April 12, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team put together a memorable campaign both on the court and in the classroom during the 2011-12 season, and head coach Mike Brey took a moment midway through the team’s annual awards banquet Wednesday evening to recognize a key individual in attendance, who worked tirelessly with the squad’s student-athletes and staff to ensure the program performed at the highest possible level all year long.
To honor Pat Holmes for outstanding contributions to the academic performance of the men’s basketball team, as well as countless other Monogram winners over the course of his career, Brey surprised the long-time Notre Dame director of academic services for student-athletes with an honorary Monogram on the Purcell Pavilion stage. Brey presented the award alongside Monogram Club president Dick Nussbaum (’74, ’77).
Under Holmes’ leadership, the men’s basketball team in four of the last six years (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2011-12) earned a perfect score (1,000) for the APR (Academic Progress Rate) and a perfect score (100) in the GSR (Graduation Success Rate) reports.
“There is not a more important person on our staff, team, or basketball family than Pat Holmes,” Brey said. “He’s a good friend to our guys, he’s a motivator, a counselor, a therapist, a shoulder to cry on, a guy to kick them in the backside. He does a little bit of everything. We couldn’t have the glowing graduation rate that our program has without all that he does.”
Holmes was shocked by the surprise presentation, but quickly thanked the audience before rejoining his wife, Tish, daughters, Mary Kate and Kielty, and son, Patrick (a senior Notre Dame men’s basketball manager), who were all in on the act.
Holmes was appointed Reese Carol LaBar Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes at Notre Dame in January of 2003. He and his staff provide counseling, guidance and tutoring for more than 700 student-athletes. Holmes serves as the primary counselor for the men’s basketball and women’s tennis programs.
Prior to his appointment, he was a counselor for five years in the office. During that time, he also worked with the men’s swimming, men’s tennis, fencing, softball, rowing and football teams.
Under Holmes’ direction, Notre Dame student-athletes have achieved unprecedented success. During the past nine years, 69 student-athletes have earned Academic All-America recognition (more than any other University), including men’s basketball first team selections Chris Quinn (’06) and Tim Abromaitis (’10). The 2008-09 school year saw eight student-athletes garner Academic All-America honors, while four individuals were awarded NCAA Postgraduate scholarships, the most ever in an academic year.
Holmes received his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Notre Dame in 1979. Following graduation, he served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and taught at the high school level. He then spent eight years as director for the Higher Achievement Program (HAP), a supplemental educational program for gifted students in the poorest neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. His responsibilities included developing and directing HAP’s Follow Through Program, which helped place students into academically challenging educational programs and supported them once they were enrolled.
— ND —