Before sitting in NBA Draft green room, Arizona native DaRon Holmes gives back at Section 7

GLENDALE — When Cameron Holmes elevated straight in front of the basket for a dunk during Goodyear Millennium’s comeback win over St. Joseph’s High School in the Section 7 event last Friday, nobody jumped higher off the Tigers’ bench than his plain-clothed older brother.

That’s no surprise. DaRon Holmes’ athleticism and coordination as a 6-9 forward is a big reason he’s a projected first-round pick in the NBA Draft that begins Wednesday.

His enthusiasm for his younger brother, for Millennium, for the West Valley, and for Arizona high school basketball, is also a factor here.

Even though DaRon Holmes spent part of his COVID-altered senior season at Florida’s Montverde Academy while choosing to play collegiately at Dayton instead of Arizona or many other high-major programs, Holmes appeared well-rooted on the Millennium bench more than four years since he last played for the Tigers.

“It’s just great,” DaRon said after the game. “It brings me back to when I was playing back in the day. It’s great to see the competitiveness, how much the games have evolved.”

His enthusiasm was returned. Millennium went 4-0 in a prestigious Section 7 bracket, with the Tigers also beating California’s Mater Dei and Riordan plus Las Vegas Gorman, signifying that the Goodyear program just might be capable next season of avenging its Open Division championship loss to Gilbert Perry and UA target Koa Peat last season.

Cameron said DaRon’s appearance followed a “very motivational” speech last week in which he told the current Tigers to keep working hard to make each other better.

“It means a lot because he was in the same situation we were in,” Cameron said. “We lost in the state championship and we’re just trying so hard. We really fight each other every day because we want to get better. And to have him come out to our games means a he’s a lot because I know he loves coach (Ty Amundsen) and I know he loves us.”

The chance to watch the Tigers in person at the Section 7 event was a well-timed break between DaRon’s predraft preparation and his appearance in the green room for the NBA Draft that will play out Wednesday and Thursday.

Holmes entered the draft keeping open the option to return to Dayton, which ended its season in a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona in Salt Lake City, but the green room invite suggests he’s a near-certain first-rounder. ESPN and many other major outlets are projecting the Denver Nuggets to take him with the 28th pick.

Arizona natives have become more frequent in the NBA Draft — two of them went in the 2022 first round in UA’s Dalen Terry and Kentucky’s TyTy Washington — while 2022 lottery pick Jalen Williams moved to Arizona at age 7. But Holmes is also a rare West Valley NBA prospect. Former ASU and Millennium forward Carrick Felix went 33rd in the 2013 NBA Draft, though he was born in Las Vegas.

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“It’s a great opportunity, not only being a kid from Arizona but being a kid from the West Valley,” Holmes said. “There’s not that many of us coming out of here. There’s a couple of us playing college, but a lot of the guys in Arizona that make it out are usually from the East Valley. So being from Goodyear, it’s just a big deal. I’m excited.”

Before long, the West Valley might yet have another major NBA prospect. Because DaRon says Cameron is even better than he was at a similar age, a versatile 6-5, 190-pound wing who will be a junior at Millennium next season.

“Oh yeah,” DaRon said. “He was definitely better than I was (then). He’s like, top 16. I wasn’t up there. I worked hard, but that guy had me.”

DaRon said Cameron has made jumps in his game every year but no more so than this summer, when he’s heading into a pivotal time for recruiting and recruiting evaluation, the summer before his junior season.

Arizona has long been recruiting Cameron, as former UA coach Sean Miller did with DaRon Holmes, along with Dayton coach Anthony Grant, of course. A long list of other high-major coaches has followed.

After college coaches were first allowed to directly contact Class of 2026 players earlier this month, Cameron said “35-plus” colleges were texting him, though he said he passes the texts off to his father, who handles the communication from there.

Whenever he does eventually narrow things down, Cameron Holmes said he’ll be looking for a coach who believes in him and keeps him accountable.

“We’ve got to go in there and work hard. We’ve got to be leaders,” Cameron said. “That’s why I love Millennium because coach Ty trusts us and we know we can get that state championship.”

But for this week, at least, the family focus goes back to DaRon. Cameron and his brother Quintyn are expected to be sitting at a green room table Wednesday with DaRon, parents DaRon Sr. and Tomika, along with agent Aaron Riley.

“It’s gonna be something special,” Cameron said. “He’s worked his whole his whole life to get here and it means a lot seeing him here. I’m going to sit with him. I’m gonna get my black suit on. It’s going to be fun.”