Champion for Detroit youths has a special invitation for new Piston Ron Holland

“Energizer,” “explosive athlete,” “great transition finisher” and “high-motor defender” are just some of the more colorful descriptions in the many scouting reports seeking to define Ron Holland II, the Detroit Pistons’ first-round selection in the recent NBA draft. 

However, shortly after Holland’s name was called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the evening of June 27, the ESPN broadcasting crew covering the draft shed light on another side of the Pistons’ incoming rookie, revealing that Holland also has creative interests and passions that transcend the game of basketball.   

From Malika Andrews, ESPN’s NBA draft host, a worldwide audience was informed that the “wise beyond his years,” 19-year-old Holland enjoys playing the drums in his spare time and already has presented a camp for youths in his native state of Texas, using basketball to promote mental health and wellness. But before those facts could be completely digested, ESPN reporter Monica McNutt had her chance to stretch a microphone up to the 6-foot-8-inch Holland. Roughly 35 seconds later, the interview took an unconventional turn when Holland confirmed that Teddy Pendergrass was his “favorite artist.” That would indeed be the same Teddy Pendergrass who was one of the most popular R&B and soul vocalists during much of the 1970s and early '80s.  

And it is that eclectic and mature nature of Holland’s interests and responses that has piqued the interest of native Detroiter, Horatio Williams. Williams is a devotee of 1970s music and culture who just happens to do his best and most important work — uplifting his home town — less than 2 miles from where Holland will be playing his home games this season, at Little Caesars Arena.      

“To hear some of the things that Ron Holland is passionate about, and to learn that he is already giving back, shows that Ron gets it — he understands the process,” explained Williams, creator of the Horatio Williams Foundation, which, since 2005, has helped boys and girls succeed through programming conducted at the nonprofit’s headquarters — 1010 Antietam, just east of downtown off Gratiot — in what used to be the Wayne County Medical Society building. “In the game of life, just like in basketball, there is a process to being successful that is bigger than the game. Identifying your passions outside of your sport is important. And then for all athletes, at the end of the day, it should be all about giving back. That’s how you win in life.”

Basketball analogies come naturally for Williams, who earned his stripes in the game while growing up in Detroit, which included being among the top 40 players in the city that comprised the 1986 Detroit Free Press All-PSL/Detroit teams during his senior year at Osborn High School. While rising up in the game during an era when the Detroit Public School League routinely sent student-athletes to major college basketball programs and the NBA, Williams says he and other young players in Detroit had something going for them that makes him particularly interested in professional athletes that join Detroit teams today.

“In my day, growing up as a young player, we had local professional players that came into the community," said Williams, who pointed to “Big” Bob Lanier, selected by the Pistons with the first overall pick in the 1970 NBA draft; Spencer Haywood, state champion at Pershing High School, 1968 Olympic gold medalist and 1969 All American at the University of Detroit before his trailblazing entry into the American Basketball Association and then the NBA, and George Gervin, a star at King High School and Eastern Michigan before starring in the ABA and NBA. On Wednesday, Williams defined his ideal Detroit sports community as a place where every resident, especially young people, would be able to identify at least five players on each of the city’s pro sports team based on actual contact with the players in the community. “Gervin would even come back to the Butzel Center (on Detroit’s east side)," Williams added. "And when we saw that these great players were a part of our world, that gave us hope that we could succeed too.”

The seeds planted in Williams as he witnessed future Hall of Famers give back to his city and neighborhood would come to fruition a few decades later. After recovering from being hit by a drunken driver while riding a bike, which ended his college basketball career at Tuskegee University before it started, Williams, as an operator of a nonemergency medical transportation company, made a financial and personal investment in the former Butzel Elementary Middle School. His generosity, about five years before he created his foundation, included renovating the school’s gymnasium and providing food and clothing to a few students in need, at a school where Williams had been nurtured as a student.    

Given his own dramatic journey, Williams said Wednesday morning that he believes athletes on Detroit’s sports teams still have an important role to play in the community. And that he would love to make his pitch to as many local professional athletes as possible, such as Holland, who Williams said he already views as a kindred spirit of sorts. 

“First, I would love to have a sit-down session with him and just listen to some real music,” said Williams, who hopes to see Holland play basketball in person soon during the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas. “To hear that he likes Teddy Pendergrass says something, because Teddy Pendergrass and Marvin Gaye were talking about the times they lived in. Teddy Pendergrass (with Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes) was saying: “Wake Up Everybody” and Marvin Gaye was asking: “What’s Going On.” Then they both sang about love, so what’s not to like about that?”    

But even better than trying to say hello to Holland during the busy Summer League schedule, which, for the Pistons, will consist of five games at the Thomas & Mack Center between July 12-22, Williams would like to extend an invitation to Holland and the community to check out the last day of a Summer Performing Arts Camp presented by the S.O.N.G. (Saving Our Next Generation) Project that will take place Monday through Friday, July 15 through Aug. 1, at Williams’ 1010 Antietam building, before moving over to the Music Hall for the final day on Aug. 2.  

“That final day of the camp at the Music Hall will include a special drumline performance, so I would love for Ron Holland to see that as a new member of our team and community. And it will take place after the Summer League is over,” said Williams, who reported that the entire camp is being conducted by S.O.N.G. founder and CEO Carles Whitlow, someone Williams took pride in mentoring when Whitlow was a young man. “There’s dancing, singing, acting; everything for boys and girls, including disabled young people. For the drumming, some of the kids will come in not even knowing anything about drums and a transformation will take place. The camp is just a great program and it’s an honor to have it at our building for three weeks because Carles and the kids just really do their thing.”

The excitement in Williams’ voice as he spoke about an event that was still more than 10 days away could not be denied, and he believes that community events and community engagement in general can have a lasting positive impact that can be carried over to other areas of life, even a basketball court.  

“When players have a connection to the community, I think it really does impact how they play on the court,” said Williams, who also has become a familiar face at the Wayne State Fieldhouse, where he takes girls and boys to see the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate, play home games. “When I get tickets to see our G League team play, I make time to talk to the players, and before the game they all come by and dap me up. 

“It’s not just a game, it’s about building relationships for the players and the community. Especially at this time of year in the NBA, with all the trades and changes taking place, you see that the NBA is a business. But it can be more for the players that are connected to the community. It’s a part of the process that can make a difference for the player and the community.”  

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.