Holmes Signs Professional Contract to Play in Germany

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) – Carnegie Mellon University's 2025 men's basketball graduate R.J. Holmes signed with the BSW Sixers, a Pro-B League team in Sandersdorf-Brehna, Germany.

During Holmes' final season with the Tartans, he led the team with 9.4 rebounds per contest for the fourth straight season and ranked second best in the University Athletic Association (UAA) while he led the league in defensive rebounds averaging 8.0. He was second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points and ranked 11th in the UAA. Holmes ended the season tops on the team and second in the UAA in field goal percentage converting 54.5% of his shots. He registered the double-digit point mark in 20 contests while he tabbed nine double-double contests. Holmes ended his career ranking fourth all-time in program history with 1,399 points, fourth in rebounding with 856 rebounds and fourth in blocks with 152 for his career. Holmes became the fifth Tartan to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career.

Holmes becomes the sixth player to play professional basketball during recently retired Tartan Head Coach Tony Wingen's coaching career as a Tartan and his seventh overall. Kevin Byrne (1996), Eliot Goren (2005), Nate Maurer (2006), Greg Gonzalez (2008) and Christian Manoli (2014) were the other five Tartans under Wingen to play professional basketball. Bary Dunn, a 2006 graduate, also competed internationally as he was part of the United States Inaugural Maccabi Australia International Games that competed in Sydney, Australia in 2006, while Matthew Pettit and Shane Rife, both 2011 graduates, also continued their playing careers. Pettit played for the BK Miners club team in Norway and Rife played for the Glasnevin Basketball club team in Ireland.