Holmes Won’t Seek Fifth Year

The father of Harvard-Westlake High football standout Alex Holmes said Monday he is leaning toward sending his son to college or a prep school next year.

Mike Holmes said last month he planned to request a hardship waiver from the Southern Section for his son to obtain a fifth year of athletic eligibility. But the elder Holmes now concedes that being granted a waiver is unlikely.

Alex Holmes, 6 feet 4 and 300 pounds, who is in his fourth year of attending high school and playing varsity football, transferred from La Jolla High last year.

Holmes’ parents considered seeking a fifth year of eligibility for Alex because he missed several months of the seventh grade with illness.

But Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said a student has no grounds for a waiver if he attends eight continuous semesters of high school.