WEST PALM BEACH – It has been a memorable few years for Jailen Holman.
As the outgoing senior linebacker officially graduates from Palm Beach Lakes High School on June 4, he’ll look back at some great things that has happened to him.
For starters, Holman was selected as the Palm Beach Lakes Male Athlete of the Year. The South Dakota signee is a three-time winner of this significant honor, as he also earned this title in his freshman and sophomore years of high school.
“It’s a great feeling,” the 6-foot, 195-pound linebacker said. “It’s a lot of good athletes at Palm Beach Lakes, so for meto win it three times is a blessing.”
Holman will go out as a team winner as well, as he helped Palm Beach Lakes earn its first Lou Groza Team of the Year honor back in December 2019. His Rams were the only undefeated regular season team in Palm Beach County (9-0), as they went on to win the District 12-7A title and advance to the Class 7A-Region 3 semifinals this past fall.
“My senior season went good at Lakes,” Holman said. “Going undefeated (in the regular season) was a big accomplishment, and we had a journey compared to no other season. Through all the adversity we faced off the field as a team, we still maintained on Fridays.”
Holman (No. 5-ranked LB; No. 42 overall player; 2020 class) finished his senior year with 78 total tackles (51 solo), 6 forced fumbles, and 3 interceptions. His best individual game was in Week 4 against Royal Palm Beach, when he recorded 11 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions, and 1 fumble recovery to help the Rams score a 34-7 victory.
“Just want to thank my defensive coaches for putting me in the right position to make plays,” Holman said. “I want to thank God for allowing me to execute.”
With all that behind him now, Holman’s focus is on getting to South Dakota. He received an offer from the Coyotes on June 8, 2019 and has been committed to them since Sept. 29, 2019.
Holman officially signed his letter of intent to the FCS school on Feb. 5.
“It feels great moving on to South Dakota,” Holman said of the Vermillion, South Dakota-based institution. “I’m very excited to get up there and start working. The bond I built with Coach O (recruiting coordinator/assistant head coach Phil Ockinga) was very special compared to all the other schools. Also, my teammate (and fellow linebacker) Vincent Starling played a big part in the decision.”
Holman will be with Vincent and his older brother Jakari Starling, who is a 2018 alum of Palm Beach Lakes and a junior-to-be linebacker.
“Me, Vince and Jakari have been knowing each other mostly our whole lives,” Holman said. “We all played for the same youth football organizations. Also, me and Jakari played together at Lakes my sophomore year.”
Due to the current coronavirus pandemic we are in, Holman will be celebrated in a virtual graduation ceremony next week. He and everyone else from the Class of 2020 will go down as the first class to be honored in a non-traditional setting.
“The pandemic has had a big effect on my senior year, not being able to say goodbye to a lot of people that you have built these great relationships with over the years,” Holman said. “To know that you might not see a lot of them again to say goodbye the proper way, it’s kind of sad. But the pandemic also helped me focus more on sports and time to get mentally stronger.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Eddie Brock (Dirty Lenz MG) and South Dakota Football
