LCMR graduate, basketball star appointed associate head coach
ERMA — In 2015, Lower Cape May Regional High School won its first championship in girls basketball. At the helm of the team — with almost 26 points per game — was point guard Lauren Holden.
In the years since, she’s stuck with the game as a player and a coach. In April, she was named associate head coach of women’s basketball at Bucknell University.
“A big thing for me, as someone who played college basketball and as a coach now, is being around good people,” Holden said. “I want to win and everything, but you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with.”
Holden joined head coach Trevor Woodruff and the team at the end of April. In a news release, Woodruff said his staffing goal was to “hire highly talented, hard-working and loyal coaches that would connect with our players.”
The Division 1 team competes in the Patriot League, where it finished in the middle of the pack last season. Holden’s coaching responsibilities span from on-floor strategy decisions to roster-building and recruiting.
This is the fourth college basketball team on Holden’s resume, and the first time she’s reached the role of associate head coach. After graduating from Fordham University, her former assistant coach offered her a job at Fairleigh Dickinson University on the coaching staff.
She then moved to Fordham, where she worked two years under Stephanie Gaitley before heading to Gardner-Webb University for two seasons.
Holden likened her coaching style to her time as a player.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve and I get really hyped up as a coach,” she said. “I play with a lot of emotion, and that carried over to coaching.”
She said she learned a lot about leadership while serving as team captain at Fordham.
“It’s important to talk to people and have compassion. Everyone is going through something different; we’re all people at the end of the day.”
Since her days visiting the Lower Cape May Regional High School court as a girls when her grandfather was the coach there, Holden has shown leadership. Pat Holden, Lauren’s dad and former boys coach, recalled her leadership as a young player.
“She leads by example. She’s very positive, she communicates well and she demands more of herself. Her work ethic — and her desire to win — becomes infectious,” he said.
As a player, Holden was able to mold her skillset to whatever role was needed by her team. In high school, she was a high-volume scorer and handler.
“She was a different type of player, one you get only so many times in your coaching career,” said Scott Douglass, head coach of girls basketball at Lower Cape May Regional High School.
Holden has the stats to back it up. In high school she averaged 25.9 points per game, including in her senior year when she led her team to its first South Jersey Group II Championship.
“She was the first one in the gym and the last one to leave,” Douglass said.
Her success continued at Fordham, despite a steep learning curve to elevate her game to the college level.
“When she first got there as a freshman, she was definitely challenged, mentally and physically,” Pat Holden said.
But she rose to the occasion, finishing her college career with an Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship and two years as captain.
She shifted her focus from high-volume scoring to increased playmaking. As point guard, she frequently covered the opponent’s strongest perimeter player. Today, Holden remains Fordham’s all-time leader in career minutes and is third in all time three-pointers made.
At first, Holden didn’t see herself as a coach.
“I first got a good idea of what leadership was and how to be a good leader at Fordham,” she said. “I also think that my family, and the coaching line that I come from had a huge impact on me too.”
Holden’s grandfather, father and uncle have all served as Caper Tiger basketball coaches over the years.
Since her childhood days visiting her grandfather on the court, Holden has loved the game. As she looks forward to continuing with the sport, she said, “I appreciate everyone whose lives I’ve crossed paths with to help me get to the point I am now, and continue to help me reach my goals.”
By J. CAV SCOTT/For the Star and Wave
