by Craig Morgan
TEMPE, Ariz. -- You could search a lifetime for Tra Holder's dramatic backstory and still come up as empty as an air ball. The simple truth about the Sun Devils' point guard is that there is no dramatic backstory. There are no demons, there are no tragedies and there is no self-aggrandizement.
"He's just got his act together," Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said. "I don't ever worry about what he's doing away from here. He's a very polite and humble kid who just does his work."
There's a backstory to that behavior, the Los Angeles-raised Holder said. "My dad [Tony Holder] has always been hard on me and still is on hard on me. He knows if I get accolades now they don't mean anything until I reach my dreams. He wants me to keep pushing until it's final."
That doesn't mean the Brentwood School product isn't a complex and interesting guy with myriad interests. He is. He loves film, he was in a high school production of Macbeth and he's always considered himself an artsy sort. You just won't get all that fascinating material out of the soft-spoken, nose-to-the-grindstone junior. You have to ask his mom, Charee Rogers.
"He loves to cook," Rogers said. "At Brentwood, he made crepes, he loves Mexican food and he makes chicken pasta pesto. He calls me all the time from the grocery store to ask me questions for something he's making."
Holder was watching The Cooking Channel by age 12. He begged Rogers to get him on the Emeril Lagasse show on The Food Network, but the show was booked more than a year in advance so he had to settle for broadcast pearls of wisdom from the celebrity chef.
When it comes to basketball, however, Holder gets in-person pearls of wisdom from his celebrity coach, who knows the position as well as anyone from his days at Duke and in the NBA.
"I've always looked at him like an older player," Holder said of Hurley. "We just relate to each other and I know he understands my job.
"Coach has gotten on me at times about being a leader and bringing energy every day -- not necessarily on the floor, but during timeouts and those moments where the underclassmen are looking to the upper classmen. It's kind of made me play better, too, when I'm bringing that energy."
Holder eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier with 22 points on Thursday against UCLA, and he added 14 more on Sunday against USC to move into 34th place on the Sun Devils' all-time scoring list, nine points behind Derek Glasser. He has a chance to climb into the top 20 this season.
"His ability to get in the lane, his tremendous change of speeds and his ability to make plays in the lane are all things I saw immediately," Hurley said. "He's put more emphasis on defending and being more of a leader and he's worked harder on his perimeter shot. That's going to add a whole other dimension to his game."
As his game has grown, however, Holder's needs have not. During his freshman season, he would frequently FaceTime chat with his mom and Rogers always wondered why his dorm room was so dark in the background.
When she visited, she discovered a stark, gray, bare-walled room with one lamp.
"It looked like a jail cell," said Rogers, who hasn't missed a home game this season. "This was my baby and I couldn't believe he was living in this oppressive environment, but that's him. He's not going to bother with buying something as small as a lamp."
In some ways, Rogers admits, she and Tony Holder are responsible for fostering that no-frills personality trait.
"We supported him with everything that he was interested in and wanted to do but we always told him, 'the world is not about you. You can't walk around in life with a sense of entitlement because nothing's given,'" Rogers said. "We gave him a lot of trust in making good decisions. We didn't shelter him. We let him go to parties when he was 15 where there would be kids drinking and doing other things. We just told him 'these things are wrong and you're not supposed to indulge in them but it's your life and we hope you make good choices because one bad one can really impact your life.'"
Holder's dream is to play in the NBA. While his parents won't dissuade that pursuit, they have also reminded him how slim his chances are -- "like winning the Lotto," Rogers said -- as they prepare him for the possibility of life without basketball.
Holder hears that advice, but he has more immediate goals in mind like getting the Sun Devils into the middle of the Pac-12 standings with this run of seven home games in their last 11 conference contests.
"I haven't really even thought about the future even though my time here is going by so fast," he said. "But when you stop and think, most people don't even get the opportunity to play with a program like this and contribute as much as I've been able to do. I'm thankful to coach [Herb] Sendek and coach Hurley for giving me the opportunity they gave me, but I'm all about this season.
"We've been through a lot of adversity and injuries and stuff like that but we're still all positive. We still have an opportunity for a good finish."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- You could search a lifetime for Tra Holder's dramatic backstory and still come up as empty as an air ball. The simple truth about the Sun Devils' point guard is that there is no dramatic backstory. There are no demons, there are no tragedies and there is no self-aggrandizement.
"He's just got his act together," Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said. "I don't ever worry about what he's doing away from here. He's a very polite and humble kid who just does his work."
There's a backstory to that behavior, the Los Angeles-raised Holder said. "My dad [Tony Holder] has always been hard on me and still is on hard on me. He knows if I get accolades now they don't mean anything until I reach my dreams. He wants me to keep pushing until it's final."
That doesn't mean the Brentwood School product isn't a complex and interesting guy with myriad interests. He is. He loves film, he was in a high school production of Macbeth and he's always considered himself an artsy sort. You just won't get all that fascinating material out of the soft-spoken, nose-to-the-grindstone junior. You have to ask his mom, Charee Rogers.
"He loves to cook," Rogers said. "At Brentwood, he made crepes, he loves Mexican food and he makes chicken pasta pesto. He calls me all the time from the grocery store to ask me questions for something he's making."
Holder was watching The Cooking Channel by age 12. He begged Rogers to get him on the Emeril Lagasse show on The Food Network, but the show was booked more than a year in advance so he had to settle for broadcast pearls of wisdom from the celebrity chef.
When it comes to basketball, however, Holder gets in-person pearls of wisdom from his celebrity coach, who knows the position as well as anyone from his days at Duke and in the NBA.
"I've always looked at him like an older player," Holder said of Hurley. "We just relate to each other and I know he understands my job.
"Coach has gotten on me at times about being a leader and bringing energy every day -- not necessarily on the floor, but during timeouts and those moments where the underclassmen are looking to the upper classmen. It's kind of made me play better, too, when I'm bringing that energy."
Holder eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier with 22 points on Thursday against UCLA, and he added 14 more on Sunday against USC to move into 34th place on the Sun Devils' all-time scoring list, nine points behind Derek Glasser. He has a chance to climb into the top 20 this season.
"His ability to get in the lane, his tremendous change of speeds and his ability to make plays in the lane are all things I saw immediately," Hurley said. "He's put more emphasis on defending and being more of a leader and he's worked harder on his perimeter shot. That's going to add a whole other dimension to his game."
As his game has grown, however, Holder's needs have not. During his freshman season, he would frequently FaceTime chat with his mom and Rogers always wondered why his dorm room was so dark in the background.
When she visited, she discovered a stark, gray, bare-walled room with one lamp.
"It looked like a jail cell," said Rogers, who hasn't missed a home game this season. "This was my baby and I couldn't believe he was living in this oppressive environment, but that's him. He's not going to bother with buying something as small as a lamp."
In some ways, Rogers admits, she and Tony Holder are responsible for fostering that no-frills personality trait.
"We supported him with everything that he was interested in and wanted to do but we always told him, 'the world is not about you. You can't walk around in life with a sense of entitlement because nothing's given,'" Rogers said. "We gave him a lot of trust in making good decisions. We didn't shelter him. We let him go to parties when he was 15 where there would be kids drinking and doing other things. We just told him 'these things are wrong and you're not supposed to indulge in them but it's your life and we hope you make good choices because one bad one can really impact your life.'"
Holder's dream is to play in the NBA. While his parents won't dissuade that pursuit, they have also reminded him how slim his chances are -- "like winning the Lotto," Rogers said -- as they prepare him for the possibility of life without basketball.
Holder hears that advice, but he has more immediate goals in mind like getting the Sun Devils into the middle of the Pac-12 standings with this run of seven home games in their last 11 conference contests.
"I haven't really even thought about the future even though my time here is going by so fast," he said. "But when you stop and think, most people don't even get the opportunity to play with a program like this and contribute as much as I've been able to do. I'm thankful to coach [Herb] Sendek and coach Hurley for giving me the opportunity they gave me, but I'm all about this season.
"We've been through a lot of adversity and injuries and stuff like that but we're still all positive. We still have an opportunity for a good finish."