Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Associate Vice President & Director of Athletics Dr. Lee McElroy has announced the addition of James Holmes as an assistant men’s basketball coach. He will aide eighth-year head coach Mark Gilbride.
A native of Latham, New York, Holmes joins the Engineers following three years as an assistant coach at Oswego State, where he was the program’s recruiting coordinator, scouting director and academic coordinator. In addition, he was heavily involved in player/skill development, film breakdown, operations, fundraising and community service. He was also the co-director of the Oswego State Summer Youth Basketball Camps.
During his tenure with the Lakers, which spanned 2018-21, the team was 43-14 overall and 27-9 in the SUNYAC. The 2018-19 squad was 24-6 and finished first in the conference (15-3) before winning the league tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Oswego won 19 games the following season (19-6) and advanced to the SUNYAC Tournament Final. Five student-athletes earned All-Conference and two were named All-Region in his time in Central New York.
Prior to Oswego, Holmes was on the coaching staff at SUNY Oneonta for three seasons, including one year as a student assistant and two as a graduate assistant. The Red Dragons played in back-to-back SUNYAC Tournament Championship games (2017, 2018) for the first time in school history and four players were named All-League.
Holmes earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 2016 and a Master’s in school counseling in 2018, both from Oneonta.
A graduate of Shaker High School, where he played basketball and baseball, he comes from a family lineage of basketball coaches. His father, Jeff, coached the boys’ varsity team at Shaker for more than 25 years; his uncle, Steve Holmes, was a college coach at SUNY Geneseo and Salisbury University in the 1990s-2000s; and his grandfather, Ray Holmes, was a long-time high school boys’ coach in the Plattsburgh and Potsdam areas. Also an athletic administrator, Ray Holmes is a member of multiple Athletic Halls of Fame.
https://rpiathletics.com/news/2021/11/3/holmes-named-assistant-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
