly 15 points in leading the Eagles to a 22-7 finish and a regional title.
From there, it was on to Fayetteville. At that point, Holmes' only direct contact with Anderson was at an AAU tournament where the two were briefly introduced.
“By then, a few smaller schools had showed some interest, but I had visited Arkansas and it was nothing like it,” he said. “Nothing else compared.”
With the support of his family and Sandstrom, as well as some of his friends and former teammates, Holmes officially took the leap.
“It’s been a defining moment in my life,” he said. “I don’t even have my name on jersey yet because I came on board so late, but I got in one game and everybody in the arena was cheering for me.”
Thus far, he’s appeared in three games for a total of five minutes, missing his only two shots in a 99-62 blowout win over Austin Peay.
“It’s a job,” he said of keeping himself fit and prepared to contribute to the Razorbacks’ “Fastest 40 Minutes” style of play. “It takes up most of my every day, but I really love every moment of it.”
Going back home to Columbia helps Holmes reaffirm how worth it his commitment has been.
“It’s almost like being a hometown hero,” he said. “Past coaches, my buddies and ex-teammates, all of them tell me just how proud they are.”