NEWARK—Daquan Holiday, who graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology in May, has signed a professional contract to play with Dragons Rhoendorf of German Pro A.
 
With basketball organized in a system of annual promotion and relegation of teams that is similar to what is done in European and South American soccer, Pro A is the second tier of German club basketball, one step below the Bundesliga (national league).
 
Dragons are on an upward trajectory on the promotion-relegation ladder, having been promoted to Pro A for 2015-16 after having placed among the top teams in their division of the lower Pro B in 2014-15 (third in Pro B South with a 14-8 record).
 
Rhoendorf is best known in world history for having been the home of Konrad Adenauer, who was the first Chancellor of post-World War II Germany, helping to guide the country's rapid renaissance from downtrodden loser of a world war to global economic power and one of the world's great free democracies.
 
In signing on with the Rhoendorf club, Holiday, a four-year member of the NJIT men's basketball team, becomes the third Highlander in the last four years to continue playing professional basketball after college.
 
The first was Isaiah Wilkerson (Class of 2012), NJIT's first Associated Press All-America honorable mention honoree, who played two seasons in the NBA D-League before moving on in 2014-15 to Titanicos de Leon (Leon Titans) of Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (National Professional Basketball League of Mexico). With the fall-winter season complete, Wilkerson is playing in pro ball in Puerto Rico (Atleticos de San German), where the season runs through the summer. In 55 games for Titanicos de Leon, Wilkerson, who will turn 25 in November this year, averaged 18.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.
 
Next into the pro ranks for the Highlanders was Chris Flores (Class of 2013), who followed Wilkerson as Great West Conference Player of the Year and AP All-America honorable mention, is NJIT's all-time Division I career scorer, with 1,726 points in four seasons.
 
He had a pre-draft closed-door workout with the Brooklyn Nets ahead of the 2013 NBA Draft, but was not drafted. Instead, he has played two seasons with Uni Riesen Leipzig in Germany. Uni Riesen plays in Pro B North. In 2014-15, his second season with the club, Flores averaged 11.5 points and led in steals.
 
Coincidentally, Rayven Johnson (Class of 2013), the best all-around women's basketball player in NJIT's Division I years, is also playing professionally in Germany, where she has played two seasons with TK Hannover.  
 
The latest Highlander pro, Holiday, was a four-year member of the NJIT team, in a career highlighted by his senior season when he appeared in all 33 games, starting 32, for a record-setting team that won 21 games and advanced to the semifinal round of the national postseason CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
 
Along the way to its highest wins total at the Division I level, NJIT men's basketball became a national headline when it stunned #17/#16 Michigan, 72-70, on December 6 in Ann Arbor. Holiday scored 4 points and pulled down six rebounds, while blocking three shots, but his plays in the closing seconds will go down among the biggest in NJIT athletics history.
 
First, he grabbed an offensive rebound of a miss that came with the shot clock running down and NJIT trying to hold off a final Wolverine rally. Fouled with 4.3 seconds remaining in the game, Holiday made both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity, expanding the Highlander lead from 70-69 to 72-69.
 
Next, Michigan's Kameron Chatman was fouled with 2.6 seconds on the game clock in a strategic move aimed at precluding what could have been a tying 3-point shot for Michigan. Chatman made the first free throw, but then intentionally missed the second, hoping for a tip-in that would tie the score. Instead, Holiday thwarted the strategy by securing the defensive rebound and keeping the ball away from Michigan.
 
His exploits in the Michigan upset were part of a senior year that saw the popular Holiday produce some of his best games against NJIT's best opponents.
 
Having finished his junior season averaging a modest 2.9 points per game, Holiday opened his senior campaign scoring 10 points against a St. John's team that later would spend time in the National Top 25 and reach the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
 
Against Marquette, like St. John's a member of the powerful BIG EAST Conference, Holiday shot 4-4 from the field and made all four of his free throws for 12 points to go with five rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
 
Later, he scored 12 in a big win over Yale, which went on to tie for the Ivy League title. On February 2, he produced a career-high 13 points in a win over Hampton, which would go on to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament and a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where it won a First Four game.
 
Finally, in four CIT postseason games, he made 11 of his 14 shots from field (79 percent) and grabbed a total of 23 rebounds, while coming up with two blocked shots each in wins over Cleveland State and Canisius, both of which had strong forward lines.
 
Holiday, who was an upbeat leader off the court and a high-energy player on it, is among the most popular Highlander athletes among his fellow NJIT students, especially among other student-athletes, including those on other teams.
 
He completed his career as the second-leading Division I career shot blocker in program history, with 132 (13 behind Dan Stonkus, 2006-10). Holiday's 49 blocks as senior tied the school Division I record.
 
In 2014-15, he made better than 63 percent of his shots from the floor (78-123), averaged 4.6 rebounds and 6 points, while making a career-best 25 steals.
 
Seeing another one of his former players enter pro ball shortly after receiving a bachelor's degree from NJIT is gratifying for coach Jim Engles, who said: "We are so excited for Daquan. He has been tremendous leader for our team and ambassador for NJIT. We look forward to following his career."