Former Phoenix-area HS star DaRon Holmes helps Suns draft pick Toumani Camara adjust to Arizona

The Phoenix Suns' only 2023 draft pick Toumani Camara's basketball career has now taken him to Arizona.

It's the fifth place the 23-year-old has lived. He was raised in Belgium. From there, he moved at age 16 to play at Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida. Then Camara played his first two college years for the Georgia Bulldogs before he transferred in his junior year to Dayton in Ohio.

Camara said he loves Phoenix's weather, having had his first workout for the team two weeks ago, his first-ever trip near the West Coast. During the Suns' Tuesday media availability to introduce Camara, he spoke about adjusting to life in the desert, and ample advice he's received from his former Dayton teammate and Valley native DaRon Holmes II.

“He’s a really Arizona-proud person, and he talks about AZ a lot," Camara said. "He talks about Goodyear, all the good things it has to offer. So I feel like I kind of know a little bit about Arizona.”

Holmes was The Republic's 2021 High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a senior at Chandler AZ Compass Prep. He also helped lead Goodyear Millennium to two straight 5A state championship appearances as a freshman and sophomore in 2019 and 2020.

“I’ve told him that it’s a very underrated place and that he’d really like it last year because he’s never been out there," Holmes told The Republic. "Look where he’s at right now? So it’s pretty cool to see that. Now he gets to live it and experience it.”

Holmes was restlessly happy after Camara was taken as Phoenix's only pick at No. 52 in the second round near midnight of the Eastern time zone at Brooklyn's Barclay Center.

“I couldn’t go to sleep that night. It took me like a couple hours after he got drafted to go to sleep," Holmes said. "I was just so excited for him, and I know the rest of the (Dayton) team was probably the same way. … I knew he was gonna get drafted. It was just the fact that he got drafted in Phoenix is what made it that much better.”

Holmes and Camara were Dayton's leading scorers and rebounders last season. They averaged 18.4 and 13.9 points per game, and were nearly identical at 8.1 and 8.6 boards, respectively. As Camara led the Atlantic-10 conference in the latter category, and Holmes topped in blocks (1.9), they earned First Team All-conference honors and Camara was an All-Defensive Team selection.

During their two seasons together, Dayton had a 46-23 record, was the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, including their championship loss to Virginia Commonwealth in March. In addition, Dayton had its first appearance in four years in the USA Today Top 25 poll at No. 23 back in November.

Holmes believes Camara will make his biggest impact with the Suns as a versatile defender, and described how Camara was Dayton's leader who mentored him on how to be a better rim protector.

“He’d guard the point guard, the center, he could switch it all around," Holmes said. "He would make people drive to the lane and I would be there to block the shots, so that’s one of the parts of his game I think people see, but they don’t really understand how important that is to have a valuable player like that.”

They almost entered the draft together after they were at the NBA Combine in Chicago from May 16-18. That experience brought them closer as friends.

“I felt it helped both of us to kind of go through that together, especially since we had two good years together and being able to go through that," Camara said. "It’s a dream for everybody to be able to go to the NBA.

"To be able to go through those moments together I think means a lot to both of us. And now he has a lot of footprints that he can already follow because he’s been through that process already, so it’s gonna be good for him.”

But on May 31, Holmes withdrew from the draft to return to Dayton for his junior year.

“I think one more year can benefit me in a position that I’m in right now," Holmes said. "I’ll be 21 coming up this year, so I don’t think that’s a bad age to go into the draft. Honestly, I trust Dayton, and I think however long it takes will be OK and I believe in the people around me. I think if I put in work and we win games and do what we need to do as a team, it will help benefit me as a person.”

Holmes has another year or two to improve his draft stock. But in the meantime, he just wants to root for Camara because it's his chance to shine bright as a new Sun.

“It’s a big deal. It’s amazing for him because he’s going back to Arizona," Holmes said. "It’s great because I know how great of a player he is and we all do at Dayton. We’re here supporting him a lot and it’s just a blessing to see him get in that position.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Phoenix-area HS star DaRon Holmes helps Suns' Toumani Camara adjust