Holman Headed to Detroit

Eli Holman is reuniting with former IU assistant coach Ray McCallum.

Holman announced Wednesday he’ll transfer to Detroit Mercy to play for McCallum, who was named the head coach of the Horizon League program last month. Holman will have to sit out the 2008-09 season and then have four years of eligibility remaining.

“He’s like a godfather to me,” Holman told the San Francisco Chronicle. “My relationship with him is beyond the basketball court.”

The 6-9, 210-pound center announced his intentions to transfer from IU last week. A discussion on the subject with IU Coach Tom Crean ended when Holman became irate and left the men’s basketball office, breaking a potted plant on his way out. The incident resulted in IUPD being called to the scene, although no arrests were made.

Earlier indications were that Holman wanted to transfer closer to his Richmond, Cal., home, and he had reportedly been considering San Francisco, St. Mary’s, Cal and San Jose State. But in the end, Holman decided to reunite with McCallum.

Holman will have to sit out next season, marking the fourth consecutive year he’s spent the majority of the basketball season on the sidelines. He served a 14-month suspension in high school for shoving a referee, which ended his junior year prematurely and kept him off the court for his senior season. He then played sparingly in six games for IU this fall before being sidelined with a wrist injury.

Holman is one of four players who have left the IU program recently. Shortly after the season concluded interim coach Dan Dakich dismissed Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis, and Crean recently announced neither would be reinstated. Crean also announced junior DeAndre Thomas wouldn’t have his scholarship renewed.

Those departures leaves IU with only three returning scholarship players – Jordan Crawford, Brandon McGee and Kyle Taber. Indiana has signed five players in the ’08 class (Matt Roth, Tom Pritchard, Nick Williams, Devon Dumes and Verdell Jones), and has added two walk-ons (Daniel Moore and Kory Barnett).

With two weeks remaining in the spring signing period Crean could still add to IU’s roster. The most likely possibility is 6-10, 210-pound Upper Maryland, Md., product Maurice Sutton. Sutton will be in Bloomington this weekend to compete in the Adidas May Classic AAU event and will make a visit to the IU program as well.

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