Welcome to A10 Talk’s Top Pre-Season Top 25 Player Countdown for the 2017-18 season. Each day, we’ll be publishing a new article counting down our best 25 players for the coming season. Today, we feature #6 Rashaan Holloway, from Massachusetts.
Our Top 25 Player Countdown is a compiled list based on voting from our staff and writers from across the league. Thanks to the following for helping configure this year’s Top 25 Atlantic 10 Player Countdown:
Grant Labedz (@GrantLabedz), Mat Shelton-Eide (@MatSheltonEide), Grant Kelly (@GrantKelly07), Andrew Phung (@LoveRI401), By George (@ByGeorgeGMU), Davidson Recruiting (@DavidsonMBBRecr), Steve DiMiceli (@SteveDiMiceli), Rhody Rampage (@RhodyRampage), UMass Recruiting (@UMassRecruiting), Bona Blog (@BonaBlog), Petey Buckets (@PeteyBuckets), and UMass Ball Report (@theumbr).
What He’s Done
There’s very good reason to believe Rashaan Holloway will be one of the best big men in the league this year. The guy’s got size down low, and through his first 2 seasons as a Minuteman, he’s had no problem maneuvering in the post. Holloway had the 3rd best offensive and 7th best defensive rebounding percentages in the conference last year. He shot 62.6% from the floor on more than 200 attempts. He lives at the line, drawing 6.5 fouls per 40 minutes, a metric that ranked top 50th in the nation last season. He also had the 4th best block percentage in the A-10 in 2016-17.
Holloway is known for his ability to wreak havoc in the post, and he should draw a lot of attention down low this year. Should teams decide to double him (they should), Massachusetts is going to have to find a consistent threat from deep, especially now that senior guard Jaylen Brantley will no longer be playing for Matt McCall.
What He’ll Do
Holloway’s got a good chance to be the best forward in the league, and it’s amazing he received no pre-season recognition at this year’s A-10 Media Day. I think the league’s going to be kicking itself by the time the junior is finished with his 2017-18 campaign. He should be the focal point of Massachusetts’ offense, and without much help from the outside (UMass is very limited in terms of depth), Holloway could be doing everything.
The big man unfortunately hurt this thumb, requiring him to miss some practice time prior to the start of the season. His return for Massachusetts’ season-opener is questionable, but fortunately, the Minutemen should have their stud back in the mix in no time.
Previously: #7 Jared Terrell
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