The college careers of power forward Holt and Johnson overlapped one season in the West Coast Conference. Holt had a strong game against Saint Mary\u2019s in the 2022 WCC tournament with seven points in eight minutes off the bench while Johnson logged 14 points as a starter in the 75-72 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew of him but I had never met him in person,\u201d said Holt, 22, after the Skyliners lost at home to Ulm on Sunday. \u201cHe is a good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is always good to see familiar faces and pick their brains on the scouts and stuff when we played each other. We would go back and forth and mess with each other, like why they couldn\u2019t beat us,\u201d said Johnson, with a smile.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2 Johnson, 26, after playing in the G League the previous two seasons with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder\u2019s affiliate, signed with Frankfurt last year for his first taste of pro hoops overseas \u2013 and his first time in Europe for any reason. He began his college career at Cincinnati before finishing with the Gaels in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a good learning experience. There were a lot of ups and downs,\u201d said Johnson, who had 160 points and 101 assists with 58 turnovers in 26 games with Frankfurt. \u201cI wasn\u2019t fully healthy coming into this season. I think it helped me process what Europe is really about. It was a good way to get my feet wet, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Europe, most local clubs play once a week, normally on weekends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think people (in the States) know how competitive it is over here,\u201d Johnson added. \u201cEvery game is a dogfight. I wanted to get back to that fire and grit where every game means something. In the G League you may be in three cities in four nights. You just understand how good basketball is all over the globe. I wanted to put myself in a new situation. I have bruised ribs; coming into the season I was not 100 percent. You have to play through it and you can\u2019t use it as an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BNG-L-JOHNSON-05XX-02.jpg\")
Jacob Holt celebrates during a Frankfurt Skyliners game against the Rostock Seawolves in Frankfurt, Germany on March 29, 2026. (Dmitrij Zibart\/ZIBART.DE via Frankfurt Skyliners)\u00a0<\/p>\n
HOLT SHINES IN AUSTRALIA<\/p>\n
Holt finished his college career at Sacramento State last year after two seasons at Santa Clara.<\/p>\n
From a small town in British Columbia, he was in the process of working out for the Sacramento Kings when he learned of hip problems, which led to surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sidelined me for six or seven months. But thankfully during that time I got my Australian citizenship,\u201d Holt said. \u201cMy mother was born in Australia but her parents were from Croatia. During the Balkan War they moved to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before his senior year of college, Holt learned about the possibility of obtaining Australian citizenship. That helped him sign a three-year deal last year with Brisbane, a solid club in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).<\/p>\n
He missed the first 11 games of the season due to his hip situation, but he had games of 17, 23 and 24 points and ended the Australian season averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest before heading to Germany. Holt also saw action with the Australian national team.<\/p>\n
That came after he was an all-Big Sky performer in 2024-25 with Sacramento State as he averaged 16.3 points and 6.9 boards. \u201cGoing into my senior year, I knew I had to have a big one,\u201d said the 6-10 forward. \u201cI worked as hard as I ever worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 200 minutes over 12 games with the Skyliners beginning in March, Holt had 62 points and 51 boards.<\/p>\n
Holt plans to head back to Canada this month and \u201ctrain hard for two months\u201d and then head back to Australia in August for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
Johnson also had to fight through injuries this season.<\/p>\n
Both Johnson (ribs) and Holt were held out of the season finale on May 10 as the Skyliners lost 103-64 to sixth-place Ulm in their home arena that holds about 5,000 fans west of downtown Frankfurt, a banking capital in Germany. Frankfurt was paced in scoring by American guard Isaiah Swope (17 points), who ended his college career in 2025 at Saint Louis of the Atlantic 10 Conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never been to Europe prior to this,\u201d Johnson said after signing a few autographs. \u201cIt was an awesome experience. It has been nothing but a blessing. The first few weeks I was here, I was getting a little homesick. Basketball is a global game; there are great basketball players all over the world. Three (of the best) players in the NBA are from overseas. I think Europe does not get enough credit.\u201d<\/p>\n
His brother, Tyler, played several years in the NBA and is now an assistant coach at Fresno State, his alma mater. The head coach at Fresno State is Vance Walberg, the former coach at Mountain View High, as well as Clovis West, Los Altos and Newark Memorial.<\/p>\n
![\"Frankfurt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BNG-L-JOHNSON-05XX-03.jpg\")
Frankfurt Skyliners guard Logan Johnson signs autographs after a game on May 10, 2026 in Frankfurt, Germany. (Photo: David Driver\/Special to Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
A one-time dunk champion in the G League, Johnson said some people in Germany were aware of that distinction.<\/p>\n
Johnson was able to visit Spain and France and learned to adjust to life in Frankfurt \u2013 like trying to find a barber, finding good places to eat and enjoying German Christmas markets. Like most Division I products from North America, he was provided an apartment and a car by the local club.<\/p>\n
How would he compare NCAA hoops to Europe? \u201cThey definitely do have some similarities. People can sit in the paint on defense (in Europe). You know someone will be (defending) at the basket when you are driving,\u201d said Johnson, who made just two of 19 shots from 3-point range with Frankfurt. The Skyliners were 12-22 and were 15th of 18 teams in the top league in Germany.<\/p>\n
Johnson will head home, spend time with family and start preparing for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting healthy first is most important and be ready for whatever opportunity is going to happen next,\u201d he said. \u201cI am open to new things. I like it over here. I feel like I didn\u2019t give it my best (due to injuries). That kind of lingers in my mind, too. I want to show them who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
VALKYRIES\u2019 GERMAN TIES<\/p>\n
Natalie Nakase, the head coach of the Golden State WNBA team, played for German club Herner TC in 2007 and was later an assistant coach for the Wolfenb\u00fcttel Wildcats in Germany before coaching in Japan.<\/p>\n
She will be back in Germany in September as an assistant coach for the U.S. national team that will compete in the FIBA World Cup in Berlin.<\/p>\n
Other Valkyries ties to hoops overseas include Gabby Williams, who has played in Italy, Hungary, France, and Turkey and plays for the French national team due to her mother\u2019s nationality; Iliana Rupert and Janelle Salaun (11.3 points per game last season), who are from France; Miela Sowah, from Australia; and Cecilia Zandalasini (10.5), who is from Italy.<\/p>\n
Kiah Stokes has played in South Korea and Turkey, per eurobasket.com; Laeticia Amihere has suited up in Australia, Spain, and Canada; Juste Jocyte\u00a0is from Lithuania and has played there and in France; Kayla Thornton (14.0 points per game in 2025) has played around the world since 2014, including stops in Italy, Russia and Turkey; Kaila Charles has laced up in Hungary, Italy, Israel, Mexico, and Russia; Tiffany Hayes (11.7) has made stops all over, including Spain, Poland, Turkey, and Israel; and Veronica Burton (11.9) has played in Australia and Poland.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: Virginia native David Driver is the author of \u201cHoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas,\u201d available at Amazon and daytondavid.com. Driver has interviewed more than 100 American men and women in nearly 20 countries in Europe, and is the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore and his native Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has lived three years in both Hungary and Poland and now lives in Frankfurt, Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRANKFURT, Germany \u2013 After beginning his pro career last year in Australia, former Santa Clara basketball standout Jacob…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20335,2922,20336,20340,20337,20338,5,20333,2381,20341,20339,20334,259],"class_list":["post-16307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-central-contra-costa","tag-college-sports","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-east-bay","tag-germany","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orinda","tag-saint-marys-gaels","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}