ANGOLA, Ind.-- Basketball has been a way of life for Trine senior power forward Jared Holmquist and his family.
Growing up in Reed City Michigan, his father Chuck won a State Championship at Reed City High School in 1980 and then went on to have a great career in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) at Alma College (Alma, Mich.) Jared's older sister Lindsay was also a solid fundamental basketball player, scoring over 1,000 career points during her time in a Reed City Coyote uniform. Chuck remembers discovering Jared's love for the game when as a second-grader, Jared nailed his first big shot against a group of fourth-graders during a Saturday morning open gym. Chuck would go on to mention that, "from that point on, you basically couldn't get Jared off the court."
Jared's success at Reed City High School both on the basketball floor and in the classroom as a 4.0 student left him with multiple scholarship offers from colleges and a big decision to make on where to continue his academic and athletic career. Both Chuck, and Jared's mother, Lori, were very involved in helping Jared find the right place for him when it came to taking visits. Chuck and Lori "graded" each situation based on academics, cost, proximity to home, program strength, and coaching staff, but understood that ultimately it would be Jared's decision.
"I chose Trine University because I was keen on the type of system Coach Miller was looking to build and the type of high character teammates I would be joining," said Holmquist. "From an academic standpoint I researched Trine's Ketner School of Business and knew I could get a great degree in Accounting and that they would help prepare me for the CPA exam."
Coach Miller and his staff could not have been more excited to accept Jared's commitment to Trine knowing what he would bring to the culture of the program both on and off the floor.
"To land a highly coveted recruit out of the state of Michigan like Jared in our first full recruiting year at Trine was big for us," said Miller. "Not only did he have the potential to be an all-conference player on the court, but we knew how great of a teammate he would be in the locker room."
The coaching staff's assessment of Jared's impact would eventually prove right on both counts with Jared earning All-MIAA First Team honors last year as a junior after leading the Conference in scoring. He was also selected to the NABC Academic Honors Court with a 3.95 GPA.
Jared also claimed that, "Another reason I chose Trine was because I felt that Trine was on the verge of becoming an MIAA conference title contender."
In Jared's three years at Trine University the Thunder have posted consecutive winning seasons with increasing win totals of 14,15, and 17 wins each year. Last year, during Jared's junior campaign, the Thunder were able to defeat both Hope College (Holland, Mich.) and Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Mich.) at home for the first time in school history on their way to a second-place finish in the MIAA.
"Beating Hope and Calvin was a special experience for me because it was something my dad was never able to do at Alma," said Holmquist.
The Trine vs. Alma game is also a special experience for the Holmquist family due to Chuck's ties as an Alma alumnus and its proximity to Reed City. Jared says that, "Alma is like a home game for me because it is so close to where I grew up and with my dad being an alum, I know that's one game he really looks forward to every year."
When watching his son compete in the same conference he did as a player especially when it comes to playing Alma Chuck feels, " Complete enjoyment," stating, "I couldn't be prouder… but I want Trine to thump Alma every time – no mixed emotions on my part at all."
Jared feels that his development as a player and young man have had a lot to do with his experience as a student athlete at Trine University.
"One of the things that I feel separate us from most teams is that the coaching staff truly wants what's best for us in life and that they challenge us in the classroom, on the court, and have us devote time to community service projects as well," said Holmquist. "This has forced me to develop a stronger work ethic and strengthen my time management skills through juggling basketball, school, and my social life."
Holmquist and the Thunder begin their quest for a fifth-consecutive winning season when they open up practice on Oct. 18 in Hershey Hall.
