Mikiyah Holmes has been adjusting to her new home of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Holmes is making new friends, teammates and memories, including her most recent.
Holmes, a 2024 University Academy graduate, made her college basketball debut on Nov. 1, scoring five of the Iowa Central Community College Tritons’ 72 points to cap off a 31-point victory over the Graceland Yellowjackets.
She said, “It almost felt like a regular day in the season, but it felt so good being out there again. God really blessed me with the opportunity to play for this team.”
Competition was, yes, stronger, but not necessarily faster. She said now that she is in college, her pregame preparations have changed. The pregame routine is more intense and detailed than in high school. She described it as a mini practice before the game, and it also includes studying every team’s plays and individual players.
Holmes has enjoyed getting to know her new group of teammates, but she has set boundaries at the same time.
She said, “It was kind of strange meeting everyone for the first time. I was a little shy at first.”
As a team, they have their struggles and misunderstandings—not just as teammates, but sometimes as roommates, she said.
Through all the adversity, Holmes has always had her supporters by her side, and that continues to be the case even from more of a distance.
Throughout Holmes’ athletic career, one of her biggest supporters has been her mom, Ms. Jessica Holmes, a UA fourth grade teacher. Ms. Holmes expressed that even with her daughter being gone, the Holmes family’s daily life is just as busy as it was before she left.
“I was hoping things would slow down with our day-to-day schedule, but we are busy in different ways than last year. We now spend some of our weekends commuting four hours up to Iowa, and then watching a game, and then head back to KC, a four-hour road trip back home the same day,” she said.
Ms. Holmes attended all of her daughter’s games growing up, but now that Holmes is in college, making all her games isn’t always possible.
She said, “I think it will be good for Mikiyah that there will be times she is playing her game with her family not physically there and to look to her basketball team and coaches for encouragement and energy. It will make those moments when we are there that more special.”
In addition to adjusting to athletics, she has also been adapting to academic changes.
Holmes is majoring in communications. She said her first week was nerve-racking with being in a new state and school around new people. While still being a little shy, she seems to have gained a liking for her new environment and her new group. Holmes said her current favorite class is psychology, similar to how it was in high school.
“It’s been interesting transitioning because I don’t really do a lot socially, but it’s been pretty cool up here. Fort Dodge definitely isn’t Kansas City, but I enjoy it here. It’s not about where you are, it’s about the people around you,” she said.
She mentioned that even though the transition was smooth, college still does have its struggles. She said there is a lot of adjusting and finding ways to balance school, athletics and religion in her everyday schedule.
On the brighter side, she doesn’t mind the workload. Holmes said it’s similar to UA, but actually less.
Let’s wish our alumni the best of luck in the remainder of her 2024-25 basketball season and freshman year.
