Bring together a pair of Belgians and a group of Americans at an English airport, and what will they talk about?

On this particular night, the topic of conversation was ... Bucknell graduate J.R. Holden?

Strange but true.

As the Bucknell men’s basketball team made its way through a British airport a few years back, their “Bucknell” apparel caught the eye of a Belgian basketball fan and his son. They began talking, and the father informed the Bison that his son’s favorite player was Holden — who at the time was coming off a spectacular season in which he was named player of the year in the Belgian league.

Holden, called the best point guard in Europe by his current coach at CSKA Moscow, is already a well-known basketball player on the other side of the pond; he averaged 9.2 points per game and 3.8 assists per game last season as CSKA Moscow won the Russian and European championships.

But now, ironically, fans back in the states are about to become more familiar with the Pittsburgh kid who plays in the shadow of the Kremlin. The 6-foot-1 Holden, a two-time All-Patriot League selection for the Bison, became a naturalized citizen for Russia and will lead the Russian national team in the XXIX Olympiad, which begins Friday in Beijing.

The total package

“He’s a very popular guy, because he does all the right things,” says recently retired Bison coach Pat Flannery, who recruited and coached Holden at Bucknell. “He has the whole package. The CSKA Moscow people love him because of who he is: Pencil him in for seven assists, 10, 11 points, and he’ll defend the other team’s best player.”

Even though Holden graduated in 1998, he and his former coach have remained close over the years. So close, in fact, that Flannery is going to the Games as a guest of the Russian Basketball Federation.

“After (Russia) qualified, I wrote (in a text message), ‘Congratulations. I’m so proud of you,’ ’’ Flannery says. “And he wrote back, ‘You’re going with me.’ ’’ (Flannery was scheduled to leave for China on Wednesday.)

In the Olympic qualifying tournament last September, Russia won its first EuroBasket championship when Holden buried a last-second jumper to beat Spain by one. It was a big moment for the Russians, though people have noticed that it came courtesy of an American. In an e-mail to The Daily Item, Holden says that he doesn’t have a problem wearing a Russian uniform.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to even be invited to suit up for another country,” he writes. “It’s not politics or something that could harm others. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to play in the Olympics, and I am glad that the Russian Basketball Federation thinks that highly of me as a person and a player to represent them at the Olympics.”

American Becky Hammon plays for the Russian women’s basketball team and CSKA Moscow’s women’s team, and has come under criticism for her decision to play for the Russians. Flannery is disappointed that either player would be chastised for their decision.

“To have one of your own kids playing for a national team ... it’s basketball,” he says. “It’s not guns and butter.”

When asked whom he’ll be rooting for should the U.S. and Russia meet in the Olympics, Flannery doesn’t hesitate.

“I root for the United States,” he says, “but at the same time I root for J.R. to go for 40.”

Proving critics wrong

Holden didn’t go for 40 in Sunday’s exhibition against the U.S., but he did post 17 points and seven boards in the Americans’ 89-68 victory. Some observers may have been surprised by Holden’s success against the best players in the world, but he’s been proving doubters wrong for as long as Flannery can remember. The former Bucknell mentor recalls seeing him play at the Five-Star Camp in Pittsburgh.

“Coaches tend to run in packs and everybody knows this kid or that kid,” he says. “In J.R.’s case, out at Five-Star, he wasn’t even in the NBA Division (with the big-name recruits). He was in the NCAA Division. If you wanted to see J.R. play, you had to stay there late.”

In his e-mail to The Daily Item, Holden, who will turn 32 on Sunday, says that Bucknell was the only Division I school that wanted him.

“Coming out of high school, I was not highly recruited at all,” he writes. “I had a couple of Division II offers and Butch Beard was recruiting me at Howard University (a D-I school). I wanted to attend Howard, but Butch Beard left to become the head coach of the New Jersey Nets and that left me with only one other Division I offer — Bucknell. I always wanted to play Division I basketball. I didn’t know much about Bucknell, but coach Flannery won me and my mom over the first time we met.”

A different path

After a four-year career at Bucknell in which he finished with 1,327 career points and a degree in business management, Holden made his way to Europe, where he played in Latvia, Belgium and Greece before catching on with CSKA Moscow. CSKA, which Sports Illustrated called the best pro basketball franchise outside of the NBA, has won two Euroleague titles since Holden’s arrival. It’s not surprising then that CSKA coach Ettore Messina told SI that Holden is the best point guard in Europe.

“That made me feel good,” Holden writes. “Coach Messina is the best coach in Europe, and for him to think that highly of me is an honor. He had a lot to do with my growth as a point guard, so to see it materialize over the last few years is a true blessing.”

Holden’s play for CSKA Moscow — which also features former Duke star Trajan Langdon — caught the attention of the Russian Basketball Federation, and this is now his fourth year playing for Russia. Flannery believes strongly that Holden could catch on in the NBA, but his former pupil is happy where he is.

“I don’t think about (the NBA) at all,” he says. “If a team gives me a good enough offer to come home, then of course I would probably take it. But my path, my road to success has been in Europe, and I am happy and satisfied with that.”

n E-mail comments to tstanford@dailyitem.com.