Hollowell looks to step up in sophomore season

It started to click for sophomore forward Jeremy Hollowell immediately after losing to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 last year.

While sitting in the locker room, he said he realized how much the 2013-14 season would be different. He thought about all the guys who would leave.

He thought about how his role would change.

He knew what was about to happen. He knew more was going to be expected of him.

Then-junior forward Will Sheehey told him on the way back from that loss in Washington, D.C., “We gotta get ready for next year.”

Since then, Hollowell has done just that.

“Just realizing last year how much we had and how much is gone now — I mean, we lost a pretty good deal of our team,” he said. “So it was just me realizing the opportunity that I have and getting in the gym, working and just ready to capitalize on
the opportunity that I have.”

Hollowell only played four minutes against Syracuse, recording one rebound and one assist. He didn’t have much of an effect.

He was mad at himself. He knew he could do better.

And he knew he would have that chance this season.

“It really motivated me knowing that I didn’t play so much, didn’t play so well last year,” he said. “As soon as the last game was over I just knew it was time to get ready for next year.”
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At IU’s media day, just before the first official practice of the season, Hollowell patted his newest tattoo on his right bicep with pride.

He got two new tattoos last summer, he said.

One is the Bible verse Philippians 4:13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The other is his favorite. It’s the one he’s patting. It’s a tattoo of a lion, “my lion,” he calls it.

He doesn’t directly say that the lion is a metaphor for him and his mindset going into this season, but it is obvious that’s what he believes.

He wants to be a lion this season.

“Lions gon’ eat. By any means. Lions gon’ do whatever it takes to get that food,” he said. “That’s what I’m just using for motivation this year.”

He’s asked to expand on exactly what that means. He doesn’t understand the question. He thinks he explained it fully with that response.

“By any means. If he wants to eat something, he’s gonna eat it. There’s no stopping him,” Hollowell said. “That’s really what that one means.”

He wants to be a lion in the sense that he’ll do what it takes to get what he wants. He isn’t going to allow anyone or anything to stop him.

At Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Hollowell averaged 23.9 points per game his senior season.

He was the unquestioned leader of his team. He was the guy.

When he came to IU, he joined a team that featured two future top 5 NBA draft picks and three other guys who are now playing professional basketball overseas.

He was far from being the guy.

But he was part of “The Movement,” the four-man group of guys from the Class of 2012 who chose IU.

It was supposed to be the class that brought IU basketball back. Not Victor Oladipo and Sheehey, and the pundits said adding Zeller by himself wasn’t enough.

When the team added Hollowell, guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell, forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea and center Peter Jurkin, IU was supposed to rocket to the top.

But aside from Ferrell, no one from “The Movement” did much in their freshman
campaign.

Hollowell only averaged 9.7 minutes per game and only scored 2.8 points per game.

“I definitely feel like we didn’t live up to the hype that we had,” he said. “It’s just motivating us this offseason. I know I didn’t feel like I played to my potential.

“I think we have a real big chip on our shoulder.”

Whenever Hollowell talks about last season, he mentions it was a learning experience.

He said he learned how to play a role on the team, how to put in the daily work that it takes to be a Big Ten player and how to work on competing at a Big Ten level everyday.

Now that he’s learned those things, he’s putting the rest of last year behind him.

“I’m just trying to go in this season with a new mindset,” he said. “Last year is over with, so I’m just focusing on this year and doing what I need to do to help this team win.”

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Shortly after last season ended, Hollowell lost something else.

One of his biggest mentors who he described as a “father-figure” or an “uncle-figure” as well as “a real good friend of mine,” died April 1.

Alonzo Buggs was the assistant to the dean of students at Lawrence Central. Every day in high school Hollowell would go into Buggs’ office and talk about life.

“The relationship we had was real great,” Hollowell said.

Hollowell attended the viewing at the Lawrence Central gym. Buggs was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

“He really meant a lot to me,” Hollowell said. “He really did.”

Now the first thing Hollowell does when he gets a new pair of shoes is write “RIP Mr. Buggs” on them.

“I do still think about him a lot,” he said.

After Buggs’ death, Hollowell said he turned to IU Associate Coach Tim Buckley for guidance.

Buckley was a big part of Hollowell’s recruitment to IU. He was one of the guys who helped keep Hollowell motivated last year when he struggled.

“He just stayed in my ear telling me to stay after it and keep working hard. Opportunities come,” Hollowell said.

Now Hollowell is the third highest returning scorer on the team, despite scoring fewer than three points a game last year.

His opportunity has turned into an expectation.

“I definitely feel the need to. I’m definitely going to have to,” Hollowell said of his need to score more this year. “I’m definitely going to have to step up and make plays for this team.”

But perhaps more important, the soft-spoken Hollowell is now one of the leaders of this team.

He’s in charge of making sure freshmen know what to do and how to work hard.

“We’re the next thing next to seniors,” he said of himself and Ferrell, both sophomores. “We really have no choice. We have to step up and help Will out with the leadership role. Being with a young team we really have no choice.”

It’s a role Hollowell is excited for, but he admits is kind of funny because he was in the same place as the freshmen just 12 months ago. He knows exactly what they’re going through. It’s still fresh for him.

“We had a lot of plays last year where I was out there trying to figure out the plays,” Hollowell said. “Somebody would call the play, and I was just kinda lost out there.

“We see it in practice this year. It’s kind of funny to see because I was in the same boat last year. We’ve just been working with them. I know how it is.”

While he says Sheehey is still the vocal leader of the team, a guy who isn’t afraid to get in your face, Hollowell gets in Sheehey’s face, too.

The two friends who bonded ever since Hollowell arrived don’t back down from each other.

“He gets in my face. I get in his face,” Hollowell said. “It’s just a respect level from each other. He doesn’t take nothin’ from me. I don’t take nothin’ from him.”

In IU’s first game of the season against Chicago State, Hollowell led IU in scoring, netting a new career high in points with 16 and also a career high in blocks with four.

It was something he was looking forward to ever since losing to Syracuse.

“I’m really ready to come out and show what I can do,” he said. “Game time, I’m going to be ready to play.”

Follow reporter Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1.