Timothy Holyfield (born September 22, 1995) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Yamagata Wyverns of the

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for Stephen F. Austin and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Early life

Holyfield attended Manzano High School in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. He did a

postgraduate year A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitt ...

at Elev8 Sports Institute in Florida and signed with Stephen F. Austin.

College career

Holyfield, a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

, averaged 7.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 blocks per game as a freshman. As a sophomore, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the Second Team All-

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

. On November 18, 2017, he scored a career-high 25 points and had nine rebounds and five steals in a 118–64 win against

Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a Private university, private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Noah T. Byers and John David Robnett founded Howard Payne College in 18 ...

. Holyfield averaged 12.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a junior while shooting 54.8 percent from the field. He was named to the Third Team All-Southland as well as the All-Defensive Team. Holyfield earned MVP honors of the 2018 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament. Holyfield helped the Lumberjacks reach the NCAA tournament before losing to

70–60 in the first round with Holyfield contributing 10 points and four rebounds. He redshirted the 2018–19 season with a shoulder injury, and spent the season giving a speech at his church, wrapping Christmas presents for under-privileged children and visiting children in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. After the season, Holyfield decided to transfer to Texas Tech, choosing the Red Raiders over

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and Miami (FL). He had 15 points and six rebounds in the season-opening victory over Eastern Illinois, followed by 20 points and had six rebounds in a win over Bethune–Cookman. Holyfield was named

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

newcomer of the week on November 11, 2019. As a senior, Holyfield averaged 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Professional career

On May 20, 2020, Holyfield signed with Kauhajoki Karhu of the Finnish

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. On June 17, 2021, he signed with

EWE Baskets Oldenburg Baskets Oldenburg, for sponsorship reasons EWE Baskets Oldenburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Oldenburg, Germany. The club plays in the Bundesliga. The club's name is derived from the team's main sponsor EWE AG ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

. On July 7, 2023, Holyfield signed with Yamagata Wyverns of the Japanese

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bioStephen F. Austin Lumberjacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyfield, T. J. 1995 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Japan American men's basketball players Basketball players from Albuquerque, New Mexico EWE Baskets Oldenburg players Power forwards Riesen Ludwigsburg players Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks basketball players Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Yamagata Wyverns players