Offensive Lineman Holland Signs With Buffaloes

BOULDER GÇö Isaiah Holland, considered to be the anchor of the offensive line for the two-time 5A state champion Valor Christian Eagles, signed a financial aid agreement to attend the University of Colorado this fall, head football coach Mike MacIntyre announced Monday.

High school student-athletes in football can sign letters-of-intent through April 1; after that date, they can sign grants-in-aid per NCAA rules.

Holland, 6-5, 320, originally had planned on attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but said that GÇ£due to unforeseen circumstances in the admissions process, I was recently denied admission. While this was disappointing, God gave me another exciting opportunity for my future.GÇ¥

That opportunity is CU, where his father, Darius, lettered four years as a defensive tackle under Hall of Fame coach Bill McCartney from 1991-94.

As a senior, he earned All-Colorado honors from both the Denver Post and Mile High Sports Magazine. He started all 28 games over the course of his junior and senior seasons and helped Valor Christian to a pair of 5A state championships, as he did not allow a quarterback sack and had several touchdown and downfield blocks to go along with numerous pancakes. He was one of ColoradoGÇÖs 11 Scholar-Athletes as selected by the stateGÇÖs chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame and intends to major in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado.

GÇ£This is like Christmas is May,GÇ¥ MacIntyre said after Holland signed the agreement over the weekend, which increased the count of high school players to 20 in his 2014 recruiting class, five now being top prospects from Colorado. GÇ£ItGÇÖs a great for us to sign another player from Colorado, we want them here and are glad that Isaiah turned to us when West Point was no longer an option for him. HeGÇÖs also a legacy recruit, you mention his fatherGÇÖs name and everybody recalls what kind of player he was for the Buffaloes.GÇ¥

He was also very active in the community, volunteering in the nursery at the GÇ£True Life Church,GÇ¥ serving as a mentor at the GÇ£Dare to PlayGÇ¥ football camp for athletes challenged with Down Syndrome, and helping to gather Christmas trees for children of underprivileged families.

Holland joins Terran Hasselbach (DE, Regis), Jay MacIntyre (WR, Monarch), Isaac Miller (OL, Silver Creek) and Evan White (DB, Cherokee Trail) as Colorado high school prep performers in this yearGÇÖs recruiting class. His father also played with five teams over the course of 10 seasons in the National Football League, including closing out his career with the Denver Broncos in 2003-04.

Colorado University Athletics