Prospect Spotlight: Lucas Holden (2018)
Anaheim Canyon forward Lucas Holden has plenty of basketball tools in his arsenal that translate to the next level, but wasn’t seeing much college interest during his junior year of high school.
“To be honest, I don’t really know why,” Holden told Prep Hoops So-Cal. “I think it’s probably just exposure, for the most part. I just joined the West Coast Elite program this year and it’s definitely gotten me more exposure than I’ve ever had.”
That exposure has turned into some serious interest at multiple levels for the smooth, 6-foot-6 lefty, who is heading into his senior season with three years of varsity experience already under his belt.
“I have a lot of Division II and Division III interest,” Holden said. “I want to be a Division I player, but if that doesn’t work out, I think there are great options at the other levels.”
The biggest strengths in Holden’s game from an outsiders perspective are his ability to play as a point-forward type due to his high basketball IQ and floor spreading prowess with his mid-range and 3-point touch.
The 2018 prospect has his own thoughts on his strengths and where he needs to get better.
“Personally, running the floor and driving to the basket are the best parts of my game,” he said. “I need to work on every single part of my game, but my shooting and my strength are what I need to work on the most. I’ve been meal planning and lifting to get bigger.”
Holden leads an experienced Canyon squad this season, which should start out as a top 10-ranked team in the Orange County area, looking to bounce-back from a subpar 16-12 effort last season.
“I think it was a maturity thing last year,” Holden said. “We were a young team, but this year we return basically our whole team because we only graduated three seniors. We just need to keep doing what we do — play hard, play smart.”
Canyon will benefit from the departure of Esperanza’s Kezie Okpala, who is now a freshman at Stanford, but Holden will miss playing against the 6-foot-7 wing,
“It was fun playing against him, but a pain at the same time,” he said. “He would light us up for 40 points. I’m still going to enjoy playing against Villa Park because they are a big rival and have a good team this year.”