BLOG 8: Holder hopes experience begins to pay off for Ferris

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State’s Jason Holder (left) goes up for a shot block against teammate Lou Williams (21) during a preseason practice session (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – As a senior, Ferris State University men’s basketball player Jason Holder knows that in many ways this is a make-or-break year for him on the hardwood.

The future is now for Holder, and that is one of the reasons is remains hopeful that the fresh new faces joined with the veterans will make the Bulldogs competitive through the rigors of a tough and long Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule. The 6-foot-5 Saginaw native who prepped at the city’s Arthur Hill High School has been around the league long enough to know there are no easy nights in the GLIAC and all teams come in with athletes who can compete and athletes who are well coached.

“You can see there’s a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of passion with the coaches and the players we have here on this team,” said Holder, who started in 13 of 29 games last season and averaged five points and 3.9 rebounds for head coach Bill Sall’s Bulldogs during the 2008-09 season. “When you really look at our team you can see how hard everyone is working, how hard people worked during the summer and how excited we all are to be here and to get to work for the season.”

Holder, who started his career playing at Division I Cleveland State University, is one of the veterans on the team. With the eyes and keen sense of a veteran, he has watched his younger teammates grow and develop into the kind of guys who now have some experience under their belts and a better idea of what it takes to be successful in the GLIAC.

“Everybody that played last season got a lot of experience and that helped give everyone an idea of what we’re trying to build,” said Holder, who was a part of a Bulldog team that finished 10-19 last season. “Everything we went through last year, having a team that was as young as we were has taught us all a lot and made those young guys who played last year a lot better.”

Watching the way some of the young guys like power forward Justin Keenan, shooting guard Bryan Pasciak, guard Darryl Nobles, swingman Lou Williams, shooting guard Matt DeHart, point guard Darien Gay and others spent a lot of time working hard in the summer to get better has been inspiring to veterans such as Holder. With this being his last shot at college basketball success, Holder knows he and other Bulldog veterans need the young guys to be out in front leading the way.

“It’s exciting to see it all beginning to pay off now that we’re getting started with practice and the season is coming up on us,” Holder said. “We’re excited about having the depth we have this year and having a team where we can go out there and put a lot of pressure on teams and play hard for 40 minutes.”

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com