STARKVILLE — The intake and exhale says a lot about Jazzmun Holmes’ first week of practice with the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
Even though it only takes a few seconds, Holmes’ deep breath sounds like it is trying to push something out of the way.
“Intense. Very intense. Fast. A lot of learning, learning new things, learning new people,” Holmes said of her first week as a Bulldog.
Holmes was then asked to describe the feelings behind her response. Her second comment revealed even more about the depth of that breath.
“It has been tough,” Holmes said. “I know I cried the first day we had practice. I just got over it, put on my big-girl pants and went with it.”
Players as accomplished as Holmes typically don’t cry when they’re on the court. They’re more inclined to make others hang their heads. The ability to do that is part of what attracted MSU coach Vic Schaefer and his coaching staff to Holmes.
Holmes, a 5-foot-8 guard from Harrison Central earned second-team All-State honors from The Clarion-Ledger as a senior and led her team to the semifinals of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State tournament for the third-straight season. The three-star recruit, who was a two-time Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen pick, averaged 15.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 4.7 steals per game as a senior. She also earned her state’s MVP honors after scoring 17 points in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game.
The ease with which Holmes piled up those numbers didn’t make things any easier earlier this week, but Schaefer believes Holmes and the other freshmen (Zion Campbell and Teaira McCowan) can play important roles for MSU, which was ranked No. 6 in Athlon Sports’ preseason poll and No. 8 in Lindy’s preseason poll.
“It is really hard at this level to be successful at 18 years of age,” Schaefer said. “People can do it. We have recruited these kids. They all have backgrounds that show that they should be able to provide us some assistance their freshman year.
“Quite frankly, we’re going to need Jazz to help us at point. She is shooting the ball as good as anybody on the team, so she can flip to the two. It is always good to have a great combo, so Jazzmun Holmes, I need her to be able to function, and I think she is going to be able to.”
The transition Holmes is going through is similar to the adjustment freshmen across the country are making as teams count down to the start of the 2015-16 season. The presence of point guard Morgan William, who went through the same process a year ago, gives Holmes someone to lean on and to talk to to help her find her way. She said William has encouraged her and helped boost her confidence in an effort to help her push through the challenging initial stages.
MSU is counting on Holmes to find her way and provide an offensive and defensive spark behind William. The Bulldogs have other options at guard, but Holmes likely is the only other true point guard on a roster that includes Blair Schaefer, Kayla Nevitt, Dominique Dillingham, and Roshunda Johnson. Johnson will have to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Holmes said the frustration she experienced in her first practice came from going against stronger and more experienced teammates. She said adjusting to defense the MSU way was the toughest aspect of the first few practices. She feels she will be able to adapt to that style of play as she learns how to push through and to develop a comfort level.
“It was just a lot of frustration, not doing what I’ve always have been able to do in high school and middle school,” Holmes said. “It wasn’t the same.”
Schaefer said the Bulldogs have a couple of players who are very hard on themselves. While he acknowledged coaches like when individuals can provide their own motivation, he said young players have to learn how not to let one mistake affect the next play. For a point guard, especially one in MSU’s system, that is doubly important.
“I do think with Jazz she wants to please. She is a fierce competitor. I think that comes from her family. Mom and dad are both athletes. They played here at State. She is here living the dream, and I am so excited she is here. That being said, she is going to have to learn No. 1 if she is playing the point we don’t turn it over. … No. 2, if that does happen, get that player over and let’s go to the next play an not let it carry over into two bad ones.”
Holmes believes that comfort level will come. In fact, she expressed confidence that she will be able to earn playing time this season. The key, she said, is to continue to work hard.
Junior forward Breanna Richardson has liked what she has seen from Holmes in workouts and in practice. She agrees with Schaefer that Holmes has the ability to be a huge asset to the team.
“She is a good player,” Richardson said. “She is actually going to be able to help us more than she thinks is. She has a lot to learn, but you can still see it is there. She has to come in and work hard every day and learn from Morgan and be ready to step up when her time is called.
“Once she gets out there I think she will be fine. She has to get over those first jitters and everything like that.”
Holmes said she has found it easier to adjust on offense. She believes her mid-range game will help the Bulldogs. Holmes also said learning Schaefer’s defensive concepts has been “kind of hard because I am not used to having to hold people.” She said college basketball is a lot different from high school, where she said her teams “just used to press people and get turnovers against people who really couldn’t dribble the ball.”
Life in the SEC will be completely different. That’s why Schaefer likes the depth of the 2015-16 team. He hopes Holmes will be a part of that depth that helps MSU improve on its school-record 27 victories and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.
Holmes said she wants to help “in some way,” and that she feels she will be able to help on the defensive end the quickest.
“I know Morgan can play good defense, but I know she is going to get tired,” Holmes said. “That is a concern for me, too, but I am just trying to push myself when we have to run different drills and try not to walk through the drills.”
As hard as things have been at the start, Holmes said she has told herself several times she believes she can push through and learn how to do the same things in college that she did so well in high school.
“It is hard, but I think I can do it,” Holmes said. “It is just a matter of continuing to tell myself that.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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