Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State’s Tanner Holden had 21 points in his first college game and 18 in his third. But the freshman wing from Wheelersburg hit a lull after that, and he admitted his confidence waned while he was scoring just 41 points over a seven-game span.
Friends and confidants — like his father, Rodney Holden, and personal trainer Ron Bledsoe — did their best to bolster his spirits with encouraging words. But the voice he listened to most was the one inside his head.
“Probably one of my favorite Bible verses is Prov. 18:21: ‘The power of life and death is in the tongue.’ If you hear yourself say something, then you know you can do it. That’s a big thing for me,” he said.
“I always try to tell myself, right before I step on the court, ‘I can play at this level and I can do great things.’”
Holden has done some great things in his last two games. He had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds against Mississippi Valley State and 14 points while making 4 of 6 shots and five boards against Southern.
He’s also a long-armed perimeter defender that coach Scott Nagy covets and looks as if he could be a rare four-year starter for the Raiders.
“He was really active right from the start (against MVSU). It looked a little bit like the beginning of the year. He had lot of energy and was just making hustle plays around the ball. I was really pleased with the way he played.” Nagy said.
