On Tuesday, which, coincidentally, was April Fools’ Day, Michigan State basketball co-captain Tre Holloman shocked Spartan fans when it was announced he would enter the transfer portal.
Like many, I was left trying to make sense of the decision. Why would Holloman, fresh off a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and poised for a big role as a senior, decide to leave the Spartans to find a new home?
Was it greed? No one could really blame him if it was. We know MSU provides players a healthy name, image and likeness licensing income. However, there is an understanding that Michigan State isn’t handing out the level of deals we have seen this offseason, when starting-caliber players are rumored to be getting offers of $2 million or more to leave their schools.
Was it because he hated Michigan State? That doesn’t seem likely. By all accounts, Holloman was a great teammate and leader. We saw that when he defended the logo tradition in the win over rival Michigan on senior night.
With the benefit of hindsight and some amateur gumshoe work on social media, I think I have found at least a big part of the equation that seems to be missing for Spartan fans who have started to direct their anger and confusion at Holloman and his family.
Holloman’s mother, Crystal Flint, is an accomplished basketball player and coach in her own right. She is also very active on social media, supporting her son and the Michigan State program even though she is an assistant coach for the women’s team at Minnesota. At the top of her profile on X.com, she has a post pinned from all the way back in 2023 where she uses the hashtag ‘#TRUEpointguard’ to describe her son:
The will see what I have known for years.
Let’s go #5 , your time to shine. #TreHolloman #MrJigg @jiggyTrawww #TRUEpointguard
Not just his mom, I coached him first. #Iknowhimbest #GodsPlan #Sophomoreszn https://t.co/9yFsox9ak2
I say this a lot in my articles, but I will say it again: I’m not an insider. I haven’t talked to Holloman or his family. But I do have some connections and hear some things. I can say I have heard whispers over the years that Holloman and his family view him as a starting point guard. Not that you need to be an insider to figure that out, you can see it right in his mother’s post.
However, the opportunity to start at point guard never became available for Holloman at Michigan State. A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker shared that role in Holloman’s first two seasons. Then freshman Jeremy Fears Jr., a classic Tom Izzo style point guard, was brought in to take over that role. In hindsight, if Holloman really wanted an opportunity to play point guard, it was a testament to his loyalty to MSU that he didn’t transfer as soon as Fears committed to the Spartans. He was even willing to sacrifice and come off the bench as a junior. Honestly, had he stayed, there is a chance the coaches would have asked him to do that again if Jase Richardson returns for one more season in the green and white.
If this whole time, Holloman was looking for a chance to see what he can do as a starting point guard, then this offseason was his last chance to find that opportunity, which was never going to come at MSU. He will presumably be getting a massive raise along with it.
For Spartan fans who are hurt and upset, I get it, but I also don’t like seeing people attacking him and his mother on social media either. It’s troubling behavior and doesn’t reflect well on the university or the fan base, especially when we don’t have the full story about the decision. For what it’s worth, his teammates reacted positively to the news and wished him well, so this might not have been as big of a shock to the program as it was to the fans.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Final thoughts on Tre Holloman’s decision to transfer from Michigan State
Reporting by Andrew Brewster, Spartans Wire / Spartans Wire
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