Elon University head men’s basketball coach Mike Schrage announced the addition of Jonathan Holmes
to his coaching staff on Monday, April 15. Holmes joins the staff as an
assistant coach following an 11-year stint on William & Mary’s
coaching staff.
“I have known Jonathan for a long time dating back to his storied high
school career under his dad J.R. in Indiana,” said Schrage. “There was
certainly a gap in our relationship while he played at UNC and I worked
at Duke, but we recovered it while recruiting in a lot of the same
circles over the years. I have not met anyone who doesn’t greatly
respect him in our profession. I love the experience he brings our
program, especially his familiarity with our conference as Tony Shaver’s
associate head coach at William & Mary. He has enjoyed a lot of
success recruiting the Northeast and Midwest, which are two areas we
will focus on beyond North Carolina and the Southeast. He will be a
great asset to me, our staff and our student-athletes and we’re excited
to welcome Jonathan, his wife Jennifer and his daughters Lillie and Lola
to the Elon Family.”
Holmes joins the Phoenix program after spending the past 11 years at
William & Mary, where he most recently served as the associate head
coach for the past six seasons. During his time with the Tribe, William
& Mary produced four of the program’s nine 20-win seasons, advanced
to the Colonial Athletic Association Championship game on three
occasions and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) twice. In 2015,
the Tribe captured its first CAA regular season championship since 1998.
“I am thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to work for Coach
Schrage and join the Elon family,” said Holmes. “We have been friends
for many years and I love his vision for Elon basketball. He has been
highly successful at some of the nation’s best programs and I look
forward to continuing to learn and grow under his leadership.”
During his tenure with W&M, Holmes helped in developing 22 All-CAA
picks, nine 1,000-point scorers, 13 NABC All-District selections and
seven CAA All-Rookie selections. On his resume, he recruited and
developed Nathan Knight, a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award
finalist, Lou Henson Mid-Major All-American and two-time All-CAA
selection. He also helped develop 2014 CAA Rookie of the Year and
three-time All-CAA selection Omar Prewitt, who finished his career
ranked fifth in scoring (1,831 points) while bringing recent All-CAA
selections Justin Pierce and David Cohn to the Tribe.
Holmes helped the Tribe to three-straight 20-win seasons from 2013-16, a
first at W&M since 1949-51. William & Mary has posted
double-digit conference wins in six consecutive seasons and led the CAA
with 64 total conference victories during that span.
The Tribe offense ranked among the best in the country during Holmes’
tenure. In 2017-18, William & Mary became the first program in NCAA
history to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from
three-point range and 80 percent at the free throw line. The Tribe led
the country in free throw (81.1) and three-point (43.4) percentage.
In overseeing the Tribe’s academics from 2009-12, Holmes saw 15 Tribe
players earn CAA All-Academic Team honors, including a CAA-best and
program-record seven in 2012. Twice over a three-year stretch (2010 and
2012), he helped three of the team’s five starters to the CAA
All-Academic Team. During the fall of 2011, 12 of the Tribe’s 14 players
earned grade point averages of better than 3.0 and the team accumulated
an overall GPA of better than 3.2.
Prior to joining William & Mary, Holmes served as an assistant coach
at the Division II and NAIA levels. Holmes spent two seasons at Francis
Marion in Florence, S.C., and one as an assistant coach and head junior
varsity coach at Montreat College in 2005-06. Montreat compiled a 22-10
mark and won both the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular-season
and tournament titles while reaching the second round of the NAIA
Division II national tournament. Holmes has also served as a counselor
at numerous North Carolina Men’s Basketball Camps, as well as at his own
Jonathan Holmes Basketball Camp in Bloomington, Ind., which started in 2002.
Holmes is a 2003 graduate of North Carolina, where he was a four-year
letterman on the basketball team and graduated with a degree in
communications with a 3.6 grade point average. He played in 76 career
games and recorded nearly a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. A
member of UNC teams that advanced to the 2000 Final Four, appeared in
the 2003 NIT postseason tournament and won both the 1999 Maui
Invitational and the 2002 Preseason NIT, Holmes was named to the 2003
ACC All-Academic Team.
After graduation, Holmes played professionally overseas for two seasons.
He was a member of the Leicester Riders in the British Basketball
League (England) during the 2003-04 season. The following season, Holmes
was a member of the IC Horsens in the Basketligaen Danish League
(Denmark). He averaged 14 points and five assists in helping IC Horsens
to a runner-up finish during the regular season on the way to a
tournament semifinal appearance in 2005.
Growing up in Indiana, Holmes was a four-year varsity starter for his
father, J.R., at Bloomington South High School and capped his career as
the runner-up for Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1999. He was the recipient
of the John Wooden Citizenship Award in 1999, along with being a Nike
High School All-American in the summer of 1998, a McDonald’s
All-American Nominee, a two-time first team All-State honoree and an
Indiana All-Star team honoree.
Jonathan Holmes Added to Elon Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff
