By SAM LANCE
KANSAS CITY, KS — Five-star Cameron Holmes is as steady as they come. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound shooting guard has consistently been a top performer for Arizona Unity this summer in their quest to win a Peach Jam title.
Through 11 games on the EYBL circuit, Holmes leads the Unity in scoring at 13.7 points per game and has led the program to a 6-5 record heading into July. He’s also posted 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 44.4% from the field.
“We’ve made it so close the past three-four years, but we just haven’t got it yet,” Holmes told ZAGSBLOG. “I just want to win with my team, keep them in good sprits. If we win that [Peach Jam] title, that’s big time. So that’s my No. 1 goal.”
The weekend before Kansas City, Holmes was able to showcase his skills to college coaches during the live period in Memphis.
“I showed them a lot of toughness,” Holmes said. “I feel like I didn’t play as well last session, but I have a lot to learn from. I showed them I can play without the ball, and I have different places that I can play throughout the court. So I just showed them what I can truly do without the ball and with the ball.”
Some of the schools who saw Holmes in Memphis include but aren’t limited to Arizona, North Carolina and Oregon. Those three schools, along with BYU, UCLA, Virginia head coach Ryan Odom and others were out to see Holmes during his junior season at Millennium (AZ).
Holmes hasn’t taken any visits so far in the process.
“But this summer I should be taking a lot,” Holmes said. “I have no idea where yet. My only visit set up is Oregon Sept. 20. But that’s about it… I know I’ll probably try to make it out to North Carolina. Already Oregon. Virginia, I’ll try to make it out to Virginia. There’s a lot more.”
Holmes has offers from double-digit programs including Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cal, Dayton, Georgetown, Kansas, LSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Virginia and Washington. He broke down some of the programs involved to ZAGSBLOG:
Arizona: “Arizona is a great school, great coaching staff. Great environment to be around. I’ve been down to the school already of course since I live there. My other brother [Quintyn Holmes] goes there. So just a great school, great coaching staff.”
Kansas: “They reach out briefly. Coach [Kurtis] Townsend does most of the reaching out, the assistant coach. Because I know Bill Self has a lot on his hands and he’s going for a lot of players right now. But Kansas is another school that is a great fit for me. My mom actually went there, so there’s a lot of deep roots in Kansas. But again, a great team, great coaching staff.”
North Carolina: “[Hubert Davis] is a great coach. He’s more of the one that’s down-to-earth. He’ll tell you what you need to hear and he’ll tell you it in a good way. But I love North Carolina. I’ve always been a fan of North Carolina since I was young, seeing their championship runs and all their March Madness runs. Yeah, it’s just a great school.”
Oregon: “I just feel like they’ve believed in me since day one. They continue to show me a lot of love and support throughout this whole high school process. They told me what I need to do, what I can get better with my game at. That’s why I feel like me and my dad wanted to go take that visit. We wanted to go see the school ourselves. Great coaching staff, great people.”
UCLA: “I haven’t really talked to them lately. I know they have a lot of stuff going on with recruiting players for next season and stuff like that. But again, great coaching staff. I just don’t talk to them as much. But they always have a great squad at UCLA and they’re always a great team. Great development.”
Virginia: “[Ryan Odom] started recruiting me at VCU. It wasn’t like heavily, I wasn’t heavily recruited by them, but he told me they have a lot of interest in me. Ever since, I’ve just built my relationship with them. It’s a strong relationship. But again, another great school, another great coaching staff.”
When choosing a program, Holmes is looking for a few aspects to make it feel like home.
“Just loyalty, trust,” Holmes said. “Just keeping it 100% with me. Colleges have to keep it 100% with you now that NIL’s apart of it. But yeah, that’s all I’m looking for, just loyalty and trust. Just a coaching staff that just believes in me.”
Holmes is the brother of former Dayton star and current Denver Nugget DaRon Holmes II. His brother suffered an Achilles tear during the 2024 NBA Summer League and hasn’t returned to the court since then. The process has difficult, but Holmes said DaRon is doing well.
“He’s in good spirits,” Holmes said. “He’s coming back from an injury of course. It takes a long time for a torn Achilles to really get healthy. But he’s doing good, he’s in good spirits. The family is doing well.
The five-star continued:
“It’s hard to keep your head up through something like that, but that’s the main thing he was preaching. Just keep your head up through it all. Don’t get down on yourself. With an injury like that, you don’t ever want to turn away from your family. So getting closer to your family and just keep the main thing the main thing. That’s basically all he said. The NBA is a hard process. While dealing with the injury, it takes a long time to heal, but luckily he’s healing and he’s just always talking about keeping his head up.”
During his junior season at Millennium, Holmes’ squad made it to the Final Four of state.
“I averaged 20 points, I think about seven rebounds and five assists,” Holmes said. “So I think I did pretty well. We just didn’t finish it out, but I thought I had a great year. I learned a lot from my coaching staff and just the people I was always around — I was around a lot of good people. It helped me take my game to the next level.”
The five-star is undecided on what he’ll be doing for his senior season. Holmes ranks as the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2026 class by 247Sports.
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