Bloomington South's Jonathan Holmes, Jordan Hulls Now Coaching Miami of Ohio, Indiana

Holmes and Hulls played for J.R. Holmes – Indiana’s all-time winningest boy’s high school basketball coach and Jonathan’s father – at Bloomington South. Hulls was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in 2009, and Holmes was the runner-up to Jason Gardner in 1999, graduating as the school’s all-time leader in points and assists.

“He’s someone I’ve obviously watched my whole life going to the South games when I was a kid,” Hulls said on Inside Indiana Basketball. “So that’s really special that I’ll be able to be on the other side and see him in action, as well.”

Holmes grew up roughly five miles from Indiana University and used to hand out game programs with his father at Assembly Hall. Following his freshman year of high school, Holmes said he and his father met with coach Bob Knight to discuss opportunities to play at Indiana.

But Holmes loved ACC basketball as a kid, seeing himself in the mold of point guards Bobby Hurley and Steve Wojciechowski. Despite growing up a Duke fan, Holmes ultimately chose North Carolina.

“It was the opportunity to kind of experience something different, a different part of the country, ACC basketball and obviously it was North Carolina, so it was a hard thing to turn down,” Holmes said. “Coach Knight was great to me and my dad all through the process, but ultimately I felt like Carolina was going to be the better fit for me at the time.”

Holmes played one season under coach Bill Guthridge and three for coach Matt Doherty from 1999-2003, appearing in a reserve role 76 total games and reaching the 2000 Final Four. During summers in college, Holmes returned home to Bloomington, where he trained with Indiana basketball players like Kyle Hornsby, Dane Fife and Tom Coverdale.

Following his career at North Carolina, Holmes played professionally for two seasons in England and Denmark. Growing up a coach’s son, basketball was always a way of life, so Holmes gravitated toward coaching when his playing career was over.

“When I was born, my dad dribbled a basketball out of the delivery room,” Holmes said. “It’s kind of just a part of who you are. It’s the family business, I guess you could say. Obviously as a player, the work ethic piece, the basketball IQ, growing up in the gym. My formative years as a kid were spent at Bloomington South or at gyms all over Indiana, so definitely a major impact on me.”

Holmes' coaching career began at Montreat College, an NAIA school in North Carolina, where was an assistant for one season and won the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. Holmes then spent two seasons at Francis Marion in Florence, S.C. before coaching at William and Mary for 11 years. He was an associate head coach for the final six seasons, which included a Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) regular season title in 2015, the school's first since 1998.

Holmes is now in his first season at Miami of Ohio after three years as an assistant at Elon University, and he’s considered a rising name in the coaching industry. Holmes was named a top-three assistant coach in the CAA by Stadium in 2020 and a top-50 mid-major assistant coach nationally by Silver Waves Media. 

Holmes credits his father, J.R., for influencing his coaching career, and the two try to talk over the phone after each game. And now that Holmes is back in the midwest, his parents will be in attendance at Sunday’s game against Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“For a long time it was player-coach, and now it’s the coach-coach dynamic, but he’s always going to be dad to me,” Holmes said. “I think being a coach’s son, my basketball career as a player and a coach would not be anywhere what it is without him.”