Houben's Rookie Report: The Bullets young gun who needs to fire

• Jacob Holt signed a three-year deal with the Brisbane Bullets
• He averaged 16.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in his senior year with Sacramento State
• Holt is the second player from college the Bullets have signed after Taine Murray

Until the Brisbane Bullets unveiled their latest signing, Jacob Holt was a name unknown to most Australian fans. Having grown up in the small farming town of Ladner, just south of Vancouver, Holt’s ties to Australia are more indirect, but with a three-year contract now signed to his name, and his citizenship currently pending, the relationship between Holt and his mother’s home country looks set to quickly become a familiar one.

Holt is the latest in a line of recent North American players who have been able to continue their careers down under due to their parents ties to the country - from Matisse Thybulle, to Kyrin and Jaylin Galloway, DJ Mitchell, and most recently Elijah Pepper, to name a few.

After two years at Santa Clara, where he would play alongside future NBA talents Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski, Holt would enter the transfer portal. After transferring to Sacramento State for his junior season, his Australian ties would grow, choosing to play under a coaching staff heavy on Australians, led by then Head Coach David Patrick, as well as assistant Mike Czepil. The team would even visit Australia as part of their 2024-2025 preseason ahead of Holt’s senior year.

Up to that point, Holt’s college career had been modest - his first year at the Hornets saw a career high 16 minutes per game, but he was still sharing minutes with fellow Australians Akol Mawein and Bowyn Beatty in the frontcourt. It was his senior year, however, that opened the door for a massive jump in production.

"He had a totally different role this year than he had previously in college," 2024-25 Sacramento State Head Coach Mike Czepil shared.

"He had serious responsibility every night in the game, but being the best player on the team, it came with a huge responsibility to drive the training environment and preparation for the games. That was a huge growth area for him and he did a really good job."

With greater responsibility, came greater attention - Holt's name sitting at the top of opposition scouting reports. As oppositions actively schemed against Holt's ability to score, Czepil noted the big man's ability to adapt and break through the defensive attention to produce to the level he did as a major success of his senior campaign.

Starting all 32 games in the 2024-25 season, Holt averaged 16.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, both team highs. Suddenly, his scoring output had boomed, at a monumental usage rate of 30.8, Holt managed to shoot over 50% from the field, get to the line nearly 6 times a game, and start adding the outside shot to his arsenal, knocking down 39 of 112 attempts from behind the arc (34.8%), having gone only 7 of 29 from three in his three seasons prior.

"He has this ability to really shoot it. At that size and physique, it’s not that normal, and I imagine it’s only going to get better for him," Czepil said.

Holt may have lit up the Big Sky Conference in his final college season, but what are the Brisbane Bullets getting as far as an NBL contributor?

Per Brisbane’s press release, Stu Lash described Holt as a “powerful and skilled forward”, but given the dearth of traditionally sized centres, it would be fair to assume that Holt may see the majority of his minutes at the five next season. At 6’10", Holt has the size to stack up with the majority of backup bigs in the league, and several starting ones. Additionally, the post was Holt’s go-to scoring zone, accounting for 21.2% of his offensive output (Per Synergy), where he looks particularly comfortable finishing off mismatches with a dependable right hand hook shot. Athletically, Holt is also a powerful finisher off two, utilising both explosiveness and length to finish with authority with space in the paint, making him a capable roll man.

As for the shooting? The sample size will leave some room for uncertainty, as Holt was effectively a non-shooter for the majority of his college career, and a volume of 3.5 attempts per game is modest, but the flashes are encouraging. Holt not only knocked down shots from pick and pop situations, but showed moments of catching the ball off movement and possessing the capability to balance and knock down shots.

With the gravity of his outside game luring in defenders, Holt was then able to demonstrate his relative quickness and coordination for his size, drawing out big men and attacking off the dribble.

While neither an absolute standout either as a switchy, mobile big, nor a rim protector, but not a clear liability in either category, Holt appears to be a four-five positional hybrid who can excel in different capacities depending on his matchup.

Based on his college resume, Holt appears a safe bet to be an NBL contributor, with the potential to grow into one of the league’s better backup bigs, if not more, given the trend for top local bigs currently migrating to Europe. With starting centre Tyrell Harrison a perennial injury concern, and the only other rostered big man being Tohi Smith-Milner, it’s easy to expect that Holt will see minutes in his first season as a professional.

The NBL is a big jump from Big Sky play, but Lash and the Bullets confidence in Holt’s ability to shoot, defend multiple positions and play the four appear to be high, reflected in their willingness to lock Holt in for three seasons. We’ll see if it’s an investment that will pay dividends for the Bullets in coming years.

About the Author

Michael Houben is an Australian basketball writer and scout based in Melbourne, Victoria. As well as covering the game as a journalist, Michael supports US colleges to identify and recruit Australian talent as the owner of Airtime Scouting, and supports grassroots athletes through Airtime Basketball.