Jacob Holmen didn?t know what to do with all the spare time he suddenly found at his disposal for nearly a month earlier this season.
Doctors told the North Texas junior that he couldn?t play basketball and couldn?t play video games while recovering from his second concussion in just over a month.
Even standing in the glare of bright lights was out of the question, which left Holmen wondering: What else is there to do?
?That?s all I do is play NBA 2K12 and Madden,? Holmen said. ?I play online against friends. It was hard not to play. It?s a big part of my life.
?I haven?t been doing anything but resting my brain.?
That time without basketball finally came to an end Wednesday when Holmen came off the bench to play 24 minutes in a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 6-8 forward will be back in the rotation ? and maybe even the starting lineup ? today when the Mean Green faces Arkansas State in the first half of a doubleheader at noon that will conclude with the women?s game at 4 p.m.
UNT (12-9, 5-3) won four straight before losing to ULL and appears to be getting at least a little healthier heading into the stretch run of a season when nothing seems to have gone right for the Mean Green in terms of its rotation. UNT has six players who have missed a significant part of the season for one reason or another.
UNT is hoping Holmen?s return was the point at which its fortunes will turn. Senior forward Kedrick Hogans is expected to return today from a knee injury that required surgery and kept him on the bench for nearly a month.
?One of the things we have been missing is some depth,? UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. ?Ked being back will help us in the post area. He?s an experienced player. We hope to get some minutes out of him.?
Hogans was the one returning starter UNT had from last season?s team that advanced to the Sun Belt tournament final. He is averaging 5.2 points and 4.9 rebounds a game. Perhaps more importantly, he is also UNT?s best post defender, one who could take the pressure off of Tony Mitchell in the post.
Mitchell, who is UNT?s leading scorer at 15.2 points a game has struggled with foul trouble at times.
?It was hard to sit out,? Hogans said. ?It?s my senior year. I had to watch games where I thought my presence would have helped out, but I came to all the games and tried to help. Tony and Roger [Franklin] have been doing well. I just want to go out there and give them a break.?
UNT is hoping both Holmen and Hogans come on quickly. Holmen scored six points in his first game back in the lineup and believes he is up to the challenge of building on that start today against ASU (9-13, 3-5).
?I feel like I can contribute in a lot of ways,? Holmen said. ?I am playing the three [small forward]. That way we can play Roger at the four.?
Holmen played on the wing some early in the season before suffering two concussions in a matter of weeks. He fell and landed on his head in practice before a game at Mississippi State on Nov. 27 and was then elbowed in the head in a loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Dec. 29.
?The second one got me,? Holmen said. ?I don?t know if I recovered from the first one before I had the second one.?
Holmen is averaging 4.5 points and 2.4 rebounds a game.
?Jacob can play the three and the four and has been here a while,? Jones said. ?He understands the system. That is going to help us. He can score, has size and takes care of the ball. He can also defend the four, the three and help us rebound.?
The UNT women (12-9, 5-3) have also been playing well of late, having won three of their last four games. The Mean Green will look to build on that run and split its season series with ASU (8-13, 2-6) today.
The Red Wolves beat UNT in overtime in their first meeting earlier this season that came just before its recent run of success.
?We have been playing better defensively the last couple of games,? UNT head coach Karen Aston said. ?We were not playing with the same intensity for a stretch on the road, but have come back and buckled back down on the defensive end.?
UNT has not allowed more than 54 points in a game since falling to ASU 70-64 in overtime on Jan. 7.
Jasmine Godbolt and Tamara Torru are averaging 13.7 and 11.4 points a game, respectively, and have sparked UNT?s surge.
The development of some of the Mean Green?s younger players is what has pleased Aston most, though.
Sophomore Desiree Nelson scored 16 points in UNT?s win over ULL on Wednesday while freshman Braylah Blakely had six points and three blocks.
?Some younger kids are playing better than they were a few weeks ago,? Aston said. ?They are much more confident, especially Braylah and Des. If Des can keep growing and be better on the defensive end without fouling, we will see her progress.?
