AMHERST — Being excited to go home for Christmas didn’t make Rashaan Holloway different than most college students.
But his anticipation was a little higher this year.
This will be the UMass sophomore big man’s first Christmas as a father. Rashaan Jr. was born in May and while he’s obviously too young to recognize the significance of Christmas, his dad certainly appreciates it.
“It’s a lot different. I won’t be getting gifts, I’ll be buying gifts,” Holloway joked. “I’m ready to see what his reaction will be to it. It’ll be nice to be home and enjoy the family.”
Rashaan Jr., or R.J. as his family calls him, lives with his mother in New Jersey. Being away from him while at school isn’t easy for Holloway, who has a tattoo of his son’s newborn feet and birthday on his left forearm.
He knows that getting his degree and working toward a professional basketball career can help provide R.J. a good future.
“It’s tough because sometimes I just want to see him and hold him. But I can’t. We do Facetime. He knows it’s me. He smiles, laughs. That’s all I get til I can hold him,” Holloway said. “I’m doing everything I do for him. When he gets older he’ll realize that’s why I wasn’t around.
“It makes me take basketball and doing my work a lot more seriously,” he continued. “Every time I don’t feel like doing something I think about the situation and I’ll get it done.”
Only Holloway knows how much that’s contributed to his increased maturity this season. But Holloway got in better shape in the offseason and has become a better, more focused player on the court.
His points have jumped from 5.2 per game last season to 9.7 this year, while his rebounds per game increased from 3.1 to 4.9. Over the last four games he’s averaging 14.3 points as he’s become a more focal part of the offense.
“He’s really good when he goes really hard and fights for position and plays at a high level,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “This is a huge winter session to keep it going.”
He had 16 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots despite foul trouble in Thursday’s win over Rider before heading home to New Jersey.
Holloway still had some shopping to do as of Tuesday afternoon, but expected there’d be some basketball related gifts for his son.
“There will be a basketball,” he said smiling. “This’ll be his first Christmas. I’m trying to make it good.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage