By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball announced the addition of a pair of transfers for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Both transfers come to FHSU from NCAA Division I programs. Iyen Enaruna is transferring from Evansville University and Jaheim Holden is transferring from Tarleton State University.
Enaruna is a 6-foot, 9-inch forward that will have one year of eligibility remaining in 2022-23. He played at Cloud County (Kan.) Community College for two years before transferring to Evansville where he also played two seasons. He still has an extra year of eligibility left due to the COVID season of 2020-21 that granted players their year of eligibility back no matter how much they played that season. At Cloud County, Enaruna started all 31 games in his sophomore season of 2019-20 averaging 12.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, which earned him an All-KJCCC East Division Honorable Mention selection. He scored in double figures 20 times that season and reached double figures in rebounds 11 times. Enaruna produced nine double-doubles that season and scored 20 or more points in a game four times with a season high of 24. As a freshman in 2018-19, he averaged 6.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Over two years he accumulated 581 points and 440 rebounds for the T-Birds, averaging 9.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in 62 contests.
While at Evansville, Enaruna averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game over two seasons. He made six starts in his 43 games played for the Purple Aces. He produced his single-game highs in points and rebounds in a contest against Bradley University during the 2020-21 season, when he notched 17 points and seven rebounds. A native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Enaruna is no stranger to international competition as he played for the Dutch national team alongside his brother Tristan, who has played at the University of Kansas and Iowa State University.
Holden is a 5-foot, 10-inch guard that will have two years of eligibility remaining entering 2022-23. He played two seasons at Barton (Kan.) Community College before transferring to Tarleton State where he played in 2021-22. At Barton County, Holden was an All-KJCCC West Division First Team and All-Region 6 selection in 2020-21 averaging 16 points and 4.8 assists, and nearly two steals per game. In 2019-20, Holden averaged 15 points and 4.8 assists per game. Holden made 92 3-point field goals and shot 80.4 percent at the free-throw line (218-of-271) over his two years on the floor for the Cougars. He totaled 864 points and 268 assists in his 56 games played at Barton, which averaged out to 15.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Holden saw limited action in 13 contests during the 2021-22 season at Tarleton State, totaling 10 points and 10 assists. His best single-game performance in 2021-22 came against Dallas Christian with three points, six assists, and six steals.
Holden is a native of Evanston, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. He was a standout player for Evanston High School where he helped his team to a state runner-up finish in Class 4A as a senior. His younger brother Isaiah is also a student-athlete in the MIAA, currently a member of the men’s basketball team at Missouri Southern. The Tigers are slated to play Missouri Southern twice in conference play during the 2022-23 season.
Enaruna and Holden join high school product Kyle Grill as the three additions announced by FHSU Men’s Basketball so far for the 2022-23 season. Grill, a 6-foot, 5-inch guard who earned all-state first team honors in Class 5A in 2021-22 and helped guide Maize (Kan.) High School to a state title in 2020-21, announced his commitment to FHSU back in November. Grill and Enaruna share a commonality as their brothers were members of the Iowa State University men’s basketball team in 2021-22.
Fort Hays State is coming off a strong 2021-22 season, finishing 23-6 overall and just one game out of first place in the MIAA regular season standings. The Tigers spent multiple weeks in the NABC and D2SIDA national rankings last year.