How DaRon Holmes II became Denver Nuggets' ideal draft pick

With increased time in the gym came elevated confidence. That was the story of Holmes’ shooting evolution, but also of his entire development throughout college, from Greer’s perspective.

“The first year, I don’t think I heard him curse one time,” Greer said. “He would get mad, and he’ll go ‘Darn it’ or ‘Yeesh.'”

He was afraid of imperfection at first. Dayton allowed him to play through mistakes and mismatches, and he slowly learned to get over it.

The growing pains are the pivotal moments that resonate with Holmes now. Early in his freshman season, Lipscomb’s 275-pound center went for 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocks against him. Dayton lost by 19. A week later, he was the primary matchup against Belmont senior Nick Muszynski (245 pounds). Dayton escaped with a two-point win, but Holmes got demolished inside again.

“He was moving people with his arms,” Holmes said. “I will never forget, he had a play where he caught it on the right block, and I was trying to front him. And one of my teammates came to help me, and he literally had this arm right here and moved both of us. Hit a hook shot.

“This is when I’m a freshman, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’m built for this.’ But all those moments really truly helped me out. Because I would go back and watch the film and see, ‘Hey, this is how you do handle those situations.'”

He learned to trust his IQ and talent eventually. Greer started to notice him swearing more — and calling people “legend” more — signs that Holmes was growing more comfortable in his own skin.

His rookie season in the NBA might resemble a reset of freshman year, but Holmes wanted the opportunity to experience that in Denver, where he can observe “one of the best big men of all time.” He knew the Nuggets were especially interested in him during the pre-draft process, though he says he wasn’t sure if that interest was to the extent of a full promise.

“I’m here to have fun. I’m here to win. I’m here to get better,” Holmes said. “And if (people) do see me (in Denver), don’t be afraid to come up to me and say what’s up. I’m very cool, chill. I’m not the type of athlete that’s like, ‘Oh, I can’t talk to you.’ That doesn’t apply to me. My family raised me a way to be respectful to everybody.”

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