USF's Holmes seeks fresh start at Santa Fe

Former St. Pete Catholic and USF basketball player Aaron Holmes, one of six Bulls to be granted a release in the past year, is transferring to Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville.

"He's looking for a fresh start, and we're excited to have him," said SFCC coach Chris Mowry, whose team has won its conference in each of the last two seasons. "I hope he can have a pretty big (role) for us, can be a player who can score in double figures. Obviously he's had a tough two years for his college experience."

Holmes signed with Florida State out of St. Pete Catholic, but transferred to USF after one semester, sitting out a year as required by NCAA rules. He had a promising start with the Bulls, totaling 33 points in back-to-back nonconference games, but never found a role in Big East play under coach Stan Heath. Holmes totaled just 30 points in 18 conference games, playing one minute or less in eight of the last nine games.

"He didn't get to play a lot, and Aaron felt like he wasn't part of their future plans, although I don't think that was ever expressed to him by the coaches there," Mowry said.

Holmes could not be reached for comment. None of the Bulls leaving Heath's program have gone to major-conference programs; forward Zaronn Cann played at Division II Eckerd this past season, and guard Dante Curry transferred in December to Georgia State. Guard Solomon Bozeman signed with Arkansas-Little Rock and will sit out next season, with two years of eligibility remaining. Forwards Amu Saaka and Orane Chin were also granted releases after the 2007-08 season.

Had Holmes transferred to another Division I program, he would have needed to sit out another season, but the junior college route allows him to play this season, earn an associate of arts degree and transfer back to a Division I program with two years of eligibility remaining.

Posted by Greg Auman at 10:37:16 AM on May 9, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former St. Pete Catholic and USF basketball player Aaron Holmes, one of six Bulls to be granted a release in the past year, is transferring to Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville.

"He's looking for a fresh start, and we're excited to have him," said SFCC coach Chris Mowry, whose team has won its conference in each of the last two seasons. "I hope he can have a pretty big (role) for us, can be a player who can score in double figures. Obviously he's had a tough two years for his college experience."

Holmes signed with Florida State out of St. Pete Catholic, but transferred to USF after one semester, sitting out a year as required by NCAA rules. He had a promising start with the Bulls, totaling 33 points in back-to-back nonconference games, but never found a role in Big East play under coach Stan Heath. Holmes totaled just 30 points in 18 conference games, playing one minute or less in eight of the last nine games.

"He didn't get to play a lot, and Aaron felt like he wasn't part of their future plans, although I don't think that was ever expressed to him by the coaches there," Mowry said.

Holmes could not be reached for comment. None of the Bulls leaving Heath's program have gone to major-conference programs; forward Zaronn Cann played at Division II Eckerd this past season, and guard Dante Curry transferred in December to Georgia State. Guard Solomon Bozeman signed with Arkansas-Little Rock and will sit out next season, with two years of eligibility remaining. Forwards Amu Saaka and Orane Chin were also granted releases after the 2007-08 season.

Had Holmes transferred to another Division I program, he would have needed to sit out another season, but the junior college route allows him to play this season, earn an associate of arts degree and transfer back to a Division I program with two years of eligibility remaining.

Comments

from the big east to the parking lot

This is one of the biggest jokes! Goes from being the man in high school to not accepting his role at two colleges so far, how many more colleges is he going to go thru? Next year we are going to be reading about him transferring to St Pete college because Sante Fe was "too far away from home" This is a kid who needs to realize that he's not going to the NBA and that he just needs to play somewhere to get his free education!

What a joke. I agree with 11:11
This guy is terrible.
Congrats to coach Heath for cleaning out all the trash in his program!

[sad]

Who didn't see this coming? Another SPC washout.

I'm just wondering how many actual college credits this kid has and what his GPA is? In twl years of college i would bet the ranch on him having under 15 total credits!

In some cases, an "I told you so" just seems so appropriate.

[joe hillman]

i'm surprised this guy can get dressed in the morning. he can't make up his mind on anything. i bet this guy just drives waitresses wild, changing his order every three or four minutes.

how many times did he transfer from st. pete catholic only to come back at the last moment?

be a man, sack up and live up to your commitment(s) son!

he was never that good at SPC. that is what happens when you play the private school schedule and don't play anyone. nobody knows how good you really are! clearwater ran him off the court when they played him. he is a low level d1 or a d2 player give up the dream and get a free degree in the time of a bad economy. or keep playing the dream that your going to be a proffessional and you will end up playing at greenwood rec with darrell "pop" williams

ouch!!!!

Wow....is a 'fresh start' like a coach who resigns to 'spend more time with his family'? This is beyond sad....and pathetic. Let this be a lesson in being too big for your britches...or what goes around comes around....at least he can hopefully get a college education along the way.

Time and time again we see the results of all of the hype of these kids.....maybe we should leave them alone and let them play their sport and then move on to college. Does anyone else notice that for the most part, the kids that do the best when they go to college are the ones who did not get all of the attention...so they have the freedom to screw up a little and then bounce back without being in the media spotlight. These kids are too young to have all of this attention...when they get to the world of college they cannot handle having coaches tell them what to do, teachers not caring that they are big stars, and no one bailing them out like they did in high school. Some kids, gasp! are just not cut out for the rigors of college life and academics, and some kids are woefully unprepared for it when they get there.

this is the problem with athletes..they excel in high school and have dreams of going pro and forget about the opportunity of a free education...people this is what it is all about..take the financial pressure off your parents and get a degree and go out and get a real job...your chances of going to the Pro's are like winning the lottery...get a crip..in the last ten years, how many athletes have gone pro in Pinellas county..that should be a lesson to everyone...get the free education dummy

This also shows the state of basketball in Pinellas county-just not that good compared to the rest of the country and even the rest of the state.

[joe]

you are such an idiot, 6:23. Pinellas County has had a representitive or two in the state final four the past five years. How can you say Pinellas County does not compare to the rest of the state?............ Holmes is not that good and was not that good in high school. If he does not get playing time at a particular school he just pouts, walks off or gets kicked off and looks somewhere else. That's why he went to SPC, he was not going to get that much playing time at Clearwater his freshman or sophomore year.