According to the latest data from ScholarshipStats.com, there is a 0.9% chance to play Division I basketball out of high school. Essentially giving just one of them 116 to 1 odds to play Division I in college but for one Oklahoma father that was just another obstacle his children were willing to overcome. Will Holiman will be a busy dad around 2024 traveling to two different schools, likely three different games to see his children all live out their dreams of playing Division I basketball.
Adante Holiman will be playing for UT Rio Grande Valley this season, and his younger siblings will be following in similar footsteps in years to come. His younger sister Jayda Holiman also committed to UTRGV and will play for head coach Lane Lord in 2023 and the youngest brother Adonis Holiman will be starring for Texas A&M-Commerce and will play for head coach Jaret Von Rosenberg in 2024 as they make their transition to Division I basketball and the Southland conference.
“I’m very proud of them. We all worked so hard. It’s honestly like a dream to us, a blessing,” Jayda Holiman said. “We worked for it and it happened, and that lets me know that if you work hard enough for it anything can come true.”
Adante Holiman, once considered a four-star ESPN prospect, once held offers from Ole Miss, South Carolina State, Western Illinois, UMKC, Saint Louis, Arizona State, Arizona, DePaul, Tulsa and plenty more. He will be paired with head coach Matt Figger and assistant coach Dean Cooper, who has been working with NBA organizations since 1999. His ultimate goal is to play at the highest level and he believes UTRGV can get him there.
Adante’s work ethic is what set him apart from most in his class. He’s always in the gym, and his siblings and father are always usually right there with him.
“We all push each other in the gym, we like to play 1-on-1 and our dad is really good at helping us fix parts of our game,” Jayda said. “We are all competitive and sometimes get upset with each other but our goal is to be successful in college and be who we are, so that’s why we push each other so hard and encourage each other.”
And that usually leads to each one of them trying to emulate the other on the court. They learn a lot from each other and take parts from on another to add to their game.
“I feel like I’m the best scorer in the family but those two have great playmaking skills like my dad,” Adante said. “They see things before it happens with their passing so that’s the biggest thing I pay attention to and take from their game. They see the floor well and how they pass the ball is crazy.”
“They see how I can score the basketball from wherever I want to and being able to shoot the basketball is something very hard to even get now-a-days, so they just take that and see how they can add that to their game.”
Jayda Holiman was a highly recruited prospect before committing receiving an offer from James Madison, visiting Ole Miss and UT-Arlington before ultimately choosing UTRGV.
The youngest, Adonis Holiman, completed the set recently when he committed to Texas A&M-Commerce, currently a program that is transitioning to Division I basketball. Despite only being a sophomore the staff made him feel like a priority early in the process and it paid off.
“The coach came to my first live period and said that I did really good, and has been loyal ever since,” Adonis said. “He came to our first practice of high school basketball, and everything he said he was going to do, he’s done.”
Growing up, the three siblings all had dreams of playing at the highest level and this is just the first step of that journey. They will continue to push each other and work hard to make their ultimate dream come true.
“I see us being in the basketball game for a long time, hopefully,” Adante said. “If not, we are going to be good students overall with a college degree if basketball doesn’t work out.”
“But I hope it does. I really want to see us all three either go big time, go overseas or come back and do something with basketball.”
Follow us on social — Twitter, Facebook & Instagram (@ScoopmanTV)
Scoopman TV 
You must be logged in to post a comment.