| Hollman has used community college athletics for what they are intended: a second chance. ``I am doing what I love,'' said Hollman, who recently scored 52 points in a victory over Anoka-Ramsey. ``I am as happy as I have ever been, because I know where I am going.'' Finally, at age 25 and with a 4-year-old daughter, Hollman has a college basketball scholarship waiting and is the success he always knew he could be. ``Our mission is chances,'' Pivec said. ``We have a lot of kids who were failures or had bad experiences. We give them another try. Who is going to take David Hollman besides a community college?'' Not that Hollman is - or was - a bad kid. ``David was not in trouble, but he was one step away,'' Pivec said. ``He was just getting by ... with little focus. He was getting wiser by the day on the ways of the street.'' A star on a St. Paul Central team that reached the state semifinals in 1989, Hollman enrolled at Central State in Ohio that fall. He was the only freshman to make the team, but when two seniors came back from injuries, the coach asked Hollman to give up his scholarship and take out a loan. Disillusioned, Hollman returned to St. Paul. He worked several jobs, became a father and lost track of his dream of playing college basketball. That's when Ron Gates, Pivec's assistant and the man Hollman credits with turning his life around, discovered Hollman in the Boyz 'N The Hood summer league. Gates convinced Hollman to give Minneapolis CC a try. ``I was in terrible shape when I tried out (for the 1994-95 season),'' Hollman recalls. ``I was 25 to 30 pounds overweight. But I lost 26 pounds by New Year's and had a pretty good year.'' Though he started just one game, Hollman led the Marauders in scoring as a freshman with a 14.4 average in 18.5 minutes per game. The team was ranked No. 1 nationally most of the season and finished 24-4. Hollman was given a chance to sign a tender with Southwest State in Marshall, Minn. ``I didn't sign because I know the type of person I am,'' Hollman said. ``I know I would get complacent if I had the scholarship in my hand. I owed coach Piv and coach Gates another hard year. I had to give some respect back.'' Hollman will likely sign with Southwest after the season, though he has not closed the door to other offers. Meanwhile, his daughter, Ashley, comes to every game and chants ``Daddy, Daddy'' as Hollman launches his three-pointers. He is shooting 44.5 percent from three-point range, making nearly five a game, 98 of 220 in 20 games. (The Marauders are 16-6, but Hollman has missed two games with injury). Hollman is shooting 59.4 percent from the field and 87.9 percent on free throws while averaging 23 points. ``David is the best three-point shooter in the state,'' Pivec said. ``I would match him with any Timberwolves or Gophers player. People will say, `Piv, you know basketball. How can you say that?' I am not saying he can play at the Division I level. He probably can't, and I think he realizes it. But he will be a heck of a Division II player. I stand by what I said: Strictly shooting threes - from the incredible range to the quick release to the accuracy - David is the best in the state. David's game may have deficiencies, but shooting is not one of them.'' What are the flaws in Hollman's game? ``Strength and overall conditioning,'' the coach replied. Hollman works two jobs to pay for school and help support his daughter. ``It is rough, really rough,'' he said, ``but it beats working construction all day and hitting the streets at night.'' Hollman plans to marry Ashley's mother, and become a recreational director and coach. First, there is the state community college tournament, which Minneapolis hosts Thursday through Saturday, and a run at the national title. ``We have the ability to go all the way,'' Hollman said. ``I still remember losing in the high school tournament. An Armstrong player shot an air ball and a kid named Mike Moen caught it and laid it in at the buzzer. It was just like Lorenzo Charles and (Derek) Whittenburg (when North Carolina State won the NCAA title over Houston in 1983). ``I wish I would have come straight to CC as an 18-year-old. I was in better shape then. I could run all day.''
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