July 1, 2009

Charlotte, NC - Kendria Holmes, a junior guard from Charlotte, North Carolina, will be able to play this season for the 49ers after sitting out last season after transferring from Providence College. She will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Holmes earned Big East Conference All-Freshman team honors in 2007 after averaging 7.3 points per game and dishing out 103 assists. She led Providence in scoring as a sophomore with 11.3 points per game and a team-leading 117 assists in 2008. She scored 533 pints and dished out 220 assists with 44 starts in two seasons at Providence. She was the first Providence player in 18 years to record consecutive 100 assists seasons. She scored a career-high 28 points against #11 West Virginia, February 9, 2008. She scored in double-figures 29 times in her two seasons at Providence.

In high school, she starred at Charlotte's Victory Christian. As a senior, she was named SPAA Conference Player of the Year and earned NCISAA All-Sate honors. She was named to the Charlotte Observer All-Observer team as well as to the Charlotte Weekly Super Team as a senior in 2006. She was also named National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) Player of the Year and NACA Outstanding Defensive Player and NACA All-American. As a team captain, she played an integral role in leading Victory Christian to two national, two state and two conference championships.

Holmes recently sat down with the Charlotte 49ers athletic media relations office to talk about her summer.

What are you doing this summer? I am working out, playing basketball and taking classes.

After sitting out last season after transferring from Providence College I bet you are dying to get in a game for the 49ers? Recently while I was playing pick-up, I was talking to one of my teammates and I was telling them that October 15 can't get here soon enough.

Last year, the 49ers won the Atlantic 10 Tournament while you were a member of the team you were not able to play. This season you will actually play for the 49ers and what are you going to do to help the 49ers repeat as A-10 Champs? It was a bitter sweet feeling to be a part of last season championship team but no being able to play in the games. This season, we lost two very good players in Danielle Burgin and Traci Ray but I feel that we will be able to pick up where we left off last season.

What is it like to have two other players (Jaquaria Forney and Epiphany Woodson) on the team from Charlotte? Epiphany and I grew up playing against each other. When we were in high school half the city of Charlotte came to watch us play. I told her when she was thinking of transferring to Charlotte imagine how big the crowds will be like to have us on the same team in college. It is great having two fellow home bodies on the team.

What is your major? Communications with a minor in Women Studies.

What do you want to do for a career? I want to be a sports broadcaster on ESPN. The ESPN Announcer Doris Burke graduated from Providence, so I had a chance to meet with her a few times while I was at Providence. I have an internship offer at ESPNU in Charlotte. I want to have a career in television.

I am sure that you enjoy being at a school that has a chance to win a league championship? When we won the A-10 Championship last season it confirmed that I made a great decision to come to Charlotte. You know that night in and night out that you have a chance to do big things in the A-10.

Your cousin Tonya Phifer was a great player at Charlotte. Are you going to break some of her records? Since Tonya played four years at Charlotte and is the 49ers fourth all-time leading scorer. It may be hard to break that record. My best friend's mom Terri Hemphill Baldwin holds the school record for assists and I tell her all the time that I am going to break her record. My goal is to be the first female athlete in Charlotte history to have a bobble head.

For the fans that have never seen you play can you tell describe your style of play? I bring a lot of excitement. I like to get the ball up and down the court and get everyone involved in the game. I like to have fun out there. We have a lot of athletes on our team and I love to play with athletes.

What classes are you taking this summer? First session I am taking a Communication Theory class. The second session, I am taking a Math Class.

Are you taking a fun trips this summer? In a break from taking classes and working out, I am going to Miami for the Fourth of July weekend. Then, I am going to Ontario, Canada to visit some friends later in the summer.