After losing to the Boston University men’s basketball team Tuesday night, even University of Maine coach Ted Woodward was dumbfounded by Boston University senior John Holland, who scored his 2000th career point en route to the victory against Woodward’s Black Bears, the first place team in the American East conference.
“He’s an explosive scorer,” Woodward said. “I mean, 2,000 points? Who does that? That’s a lot of freaking points.”
Holland entered the game needing only 13 points in order to become the second Terrier player to have over 2,000 career points. Tunji Awojobi (CAS ’97) was the first to accomplish the feat during his tenure at the university.
It was a battle hard fought for the guard to achieve the goal; Holland ended the first half shooting two for nine and six points.
However, when the second half started, it was apparent that Holland had come into the half with a different mindset, becoming more involved and aggressive on the court.
When the half was closing in on 12 minutes left to play, Holland blocked the ball, leading to a Terrier’s possession. After receiving a pass from junior guard Matt Griffin, John Holland sealed his place in Terrier history with a three that sent the crowd into a standing ovation. After a timeout was called, Holland’s teammates and coaches came on to the floor to congratulate the star player.
While at the game, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore tweeted, “Just saw Johnny Holland hit the three point J to score his 2,001 point. Congrats! (BTW: Terriers lead Maine 63-47 halfway in the 2d.)”.
The forward, who would finish the game with 24 points and 12 rebounds, was again congratulated by BU Coach Pat Chambers during the post-game press conference.
“I’m really proud of him, he stepped up, but I think I’m really more proud of the 12 rebounds,” Chambers said. “He’s been very loyal to the program for a long time and I’m excited for him.”
A Bronx, NY native, Holland arrived in Boston as an unheralded recruit from Newark’s St. Benedict’s Prep in 2007. At the start of his college career, he would receive the American East 2008 rookie of the year award after carving out a place for himself on the team. He would earn more honors in the form of multiple AE player of the week honors and a first team conference honors during the 2008-09 season. Tuesday night’s accomplishment is a highlight of a college career that will soon be coming to an end.
But at the same time, Holland admitted to not being very concerned with the achievement.
During the post game press conference, Holland said, “It’s a nice accomplishment. I wasn’t really thinking about it too much, so it’s going to be easy to just move on. It’s good we got the win today. That’s probably the more important thing.”
It’s always nice to read an uplifting story about a successful athlete. Not to mention, this article is wonderfully written. Kudos to all involved from athlete to author!