Holton making most of chance at WVU

But once he got his chance, he knew he had to run with it and not let it go for granted.

“I didn’t come here to just BS and play around. I came here knowing I needed to get serious and play the right way,” Holton said. “Coming here has been a huge chance for me to show what I can do if I buy in and play hard. It takes a lot (of dedication). You’ve got to really be a man if you want to be successful, and that’s one thing (West Virginia coach Bob Huggins) has done — he’s made me a better man.”

Holton struggled to find consistency in his first season with the Mountaineers. The 6-foot-7 forward showed some flashes of brilliance, recording three double-doubles and scoring at least 15 points on three occasions.

But most of his struggles came due to the fact that he simply couldn’t stay on the court due to foul trouble. He finished the game with at least four fouls in 16 of WVU’s 35 games and fouled out of seven of them.

It wasn’t the season he had hoped for, but Holton went into his final season with an edge. He knew that he hadn’t gone through this much just to let his college career come to a close without making an impact.

He’s motivated by his love for basketball, his family in Miami that consists of 10 brothers and sisters and his coaches and mentors he’s had throughout his life.

Near the top of that list, perhaps even higher than Huggins, is Darren Weissman. Weissman is a basketball coach in Miami who met Holton when he was “a lanky 6-foot eighth grader who wasn’t very good,” according to WVU’s senior power forward.

Weissman took Holton in, helped him with his game and guided him toward a path to success — and it’s something Holton has stayed appreciative of.

“He motivated me to stay out of trouble,” Holton said. “He was the one who showed me that there’s a better life out there than what I was living in and he made me believe that if you work hard enough you can do anything you want.

“I’m grateful for what he did because he didn’t have to do that. His love was real, and you could tell he really wanted to see me do well. That’s something I respect him for.”

Holton has thrived playing for Huggins now that he’s at West Virginia. This season he’s been an important glue guy in the Mountaineers’ emergence as one of the top teams in college basketball — continuing to make his presence known at the top of WVU’s full-court press and showing his ability to be a playmaker on offense thanks to his willingness to crash the boards to grab second-chance buckets.

He’s averaging 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds after Wednesday’s game against Texas.

He credits Huggins with being able to do what he can to get the best out of him.

“It’s just his demeanor. He’s going to stay on top of you,” Holton said. “He’s not going to let you ease or. He’s going to make you work for everything. You’re going to be honest and you’re going to play hard. You have to do those things and if you do them you’ll be successful for him.”

It’s still unclear what the future holds for Jonathan Holton after his time at WVU comes to a close. But you can see that he’s putting everything on the line every time he steps on the floor.

This year means something to him. It’s his last chance to make his mark and show he can live up to his potential in the game he’s loved so much since he was a child.

“Some people might not totally get this, but this game is my life. Basketball is everything to me,” Holton said. “I’m playing for a career right now — I want to keep playing basketball somewhere for a long time in the future. I’m trying to go out and play hard, be unselfish and do whatever I have to do.

“If we win, we all get seen. If we do well, we’re all going to do well. We just have to keep working.”