Published: November 27, 2001
Section: SPORTS
Page#: 01C
SOLVED MYSTERY
By Jeff Shelman; Staff Writer   

Soon there will be people talking about how they spotted Jerry Holman's promise years ago.

You know the type. They talk about how they saw some band at First Avenue before they made it big. Or how they visited a trendy place before it became oh-so-hip. Or embraced a fad long before "everybody" was doing it.

So just wait. There are going to be plenty of Gophers men's basketball fans who claim they saw Holman a long time ago, and knew he was going to be good.

And there's a good chance come Wednesday morning, that know-it-all two cubes down at the office will be running his mouth. ESPN2 is televising the Gophers' game at Wake Forest in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, allowing a national audience to see what some in the local college basketball community have known for a while - that Holman has a chance to be a special player.

"If Jerry's calm, everybody's going to see what he can do," said Minneapolis Community and Technical College coach Jay Pivec, who coached Holman for three years. "If he gets a couple of tips and gets a Randy Moss catch and dunk, then everybody's saying, `Wow.' And he's on ESPN and everything. It could be a great coming-out party."

There's little reason to believe it won't.

Through his first three games as a Gopher, Holman has been remarkably consistent. He's reached double figures in each game and is averaging 15 points per game. He's been an intimidator in the Gophers' pressure defense, helping force opponents to average 22.7 turnovers. His energy rubs off on the rest of the team.

While Holman is an athletic freak on the basketball floor - he's 6-10, but athletic enough to defend little waterbug guards on the perimeter - he's certainly been underexposed. He played high school basketball at St. Paul Humboldt, not exactly a prep powerhouse. He played at MCTC, a Division III junior college, in a league that produces far more players for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference than the Big Ten.

Tonight will be his first game on television and first in a major-college venue besides Williams Arena.

"He didn't have the slap on the back all the time," Pivec said. "He didn't have the AAU guys all over him saying, `You're great, you're great, you're great.' He had me saying, `You've got to work harder.' "

There was no recruiting circus surrounding Holman. He knew he wanted to stay close to home and he committed to Minnesota in the spring of 2000, more than 18 months before playing his first game for the Gophers.

Even though some ardent Gophers fans have seen him play in junior college and the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League, he's still a relative mystery. He wasn't listed as a projected significant contributor in some college basketball preview magazines and his fast start surprised some, but he certainly was known in college basketball.

"That's the thing about college basketball right now, there are no real secrets," Gophers coach Dan Monson said. "Yeah, he came [to the Gophers] untraditionally, but that makes him all the more intriguing to some schools."

While the Gophers haven't unleashed Holman and Travarus Bennett at the top of their three-quarter-court press and zone defense against a major conference opponent, Eastern Washington coach Ray Giacoletti doesn't see why it won't be effective.

"You can't simulate that in practice," said Giacoletti, who watched Holman help the Gophers beat his Eagles 86-68 Saturday night. "He reminds me of one of those Arizona kids, maybe [current Timberwolf Loren] Woods or somebody. He can move and guard and he's so active at the top of the pressure."

That's a spot Holman relishes.

"We confuse them, they don't know what to do," Holman said. "My long arms, my quickness intimidates a lot of players. They come in with a plan, but the plan doesn't really ever work."

While Holman's athleticism reminds Monson of New Jersey Nets forward Kenyon Martin, the junior is becoming more than just a player who can run and dunk. Now he's regularly hitting 8- to 10-foot jumpers.

"We're pleased with what Jerry's been able to do," Monson said. "But I wouldn't say we're surprised."

That's because Monson knew about Holman long before most of the fans who soon will be saying they did, too.

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- Jeff Shelman is at jshelman@startribune.com.

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