By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — It’s the middle of August and Emmitt Holt finds himself in familiar surroundings running the court inside the gymnasium at Webster Schroeder High School. Six years removed from his high school days when he may have played half dozen games during an AAU weekend, the former Warriors star has suited up just six times over the past two seasons.
The smile which comes so easily to his face dismisses any chance that the situation has dampened his spirits.
After playing three years of college basketball, Holt has endured back-to-back redshirt seasons and is preparing for his final season at Providence.
“It feels amazing,” he said about being on the court and working at full strength. “It’s been a while.”
As a junior (2016-17) he finished second in the Friars lineup scoring 12.5 points per game and grabbing 5.4 rebounds. He earned the team’s Lenny Wilkens Hustle Award.
Schroeder Alum Class of 2014 Emmitt Holt back in the home lab putting in work!!! ????????????His last year at Providence @PCFriarsmbb is going to be something special! We can’t wait and we will all be tuned in ???? #SchroederHoops #SchroederFamily #Work pic.twitter.com/jjppc9mQGQ
— Warrior Basketball (@WebWarriorBball) August 13, 2019
Then came an abdominal injury that forced him to miss 2017-18 campaign. An undetermined intestinal illness followed.
Playing basketball seemed secondary. Holt entered the hospital weighing 235 pounds. He left healed but tipping the scales at a mere 180 pounds.
“It was traumatizing. At the end of the day, they couldn’t really determine exactly what it was. Just something with my stomach. Something in my intestine just imploded. They couldn’t find a cause or anything like that. I see it as a scary thought if you really sit down and think about it. Not knowing the cause of it. I just got to trust and believe in God that he’s going to take care of me.”
The 6-foot-7 power forward, whose college basketball career included stops at two schools prior to Providence, had to resist the temptation to give up and give in.
“There were countless times, countless times when I was thinking do I really want to keep going with this. I had to start from the beginning. Literally had to teach myself how to walk again. At one point, I was ‘is it even worth it?’ (It was) My passion and my love for the game, the joy it brings me on a daily basis. I just couldn’t let it go.”
Holt averaged nearly 28 minutes per game during 2016-17. Last year he didn’t play more than single-digit minutes in any contest. He scored four points in six minutes against Iona on November 24th. He missed the remaining 26 games of the season.
“We didn’t really know what was going on,” he said of the approach to the last season. “It was more of a ‘let’s see what happens.’ I came to the decision that a redshirt was the best option. Two years in a row I’m like I really don’t want to do that, but I got to listen to my body, gotta listen to my coaches. Trust the process.”
Former Schroeder Warrior and SUNY Oswego Laker Brandan Gartland joins Holt on this night. The duo represent the all-time leading scorers in the program’s history since the district returned to two high schools in the early 2000s. First-year head coach Rashaad Stokelin and assistant coach Dave Bardursch take turns helping during drills. Holt’s cousin, Avianna, watches from the sideline.
“That’s how I kept it together; it was family all day,” he said. “I’ve got my cousin here right now. It was family and my teammates and my coaches constantly making sure that I’m all right. Checking in on me. All the little things. They know what basketball means to me. When it was taken away from me, it was like damn it was a really heavy hit. They made sure I was good throughout the whole process. Made sure my spirits were up. It was one helluva process, but we got through it.
Not just any two Schroeder Alums coming back to workout, but the #1 scorer in Schroeder history @BrandanGartland @OswegoMBball and the #2 scorer in Schroeder history Emmitt Holt @PCFriarsmbb Just days before they both enter their senior season… ???????????? #SchroederFamily pic.twitter.com/KbduqMi7d5
— Warrior Basketball (@WebWarriorBball) August 20, 2019
“Even tonight, they didn’t have to show up and do this for me. It’s just the kind of people they are. Every place I’ve been to it’s always been family oriented. That’s the number one thing that’s always gotten me to go there.”
During his recovery, Holt’s mother, Caroline, led the way.
“When it comes to her, and what she’s done for me and in my life in general not just like the past couple years, I owe a lot of stuff to that woman. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.
“The look on her face. She was motivated more than me, and I know it hurt her more than me going through it. To see her youngest son going through what I was going through, I knew that broke her heart. It showed. She has a fire in her that can never be put out. She handed me a piece of that fire, and it just grew in me. It’s something man. It’s crazy.”
As a senior at Schroeder, he averaged nearly 20 points per game along with grabbing 14.6 rebounds and blocking five shots per game. He committed to Indiana University where he played in 29 games as a freshman. Off-the-court incidents led to Holt leaving the Hoosiers program.
“He got a bad rap at Indiana,” former Schroeder head coach Matt Spadoni said by phone. “The things that have happened to him I feel are a lot of bad luck, a string of incidents and bad luck.”
Holt spent 2015-16 at Indian Hills Community College (Iowa). He scored 11.6 points and grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game for the Warriors who finished 29-5 and advanced to the NJCAA DI National Tournament. Holt ranked second in the nation with a field-goal percentage of .689.
“His value to the team is not that he’s way over the rim or anything like that; it’s that he’s intelligent,” Spadoni said of his former player. “If you watched him play at Providence, he’s in the right spot. He’s covering for other guys. He’s aware. He’s vocal. There’s always a spot for a kid like that on your team. A guy like that is invaluable.”
Providence fell to USC in the First Four of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Holt led the Friars with 18 points and 11 rebounds in that game. Providence lost to Texas A&M in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament and to Arkansas in the first round of the 2019 NIT. All five starters from last season return for 2019-20.
“We saw glimpses of what he can do at Indiana as a young freshman,” Spadoni stated. “When he was a junior at Providence, he had a great season. You can’t for much better than that the first year in the Big East. I thought he was prime to have a great senior year
“I’m extremely excited to watch him play this year. He is just a gracious, kind kid. He is the kind of kid that everybody should be rooting for him in Section V.”
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