Staying 'true to the process,' former IUWBB star Mackenzie Holmes gets second chance with Seattle Storm

Indianapolis Star

8 hours ago

SEATTLE – When Mackenzie Holmes decided to have major knee surgery following her illustrious five-year career at IU, she knew it came with some risks.
Holmes knew she would miss all of what would've been her rookie season in 2024 with the surgery, one that became necessary after years of wear throughout her high school and college career.
She knew that, despite several All-America honors and a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award under her belt, teams could shy away from her because of this major surgery. But she also knew putting this surgery off any longer would affect her career long-term.
So, she took that chance. She had surgery shortly before the 2024 WNBA draft, hoping a team would take a chance on her and be willing to stash her for a year.
And that team was Seattle.
The Storm selected Holmes with the 26th overall pick in the third round in 2024. They did so knowing she would not be able to be a part of the team in 2024, and they were willing to stash her for a year before bringing her back for 2025.
'It was a hard decision to make, but I knew for the longevity of my career that it was the best decision for me,' Holmes told IndyStar. 'Personally, just going through what I had during my career at Indiana, it made the most sense to get the surgery done, knowing that I would miss my rookie season and risk the chance of not being drafted. But I was very grateful that the Storm saw something, took a chance on me, and gave me the opportunity to achieve a lifelong dream, which was getting drafted, then still wanting to take a chance on me a year later.'
Holmes spent the 2024 WNBA season away from the Storm, working with the IU women's basketball team as a graduate assistant and rehabbing her knee. Seattle didn't sign her to her rookie scale contract in 2024, instead opting to hold onto her draft rights for a year and sign her officially in 2025.
And Holmes was one of the first people to get to Seattle ahead of the season, working in early reps ahead of the team's training camp.
'Coming here early gave her an edge, because she picked up our system quite early,' Storm coach Noelle Quinn said. 'She's in amazing shape, and the best attribute, in my opinion, is the culture piece. She just fits into our locker room, and we were happy to get her back.'
Holmes went through all of training camp with the Storm and impressed in the team's lone preseason game against the Connecticut Sun, playing 21 minutes with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks. But she was still waived from the team in the final round of cuts at the end of camp in early May.
It was a blip in her career, yes. But it's a blip that a lot of young WNBA players go through while they work to find their place in the league.
'I left Seattle really heartbroken, because I had grown to really love these people, love the city of Seattle, so I left really upset,' Holmes said. 'But I knew that if it was meant to be, it would happen.'
And Holmes made sure that the Storm knew if they ever needed her, she was just a call away. She kept in shape, watched all of their games and kept checking in on the coaching staff.
'We were in the midst of trying to figure out who would be on our roster, and Mack was like, 'I'll ride a bike to wherever you guys are,'' Quinn said. 'That's just the type of person that she is."
And Holmes was serious about that. Seattle gave her a call on June 16, asking if she could be in Los Angeles the next day for a game.
Of course, she dropped everything for the chance to be on the Storm again.
'Ride my bike, roller skate, whatever she needed me to get there, I would,' Holmes said. 'They were like, 'Can you be in L.A. by Tuesday?' and I'm like, 'Yes, I'll walk there if I have to.''
Holmes' role in Seattle is very different from what her role was at IU — she's not in Seattle's rotation, and she has only played in one game for five minutes since she re-signed with the Storm.
In Seattle, though, she's practicing with some of the best frontcourt players in the league, learning from 2016 MVP and perennial All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and veterans Ezi Magbegor and Gabby Williams.
'I feel so grateful to have vets that are great basketball players, but better people,' Holmes said. 'I mean, Nneka is a one-of-a-kind human… all of them are incredible people. I'm learning so much from them, day in and day out. Not even just the basketball piece, but how they operate as pros, it's something the rest of my life I'll take with me.'
Holmes is a sponge, someone who is trusting the process as a rookie learning from a loaded frontcourt. And that's exactly the type of player Seattle wants for their final roster spot.
'Mackenzie, she has been working very hard,' Ogwumike said. 'She's someone that stays very true to the process, great teammate, great person. She very much fit all that we're about this year in Seattle.'