AURORA | Nick Holmes gets to play his senior season for the Overland boys basketball team after all.
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma — a type of bone cancer — shortly before the start of the 2016-17 season, Holmes was told he couldn’t play for the Trailblazers because an injury could exacerbate his condition.
So Holmes spent the first 15 games of Overland’s season on the bench, watching his team go 6-9 overall and 2-4 in Centennial League play.
Then came a phone call Monday with the best possible news: Holmes is cancer free. After two hip surgeries and another biopsy, it was discovered that he in fact had a different and unusual condition called Myositis Ossificans, which is basically bone growing inside of muscle tissue. While it still needs to be treated, he will be able to play basketball, after all.
“This is the best day of my life!!!!!” Holmes’ father, Julian, wrote in a Facebook post. “Earlier tonight I received a call from the doctor at Children’s Hospital and he confirmed that the second biopsy results came back from the Mayo Clinic stating that my son Nick is cancer free, now tell me that God isn’t good!!!…Thank you all for your prayers and support.”
— ☃️Nick Holmes⚡️‼️ (@ShifTHolmes0) January 24, 2017
Overland and the prep basketball community has been a vital source of support for the Holmes family. Other high school basketball teams such as Sand Creek and Cherry Creek have supported Holmes and his fight in various ways and his own school has been fully behind him.
Nick Holmes wasted little time going to social media to share his wonderful news.
“As my body still has to deal with this complication, my family and I are grateful that this is not what it was first said to be,” Holmes said in a message on Twitter. “I am very blessed to say that after 2 hip surgeries in the last three months, I have been cleared to return back to the court.”
Nick Holmes told the Sentinel he plans to play for Overland on Wednesday night at Arapahoe as the Trailblazers complete the first of two rounds of Centennial League play.
Overland must then travel to play at Eaglecrest before it plays at home on Feb. 1 against Cherry Creek.
The 6-foot-3 guard/forward played in 17 games last season for the Trailblazers, who won their second consecutive Class 5A state championship. Coach Danny Fisher expected Holmes to be one of the team’s “anchors” coming into the season before his original diagnosis.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel