Hoosier Player Profiles: Jeremy Hollowell

Jeremy Hollowell - Lawrence Central, Indianapolis Indiana

Forward - 6'8", 217 lbs.

2012 Season - High School

Next on our player profiles is the freshman who will be wearing #33 for your 2012-2013 Men's Basketball team, Jeremy Hollowell. Hollowell was ranked as the #7 or #10 small forward in his class, and the #42 or #41 player overall by Scout or Rivals, respectively. Scout.com particularly notes his good handles, outside shooting, and pure scoring ability as his positives, while raising concerns about his competitive drive and intensity. And if you watch his youtube highlights, you'll come away with much the same impression - this kid can score from anywhere on the floor, even with contact, but has a very mellow demeanor. In a lot of ways, these rankings and these comments shadow a lot of how Christian Watford was viewed coming in, except that Hollowell looks more polished than Watford was at this point. And if Hollowell had stepped on campus anywhere in the preceding three years before last year's surprisingly successful season, he might have been considered a "day one" starter. That said, he'll definitely get some PT this year and unquestionably has the talent to be a starter in the Cream and Crimson, but may have to wait until next year to lock that second part up.

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As a junior, Hollowell was playing at a level that had scouts taking note of abilities to be sure. Still, what I like is not so much that he increased his scoring rate between his junior and senior year (from 18.9 to 23.9), but that his rebounding and assists jumped almost 2 each per game as well. That's not easy, and shows the work that he has put in on working on multiple aspects of his game. So, what kind of impact does he have? Drew Cannon projects him rebounding reasonably well, shooting 49% on FGs, 66% on FTs, and 26% on threes, but sticking to the outside on offense and drawing less fouls than Ferrell or Parea. Also, while Cannon thinks he'll have a decent block/steal rate and notch a fair amount of assists, he'll also turnover it over quite a bit, too. This is the first time anyone has ever tried to project KenPom numbers on freshmen, so take it with a big grain of salt. However, I think Hollowell will be a better shooter than Cannon gives him credit for (his mechanics just look so good, and I know his shooting marks are from high school, but he was also shooting as the first option - he'll be benefiting from getting open looks as attention will be focused by opposing defenses on Zeller, Watford, Hulls, et al in this next season).

So, where will Hollowell fit in the playing rotation this season? It's tight, but he'll find time. He could back up Watford to some extent, but at the four and five spots IU will have Hanner Mosquera-Parea and Derek Elston also be coming off the bench along with the occasional appearance by Peter Jurkin. Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey could take all of the minutes at the three spot by themselves, and I think Remy Abell and Jordan Hulls will be eating up minutes at the two-spot as Yogi Ferrell gets settled in the point guard slot. Really, though, I think Oladipo and Sheehey also see a decent amount of time at the 2-spot, leaving between 10-15 minutes a game for Hollowell to come in on the wing. I mentioned it earlier, but I see positions shifting around so that Hollowell essentially takes Matt Roth's minutes [update for those less familiar with IU's personnel/playing rotation: I am not suggesting that Hollowell plays the two: Oladipo and perhaps Sheehey will shift back to the off-guard while Hollowell plays the three]. He won't be quite as devastating from the arc, but he should contribute far more on defense even as a freshman, which is where IU needs the boost right now. And should bad fortune befall the Hoosiers again, Hollowell should be ready to step up. He's in a good spot, able to absorb the game, come off the bench to play with a truly elite offense, and begin to understand what he'll need to maximize his potential to be a force in the conference.