USC’s Khaled Holmes is finalist for SI’s college athlete of year

Former USC football player Khaled Holmes is a finalist for Sports Illustrated’s award for college athlete of the year.

Holmes, profiled last October in The Times, earned an undergraduate degree in classics and a masters in communication management.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound center was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of last month’s NFL draft.

Sports Illustrated will choose two athletes -- one female and one male -- as winners May 22 and feature them in the magazine’s May 27 issue. The award will recognize athletes “who have achieved athletic distinction and have had an outsized impact in the classroom or in their communities,” Sports Illustrated said in a statement announcing the finalists.

The women’s finalists are Oregon’s Liz Brenner (who has competed in volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field), Louisiana State’s Kimberlyn Duncan (track and field), Baylor’s Brittney Griner (basketball), North Carolina’s Loren Shealy (field hockey) and Northwestern’s Taylor Thornton (lacrosse).

The men’s finalists are Holmes, Michigan’s Trey Burke (basketball), Cornell’s Kyle Dake (wrestling), St. Cloud State’s Drew LeBlanc (ice hockey) and Duke’s Tyler Thornton (basketball).

Profiles of the finalists can be viewed at SI.com.

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