“He’s the best player I ever coached”-Los Lunas Boys Basketball Coach Travis Julian

You could stop by the Los Lunas High School gym at almost any hour and find Jalin Holland getting in shots. “I try to be in here every day,” said the junior.

“Jalin came into the year, without a doubt, at another level than what I have seen in the past,” said Los Lunas head coach Travis Julian.

Holland is one of the top players in New Mexico, averaging about 25 points a game. “I try to get to the rack as much as I can and when it’s not there, I shoot the pullup or shoot the three,” said Holland.  “I never have a scoring goal, I usually just have a team goal, try to get a win.”

“I’ve been blessed to coach some really good players at this program, and at Manzano, and I can tell you he’s the best player I ever coached,” said Julian.  “He’s a unique talent.”

Holland is 6’4, 200 pounds and can play on the exterior or the post, making him dangerous from almost anywhere. “We’ve faced teams that their game plan has been to double team him and take him away and make the other guys beat him,” Holland’s coach explained.  “That puts some pressure on him, it puts some pressure on the other guys, and it puts some pressure on us as a coaching staff to try and figure out how to play through that.”

“It’s pretty cool that they do that (double team),” said Holland.  “But it doesn’t work.  I can just pass to my teammates and they’ll do the rest.”

Holland has a dozen college offers from schools like Arizona State, Cincinnati, Missouri, Oklahoma, San Diego State, TCU, Washington and Washington State, along with New Mexico and New Mexico State.  His high school coach thinks anyone who signs Jalin is getting an outstanding player with a big upside. “He plays better against good competition and I think as he continues to go up the ladder, and he plays against really good players, he’s going to continue to get better,” said Julian.

An even “better” Jalin Holland is bad news for the competition.