Doctors told the North Texas junior that he couldn?t play basketball and couldn?t play video games while recovering from his second concussion in just over a month.
Even standing in the glare of bright lights was out of the question, which left Holmen wondering: What else is there to do?
?That?s all I do is play NBA 2K12 and Madden,? Holmen said. ?I play online against friends. It was hard not to play. It?s a big part of my life.
?I haven?t been doing anything but resting my brain.?
That time without basketball finally came to an end Wednesday when Holmen came off the bench to play 24 minutes in a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 6-8 forward will be back in the rotation ? and maybe even the starting lineup ? today when the Mean Green faces Arkansas State in the first half of a doubleheader at noon that will conclude with the women?s game at 4 p.m.
UNT (12-9, 5-3) won four straight before losing to ULL and appears to be getting at least a little healthier heading into the stretch run of a season when nothing seems to have gone right for the Mean Green in terms of its rotation. UNT has six players who have missed a significant part of the season for one reason or another.
UNT is hoping Holmen?s return was the point at which its fortunes will turn. Senior forward Kedrick Hogans is expected to return today from a knee injury that required surgery and kept him on the bench for nearly a month.
?One of the things we have been missing is some depth,? UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. ?Ked being back will help us in the post area. He?s an experienced player. We hope to get some minutes out of him.?
Hogans was the one returning starter UNT had from last season?s team that advanced to the Sun Belt tournament final. He is averaging 5.2 points and 4.9 rebounds a game. Perhaps more importantly, he is also UNT?s best post defender, one who could take the pressure off of Tony Mitchell in the post.
Mitchell, who is UNT?s leading scorer at 15.2 points a game has struggled with foul trouble at times.
?It was hard to sit out,? Hogans said. ?It?s my senior year. I had to watch games where I thought my presence would have helped out, but I came to all the games and tried to help. Tony and Roger [Franklin] have been doing well. I just want to go out there and give them a break.?
UNT is hoping both Holmen and Hogans come on quickly. Holmen scored six points in his first game back in the lineup and believes he is up to the challenge of building on that start today against ASU (9-13, 3-5).
?I feel like I can contribute in a lot of ways,? Holmen said. ?I am playing the three [small forward]. That way we can play Roger at the four.?
Holmen played on the wing some early in the season before suffering two concussions in a matter of weeks. He fell and landed on his head in practice before a game at Mississippi State on Nov. 27 and was then elbowed in the head in a loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Dec. 29.
?The second one got me,? Holmen said. ?I don?t know if I recovered from the first one before I had the second one.?
Holmen is averaging 4.5 points and 2.4 rebounds a game.
?Jacob can play the three and the four and has been here a while,? Jones said. ?He understands the system. That is going to help us. He can score, has size and takes care of the ball. He can also defend the four, the three and help us rebound.?
The UNT women (12-9, 5-3) have also been playing well of late, having won three of their last four games. The Mean Green will look to build on that run and split its season series with ASU (8-13, 2-6) today.
The Red Wolves beat UNT in overtime in their first meeting earlier this season that came just before its recent run of success.
?We have been playing better defensively the last couple of games,? UNT head coach Karen Aston said. ?We were not playing with the same intensity for a stretch on the road, but have come back and buckled back down on the defensive end.?
UNT has not allowed more than 54 points in a game since falling to ASU 70-64 in overtime on Jan. 7.
Jasmine Godbolt and Tamara Torru are averaging 13.7 and 11.4 points a game, respectively, and have sparked UNT?s surge.
The development of some of the Mean Green?s younger players is what has pleased Aston most, though.
Sophomore Desiree Nelson scored 16 points in UNT?s win over ULL on Wednesday while freshman Braylah Blakely had six points and three blocks.
?Some younger kids are playing better than they were a few weeks ago,? Aston said. ?They are much more confident, especially Braylah and Des. If Des can keep growing and be better on the defensive end without fouling, we will see her progress.?
