Recruiting: ESPN 4-Star Adante’ Holiman puts Arizona Basketball in Top 7

Four-star recruit Adante’ Holiman released his Top seven schools on Twitter and Arizona Basketball has officially made the cut!

ZonaZealots Site Expert Eric Townsend joined me on the ‘In the Front Row Sports Show’ to interview Arizona Basketball four-star recruit Adante’ Holiman (Nickname Te) and his father and head coach, Will Holiman last week (see interview below).

The McAlester, OK recruit released his top seven schools on Twitter just days ago, and Arizona made the list along with ASU, DePaul, Tulsa, and Saint Louis among others.

Adante’ is a well-spoken, confident, smart (currently holds a 4.0 GPA), and talented young man.  His father and coach, Will Holiman, is an alumni of McAlester High School and was named an All-State guard while playing for McAlester in 1998.

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The junior guard, his younger brother William Adonis (a freshman Point Guard), his cousin Dre ‘Shaun Flowers, and his mom’s younger brother Ladell Harris, are all following in Will’s footsteps, which makes their high school experience very special and a time to remember.

Coach Holiman loves his job and says that some leave college jobs for a chance to do what he gets to do, spending time mentoring, training, and fathering his sons, into becoming better men.

Talking to the two of them, you can tell how very close they are. They make the dad/coaches son/player relationship work because Adante’ feels his dad is real with him and not holding back.

The family owns their own training facility which includes a basketball court that was available for Te throughout the COVID19 quarantine.

Not only does Adante’s dad mentor him, but his grandparents do as well. His grandfather, William Holiman Sr., is a volunteer assistant coach for the team, “Basketball is in our blood,” he told reporter Morgan Beard.

His nana, Ann Walker, on his mother’s side, is the cheerleader of the group, but his dad’s mom, Lottie Holiman, is possibly harder on him than anyone else in his family and he enjoys it. She played basketball in high school with boys, so she is one tough cookie. If you are wondering about mom Angie, she is his educational mentor, and she makes sure he keeps his grades up.

However, as for Covid-19, the pandemic has dampened the recruiting process for the young Holiman but his spirits remain high, “Yeah it’s been a little weird but it’s been good to me — I see it as a blessing and I like it when coaches reach out.” The big thing is that college coaches can’t watch him play and he can’t go on college visits which has been a bit of a bummer. Again, it hasn’t brought him down.

Te is actively being recruited by Arizona Basketball Assistant Coach Jason Terry, “We have a connection he found about Te through Adante’s sister Jayda who is also a high profile girls prep player,” Coach Holiman told us. Basketball is a family affair for the Holiman’s!

Adante’ told us that he is not looking to stay close to home per se, and his dad encourages him to feel free to go to college away from home so he can learn independence and grow as a young man.

He is even okay with having a coach who yells a lot, since he is used to his dad yelling at him, “Yeah It’s happened my whole life,” said Te. “Yeah he don’t get no favors being the coach’s kid, I’ll tell you that,” said coach Holiman.

Te also broke down what he’s looking for with a head coach, “I want a coach that wants to push me and lets me know that I am lucky to be there – to be a better basketball player and a better man.”

Drawing inspiration for Atlanta Hawks Trae Young’s, Te tries his best to emulate his game. “I’ve been studying and watching his highlights since he was in high school. After I saw him in High School, I just followed him and modeled my game after his.”

Young attended Norman North High School in Oklahoma, just two hours west of McAlester where Holiman attends high school currently. Coach Will made sure we understood that Te plays a lot more defense than Trae Young. Haha.

In the offseason, he’s working on getting a six-pack, and continuing to train and put on muscle. His dad feels he plays more like a college sophomore and has always played up. Adante’, who has played basketball since fourth grade, even playing against Tacko Fall when he was in 4th grade, and he told us he learned how to play against tall players to get his points.

Te’s favorite food is Chinese, especially fried potstickers, wontons, honey chicken, and teriyaki chicken are his go-to. Note to coaches recruiting Te, Western Kentucky is calling him every day. Coaches are telling him he can go play for them right now, and since he has the grades to graduate high school early, so that’s a possibility.

We’ve interviewed a ton of high school athletes in our day, but everyone once in a while you come across a player who impresses you with his or her skills on the court as well as off the court. Adante’ Holiman is a name to remember. Can’t wait to see what the future brings for this young man!