AMHERST — Almost all of the UMass men’s basketball team’s drills have incentives. The losing team has to run, while the winner watches.
Rashaan Holloway’s team won one such drill in a late February practice. But when his vanquished teammates lined up for the back-and-forth sprints, the freshman center joined them on the line. Recognizing he needed continued conditioning, he ran when the whistle blew.
“I needed it and I wanted to so I ran with them,” Holloway said.
His teammates cheered as he finished. That extra run was a message. Holloway was turning a corner.
“Rashaan still ran with the losing team because he knew he wasn’t in good enough shape,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “I also think some of it was to earn more credibility with his teammates. They all realized he had some great potential that was somewhat going unfulfilled. I think that was a big step for him.”
Heights and weights on a college basketball roster usually bear only a slight resemblance to the truth and Holloway admitted he was never as light as the 335-pounds listed next to his name. At points during the season he was considerably larger, but he’d still shown signs of his potential. Surprisingly nimble and skilled for his size, it was easy to project that he could be really good, if he could just stay on the floor and dominant if he slimmed down even a little.
The toughest challenge for bigger players is staying committed to a lifestyle change. And in his first true, healthy offseason Holloway appears to be on the right track.
After an uneven season, plagued by foul trouble, stamina issues and Kellogg’s reluctance to rely on him, things seemed to come together for Holloway over the last two weeks of the season.
In the five games during that final stretch, something seemed to awaken in the rising sophomore from Elmer, New Jersey. Holloway averaged 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds, well above his season averages. More than that he looked confident and aggressive.
In UMass’ season-ending loss to VCU in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, he had 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, playing against Mo Alie-Cox, VCU’s intimidating big man.
“Mo Alie-Cox, everybody is really scared of that guy,” UMass guard C.J. Anderson said. “Rashaan hit him in his chest. That was the first time I’ve seen somebody actually go at him. To finish strong, with the finish and the foul, I was like, ‘Wow.’”
While most big men want to play like wings and float to the perimeter, the 6-foot-11 Holloway has a chance to be a true throw-back, paint-roaming post presence, a commodity that’s rare and valuable in college basketball. He said he began the offseason around 340 pounds and would eventually like to get to 300-310, a weight that would make him hard to match up with, but light enough to run the floor at UMass’ pace.
He and strength coach Rich Casella have private sessions almost daily. Holloway likes to arrive with no knowledge of what’s coming, that way he doesn’t dread a tough day. His approach is simple: Show up. Work hard. Get better.
“During the season it was just trying to get him through. Now he’s redirected all of his focus toward getting himself into the shape DK needs him in,” Casella said. “He works harder every day because he keeps getting better. He keeps trying to outdo himself. To see what he can do is unbelievable.”
His career didn’t start out that way. Holloway sat out the 2014-15 season for academics and midyear knee surgery prevented him from staying active on his own. He started the 2015-16 season slowed by rust and added pounds from the inactivity. Still, he fought his way into good enough shape to be the starting center when UMass opened the season.
Kellogg limited his playing to times where the pace and the opponent was conducive to success for his young big man. Holloway started the first 14 games of the season, but he seemed to hit a wall at the end of the first semester as his play dropped off. He said bad diet decisions on road trips pushed him backward.
“On the road, all you do is sit in airports and eat. I realized I had to watch what I eat on the road,” he said. “I ate good things and I ate bad things on top of the good things. I would eat bananas and then eat some fries. Now I just eat the bananas.”
Holloway tries to avoid temptation. He takes a cell phone picture of whatever he’s eating and sends it to Casella. After eating his calorically-planned, healthier meal at the dining commons, he’ll leave and find a place without an endless buffet to socialize.
“When I go in the dining hall and see the ice cream machine, I think ‘I could have desert’ then I think ‘I don’t need it’ and I just leave,” he said. “I just have to know I can’t sit there and eat and talk.”
To avoid backsliding, Holloway hasn’t allowed himself much of a break since the end of the season. When he’s home, Casella sends with him a grocery list and a meal plan. Holloway doesn’t object.
“The end of the season was really motivating. It made me realize how good I can really be at this level,” he said. “It made me realize how hard I have to work in the offseason. I’ve really improved my mental discipline. Growing up is a big part of coming to college. You’ve got to grow up.”
Kellogg is proud of him, but isn’t ready to let up on him.
“His work ethic is vastly improved and his commitment to trying to be successful is where it needs to be and it can continue to get better,” Kellogg said. “There’s tangible goals he can reach and he’s hitting them. I’m counting on him and Rich and our staff, when September rolls around to have him at a conditioning level that is going to allow him to be a dominating factor for our team.”
There’s plenty of motivation. Holloway wants to be great for himself and everyone who believes in him. He wants to pay back his teammates who encouraged him when he was still more promise than production.
“People were thinking, ‘Oh he’s lazy.’ At the end of the season my teammates started trusting me more,” Holloway said. “Now they treat me totally different. It feels fantastic to not be the guy who messes up.”
Holloway is still hungry. Maybe hungrier than ever, but it’s not food he’s craving anymore.
“I’m trying to prove to people I can do it. I can lose weight. I can be a dominant presence in the paint. I can help our team win games,” Holloway said. “My mindset is ready to make this opportunity live. Make it a reality. I’m going to be 100 percent ready to play every game. All my motivation is to get better the whole season and make my team better. I want to get my body right. I want to be the best player on the court. I’m strong and in my head I’m going to dominate.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage