Friday, April 26     

ROCK HILL, SC-Winthrop University men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall has announced the signing of 6-1 shooting guard Elijah Holland from Cecil Community College in Maryland to a national letter-of-intent. He joins 6-8 Billy Houston, 6-5 James Shuler and 6-8 Kwbana Beckles as players who will join the four-time defending Big South Conference champions squad for the 2002-2003 season.

Holland, who will have two years of eligibility remaining at Winthrop, is regarded as a great 3-point shooting threat after hitting 87 treys and connecting on 42 percent of his shots from beyond the arc last year while helping to lead his Cecil Community College team to a 27-4 record and the No. 2 national ranking in NJCAA Division II. He averaged 13.8 points and 3.1 rebounds as a sophomore. As a freshman, Holland helped his team to the Maryland JUCO state championship. In his two years on the JUCO level, Cecil won 51 games and lost just nine. He ranks third in that school’s history for most 3-pointers made in a career with 129.

Bill Lewitt, his JUCO coach, says Holland is a tremendous offensive player who has the ability to really stretch the opponent’s defense because of his outside shooting ability. "Elijah can carry a team offensively for short bursts because of his ability to put points on the board quickly. He has that knack of killing an opponent’s momentum by hitting the outside shot."

A native of Willacoochee, GA, Holland began his high school career at Lejuene High School in Jacksonville, NC, before moving to the Washington, D.C. area as a junior where he played for Eleanor Roosevelt High School. As a high school senior Holland averaged 21 points, five rebounds and three assists while earning All-Prince George County honors.

"Elijah is a very mature young man and because of that will be able to step in next year and see a considerable amount of playing time," said Marshall. "The one thing that he does exceptionally well is shoot the basketball. He is also a very responsible young man and an extremely hard worker. One of our recruiting needs was to bring in someone who could shoot the ball with accuracy from the perimeter and we believe Elijah will step in and provide us with perimeter scoring and quality minutes."

He is the son of Katrina Sweezy and Elijah Holland, Sr.