'09 FL TE Gabe Holmes (Purdue Verbal)

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'09 FL TE Gabe Holmes



Tight End
Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas

Ht: 6-foot-4.5
Wt: 210 lbs
Forty time: 4.91 secs
Class: 2009 (High School)

Scout $

4/30

Rutgers have offered, joining Ole Miss, USF, Syracuse, and FIU. Still waiting for offers from Virginia or Florida.

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St. Thomas receiving trio getting college attention - 06/11/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

The most intriguing for college coaches of the St. Thomas receivers this season is Holmes, who initially shied away from football.

Having played basketball all his life, Holmes, a 6-5 man-child, was asked by Raiders football coach George Smith to come out for the football team his freshman season.

The problem with football at the time for Holmes was that the Raiders didn't play their home games in an air-conditioned dome.

''I didn't like football my freshman year,'' Holmes recalled. ``So I ended up quitting to go back to playing basketball. I'm used to air conditioning so out here in the sun I didn't really like it.''

Smith didn't give up in trying to land the athletic tight end.

''Coach Smith showed me what I could have playing football,'' Holmes said. ``A lot of college coaches were calling me every night for football when they found out I came back to football. I wasn't getting too many calls for basketball.''

Holmes played junior varsity his sophomore year after he split the webbing of his right hand.

Last season, his first on varsity, Holmes had a modest seven catches for 72 yards, but he did score three touchdowns.

Despite not filling up the stat sheet in his junior season, Holmes has attracted plenty of attention for having played only one season of high school football.

Florida State, FIU, Ole Miss, Rutgers and South Florida have all shown interest in the former power forward-turned-tight end.

''Gabe Holmes certainly has a great upside to him,'' Smith said.

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SportingNews

Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas TE Gabe Holmes has had the Indiana college high on his list for awhile, and he also reports scholarship offers from South Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Rutgers, among others. He just returned from an official visit to Purdue this past weekend.

“Purdue is on top for me,” Holmes told Sporting News Today. “They throw to the tight end a lot and I know I can play as a freshman there, and that’s what I want to happen. … They say they like my speed with the ball, and they like that I play like a receiver, but I have good size.”

The 6-foot-6, 210-pound target is just beginning to reach his potential, his high school coach said.

“He’s a big target, with much more to go as far as improving,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach George Smith told SN Today. “He never even played until he was a sophomore, he was a basketball player. He has good feet, and he’s going to be real big when he fills out.”

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ESPN - Gabe Holmes Rankings, Grade, News, Stats - College Football Recruiting 2009

Gabe Holmes, a 6-foot-6 tight end from St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), has decided to play for Purdue.

The 10th commitment for the Boilermakers, Holmes also drew offers from South Florida, Rutgers, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Troy and Florida International.