The traditional script for standout high school two-sport student-athletes goes something like this: the individual excels in both domains their first three years, then devotes their sole attention to the sport in which they are being most heavily recruited to play at the collegiate level during their last season. This is often the final time the secondary sport is ever played competitively by the NCAA-bound student-athlete.
The journey of Jesse Holmes flips that script on its back as the former wide receiver goes from catching deep passes to making layups for the Chico State Wildcats.
“He’s just a stud of a guy,” said Greg Clink, Chico State men’s basketball head coach.
Holmes’ story starts out like any other exceptional high school student-athlete. Prepping across the street at Chico High, Holmes blazed his way past opposing secondaries on the football field as a wide receiver, becoming the Northern Section’s all-time leader in receptions (189) and receiving yards (3,436) by the time he graduated in 2013.
However, when the weather got colder and the seasons changed, Holmes stayed hot, pouring in 1,133 points throughout three seasons of leading the Panthers to a 75-13 record on the basketball court. He was named the Northern Section’s MVP as a junior in 2012 while averaging 17.9 points per game.
Jason Alvistur, Holmes’ high school varsity football head coach, recalls watching Holmes grow from a first-year player into the person he is today. Alvistur knew he had something remarkable on his hands all those years ago.
“We moved [Holmes] to JV as a freshman,” Alvistur said. “I remember watching him practice for the first time and marveling how smooth he was and how he caught everything.”
Clink and his staff were quite excited about Holmes when he was staring across the street at Chico High. They didn’t hesitate to send an offer to Holmes.
“Not only was he a great player, but he was a great guy and a great student,” Clink said.
Yet with numerous scholarship offers to play both collegiate sports at the Division I level, such as Pepperdine and Sacramento State for basketball and many Mountain West Conference schools for football, Holmes ultimately decided to sign with the Air Force to play football.
Holmes spent a year at the Air Force Academy Prep School before returning home after suffering from injuries and for personal reasons.
“I knew I wanted something different out of college,” Holmes said. “It was just hard some days to be in the military and put on the uniform.”
He landed at Butte College where he spent a redshirt year on the football team. Around Christmas time last year, Clink recalled hearing rumblings that Holmes was back in town.
In the spring, Clink received word from local yoga instructor Rex Stromness that Holmes was working with him toward returning to form. Stromness relayed to Clink that the former Chico High standout was interested in changing his game.
“We didn’t really recruit him the second time around,” Clink said. “I hadn’t seen him play basketball in two years but I knew what type of high school player he was and the thing that really attracted me to him was the kind of person that he is. He is the epitome of the kind of person we want in our program.”
Now, back home playing for the Wildcats, Holmes finds himself as a 21-year-old first-year with four years of eligibility remaining. He is also the only home-grown player on the ‘Cats’ 16-man roster.
According to Clink, his presence will only yield more interest and support from the local community.
“Everybody knows him,” Clink said. “He comes from a big family with a lot of roots in Chico. It’s always good to have a local player on your team because it creates interest. It ties our program even stronger to the community.”
The ‘Cats coach has six guards with at least one year of experience at his disposal this winter led by junior Robert Duncan, a First Team All-California Collegiate Athletic Association selection last season.
Clink isn’t worried about Holmes earning minutes, he said. Holmes is still getting back into the swing of things after over a two-year hardwood hiatus.
“He is very realistic with himself and I think he does a good job of self-evaluating where he’s at, which is tough for a lot of guys,” Clink said.
Conditioning has also been a change for Holmes, since there is a monumental difference between being in elite football shape compared to its basketball counterpart.
“He’s going to have opportunities but he’s going to have to be patient for those opportunities,” Clink said. “He’s going to end up having a great career here if he keeps doing what he’s doing.”
Fellow Wildcats Duncan and sophomore guard Tyler Harris, also spent a year in Colorado Springs at the Air Force Academy Prep School, but none of the trio was there concurrently. Duncan is a 2011 high school graduate, while Harris graduated in 2012 and Holmes in 2013, respectively.
The two elder former Falcons were quick to praise their new teammate.
Holmes has already gained his full confidence on the court, Harris said.
“I can always trust him,” Harris said. “I know he’s always going to be there for me. If he makes a mistake it’ll be when he’s trying to cover for somebody else, not him just being lazy.”
Duncan pointed out that when the team splits up during drills and scrimmages, Holmes always takes it upon himself to match up with the ‘Cats leading scorer from last season.
“Jesse’s competitive spirit is huge and I like that a lot about him,” Duncan said.
With the season now underway, Holmes reflected on the lessons he learned during the past two years. As a mechanical engineering major, it goes without saying that Holmes will be working with his textbooks just as diligently as he will with his teammates on the court.
“I’m just trying to get better in practice and focus on how I can develop that day, just doing the little things to get myself better,” Holmes said.
“You have to earn everything you have. Nothing is given to you. You have to grind and make sure you’re putting in the work to be successful,” he said.
Welcome Holmes, Jesse.
Nick Reddy can be reached at [email protected] or @NickIsReddy on Twitter.
