Football: For this Duke, the past provides enough motivation (11-24-06)
By Craig Juer (Daily Staff Writer)
HARRISONBURG — Geographically speaking, Highland, Kan., is roughly 1,000 miles from Harrisonburg.
In Eugene Holloman's rearview mirror, it still appears way too close.
Coming out of Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, Holloman drew interest from James Madison but didn't have the SAT scores to gain acceptance.
"We watched him run at a recruiting combine when he was a senior in high school, and we got his transcript and realized that he did not qualify to come to JMU," coach Mickey Matthews said earlier this week. "We recommended that he go to a junior college and work on his academics."
On that advice, the speedy, hard-nosed tailback enrolled at Highland Community College in northeast Kansas. He didn't tour the campus beforehand; he just went.
"That was rough, but I knew, in the end, some good would come out of it," he said. "I just went because that was like the only choice I had."
Upon arrival, Holloman visited a Wal-Mart. It occurred to him that he would be living in a relatively big city. Then he realized he wasn't yet in Highland.
Highland, population 976, has no Wal-Mart. Or cell phone service.
"I got there and the telephone's not working," he said, revealing little else about his time there. "It was hard to adapt to it, but when I did, I toughed it out."
JMU defensive back Phil Minafield spent time at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, a scenario comparable to Highland. The state remains a sore subject for Holloman and him.
"We don't really like to talk about it," he said. "It just brings back bad memories. The state is terrible."
But Holloman's patience was rewarded with a scholarship to JMU, where he found himself once again in an unfamiliar location — fifth on the depth chart. Competing with seniors Alvin Banks and Maurice Fenner, not to mention junior Antoinne Bolton and freshman Scotty McGee, Holloman soon heard rumors that he'd be moved to defense.
"I knew one of us was going to go to cornerback between me and Scotty; there was a rumor spreading around the football offices and the locker room," Holloman said. "I went to go to talk to [running backs coach Ulrick] Edmonds and he was like, 'Things usually work themselves out.'"
Things soon did. McGee saw the writing on the wall and voluntarily moved to cornerback. Holloman leapfrogged Bolton in training camp, and both Banks and Fenner were injured in the first two weeks of the season. Against No. 1 Appalachian State on Sept. 9, Holloman became The Man.
"In August, we were planning on redshirting him because he has three years to play two," Matthews said. "So when Banks and Fenner were injured early, he got more [playing time] and then it kind of came to us that he may have a chance to play this year."
When he arrived at JMU, Holloman wasn't even among the top three running backs from his hometown; Fenner also went to Bayside, while McGee and Bolton came from crosstown rival Ocean Lakes. Now, he found himself the Dukes' primary ballcarrier in just the season's second week. In JMU's 21-10 loss to the Mountaineers, he racked up 63 yards on 17 carries to go with 63 yards on five receptions.
"He was awesome that game," said senior quarterback Justin Rascati, Holloman's and Minafield's roommate. "I've always known he can play, ever since he's been here. It's just a matter of him getting his chance, and he got his chance. When his number was called, he answered it."
For Holloman, it was an arrestingly intimidating initiation into college football in front of 23,814 people in football-crazy Boone, N.C.
"Just looking and seeing that many people — I never played in front of that many people before," he said. "I was looking in the stands, butterflies just going, coming and going. And then as the game went on, you forget about that and just play. And that's what I did."
In the Dukes' next game — a 52-14 victory against Northeastern — Holloman had 137 yards on 10 carries, including a 74-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter.
"Gene's a very humble person," McGee said. "Even though he's in the papers week in and week out, that's something that doesn't get to him. We'd sit back and converse from time to time, and he's like, 'Man, Scotty, you're used to being in the paper! This is all new to me.'"
Matthews said Holloman's headline-grabbing big-play ability was something he saw during training camp.
"He would break a long one in every scrimmage," he said. "It's just great to have a home run hitter. Every time Eugene touches the ball, he could go the distance. When you have a guy that runs 4.3 [seconds in the 40-yard dash], it helps the offense. It makes the defense worse."
Holloman raced to 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns in nine regular-season games, earning first-team all-Atlantic 10 honors along the way.
"After he started playing, it's been difficult to get him out of the lineup," Matthews said.
But Holloman doesn't take his newfound status for granted. After all, Highland looms a mere thousand miles behind in the rearview mirror.
"My dad calls me all the time and tells me never to forget, and be humble about everything, because a lot of people are starting to know who I am," he said. "But I think about where I was, and nobody knew who I was. It keeps me humble and keeps me grounded.
"When everything's going good, and sometimes it moves too fast, I just think about Highland Community College."
