As the Dayton Flyers finished off Longwood, 78-69, Saturday afternoon at UD Arena, Duncan Zobrist, a 10-year-old fourth-grader from Charles Huber Elementary, left his mom, Amy, and his grandma, Donna, and quickly worked his way to the other side of the arena and then down to court level, so he was right where the Flyers players enter the tunnel to return to their dressing room.
When Holmes – who overwhelmed the Lancers with 27 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, two dunks, all without a turnover – finally was making his way off the court, there was Duncan, wearing a T-shirt with The Flash on the front, but focused on another of his superheroes.
He held out his phone and asked Holmes if he’d take a selfie with him.
He 6-foot-10 Flyer stopped, adjusted the white headband he wears to keep his dreadlocks out of his face, and then wiggled his cheeks and lips to ready his face for a smile.
He took the phone, held it up so he could get himself and his ginger-haired fan in the picture and then snapped a couple of shots.
Duncan hustled back to his mom and grandma to show them his cherished souvenir.
“He and Malachi (Smith) are my favorite players,” Duncan beamed. “I like the way DaRon dunks.”
The kid was speaking for most of the sold-out crowd of 13,407 Saturday.
Holmes provided four dunks – including snagging a much-practiced alley-oop lob from Javon Bennett; and also forcefully driving down the lane and finishing with a rim-rocking finish – and that added to his Flyers record 197 career dunks over the past two seasons and 12 games this year.
Obi Toppin had held the record with 190 in two seasons as a Flyer.
Like Toppin, Holmes has a soft spot for kids who come to Flyers games and will often chat them up – though he’s not as much of a gabber as Obi – before he disappears into the tunnel.
“Things like that matter,” he explained later. “They come out and support us and I think it’s always great to give back to them. I wish I could give back to everybody, but I can’t all the time. But when I can, I try to share the love as best I can.
“I used to live in Nashville before we moved to Arizona, and I went to basketball camps at Lipscomb and Belmont. One of my best memories from back then was when the college players hung out with us, and we took pictures.
“I remember how nice the players were and what the culture in those programs was like. It felt great as a kid just to be asked to be a part of that.
“Here in Dayton we have a great culture as well and I’m able to give back that same way.”
The victory enabled the Flyers to end their nonconference schedule at 10-2 and Holmes is a big reason why.
He leads the Flyers in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots – he’s the program’s all-time career leader with 175 blocks in just 81 games – and after Saturday’s victory, Flyers coach Anthony Grant talked about the impact the junior forward has on the team and how one day it will benefit Holmes at the next level:
“First of all, and we’ve probably said it ad nauseum, but he’s just a terrific guy in terms of his work ethic, his approach, and his humility.
“He understands his process of developing.
“In a day and age when it’s normal to want instant success, instant everything, he’s willing to put the work in.
“It’s great to see him go out there and have the success he was able to have today in a variety of ways: whether it was in the post, on the perimeter (he made 3 of 5 3-point attempts) defensively affecting shots, rebounding the ball, or sharing the ball and getting his teammates involved.
“He’s showing he’s a complete player.”
After last season, Holmes dipped his toes into the professional pool, temporarily declaring for the NBA Draft, then pulling his name out of consideration before the deadline. It enabled him to get some feedback from teams that looked at him and told him what they thought he needed to work on.
One noticeable addition to his game is the 3-point shot, which he works on diligently after practice with team managers rebounding for him.
“I’m told if I keep doing that (developing a beyond-the-arc shot) great things will come,” he said.
Bennett said the whole team benefits from Holmes’ increased development:
“Deuce (Holmes) opens it up for us – with just his ability to make defenses help and his ability to score at all three levels. We all feed off his ability to do that.”
Saturday was one of Holmes’ best all-around games in his career at UD. He showed no post-Christmas rust after a 10-day break from the last game and a quick trip home to Arizona for the holidays.
He said he had a nice Christmas dinner with his family that included jambalaya and “something I never had before – duck. It was pretty good.”
As for gifts, he said the best one came from his grandmother.
“She gave me a journal, so I can write my daily thoughts down. I was really happy for that. It’s not always the most expensive gift that means the most. As I get older, I’ll be able to remember the things I did.”
He said he had not written anything in it yet:
“I might do it today when I get home or tomorrow.”
After the Longwood game, he has something to write.
He did a lot of things.
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