Xavier University Athletics
Holloway Making Immediate Impact
02.03.09 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2009
By Adam Kiefaber
Freshman point guard Terrell Holloway wasn’t even supposed to be here.
Now, Xavier and its fans can’t imagine what it would be like to not have him.
At Cincinnati Harmony Community School last season, Holloway had planned to play his college ball at Indiana University, but asked for his release after the team had to change its head coach.
In April, after Holloway was granted his release from the letter of intent that he signed with IU, Xavier head coach Sean Miller announced that Holloway was going to be the final member of this year’s impressive recruiting class.
Playing for Miller and possibly receiving immediate playing time as a freshman were two key reasons why Holloway settled with the Musketeers.
“I knew they were losing Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell, so I thought it was an opportunity to come in and play a lot of minutes as a freshman and play for a great coach,” Holloway said.
Seven months after signing with Xavier, Holloway found himself in position to start due to the fact he was the team’s only pure point guard. However, Miller decided to start Danté Jackson at the point for the majority of the non-conference schedule.
As the backup, Holloway averaged 7.2 points per game, which isn’t bad, but it was his assist-to-turnover ratio that was disappointing. In those games, Holloway had 13 assists and 20 turnovers.
On Dec. 31 against Robert Morris, Holloway was inserted into the starting lineup. He started the next 10 contests, averaging only 5.9 points, but his assist-to-turnover ratio was much improved. During that span, Holloway committed 19 turnovers and had 33 assists. More importantly, that “pass first” mindset has helped Xavier win every game since his first start.
“He has an incredible talent getting into the lane. When he does that and finds his teammates, we are a lot harder team to beat than when he thinks shoot first,” Miller said. “He is improving and is working very hard.”
In his first conference road game, Holloway felt right at home when Xavier faced Fordham, which is not far from his hometown of Hempstead, N.Y. Holloway had 26 tickets family and friends in attendence and talked with them before and after the game.
It was a familiar scene for Holloway and his family because he had played many AAU basketball games in Fordham’s Rose Hill Gym.
It was back in New York where Holloway got his nickname, “Tu Tu.”
Ever since Xavier fans and media members found out the nickname, they have been asking, “What does it mean?” and “Where did it come from?”
“Tu Tu was my nickname when I was like two years old. I don’t know where it came from,” Holloway said.
In Xavier’s last game against Massachusetts on Saturday afternoon, Holloway went down with an injury with 10:36 left in the first half after colliding with center Luke Bonner.
Holloway struggled to get up, but remained in the game. Shortly after, Holloway went straight to the locker room. The injury was scary considering it was the same foot that caused him to miss two weeks of practice and two games earlier in the season.
Unlike his last foot injury, which was a stress fracture, this shouldn’t cause him to miss much time. Holloway may be limited in practice this week, but is expected to play in Thursday’s game against Temple.
Holloway admitted the earlier stress fracture injury “was a setback,” but it didn’t make him any less comfortable out there.
“I am pretty much comfortable in all the games,” Holloway said.
Overall, Xavier followers are happy that he picked to play at their school, but it is Holloway who might most comfortable with the decision.
“It has been great coming here and playing for a guy like Coach Miller and under an aggressive coaching staff. I have also had a lot of help from Danté Jackson with plays and recognizing defenses,” Holloway said.
Xavier is ranked No. 9 in both major polls this week and will play Temple (12-8, 4-2 in A-10) on Thursday night. The tip-off is at 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Senior guard Dionte Christmas, who is leading the Atlantic 10 with 20.5 points a game, leads Temple. Early this year, Christmas led Temple to an 88-72 upset over Tennessee. In that game, Christmas scored 35 points.
Last season, Christmas scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half of Temple’s 78-59 win over Xavier.
