Notre Dame Transfer CJ Holmes Walks On at Penn State

Former Notre Dame running back CJ Holmes has walked on at Penn State, according to a report by Lions247. He will have to sit out the 2018 season due to NCAA transfer rules.

Holmes was spotted at Penn State’s Lift for Life event on Saturday in Holuba Hall, but has yet to be added to the team’s official roster. He played in eight games as a true freshman in South Bend last season, finishing with eight carries for 32 yards.

Holmes, a four-star recruit from Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, enrolled at Notre Dame in January 2017. A former lacrosse player from Hamden, Conn., he will have three years of eligibility left beginning in 2019.

Head coach Brian Kelly dismissed Holmes and teammate Kevin Stepherson from the program after the pair was charged with shoplifting from a Macy’s in Mishawaka, Ind., on Dec. 15. Neither played in the team’s 21-17 Citrus Bowl win over LSU.

Holmes earned a scholarship offer from the Nittany Lions in high school, when Penn State recruited him as a wide receiver.

If he stays at running back, he joins a group that features Miles Sanders, Mark Allen, Journey Brown, Johnathan Thomas, and Ricky Slade.