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 By now you probably know that Hoosier Nation and the entire Internet is going crazy about Tom Crean's statement about Eli Holman transferring to Detroit Mercy:
"We were led to believe that this was a family decision and that he
wanted to get closer to home, but now it doesn't look like that's the
way it's going to turn out,'' Crean said. "I don't think there's any
doubt that there was a certain amount of orchestrating going on. It's
disappointing -- very disappointing -- on a lot of fronts.''
So Crean is upset that he was led to believe one thing and then another thing happened....Well, welcome to Ray McCallum's world over the past six months! Look, I don't think it's good that he took a player that IU probably needed next season, but I'm not faulting the guy like everyone else is. In fact, I applaud him for getting his 'revenge'.
As you all remember, McCallum and Dan Dakich were up for the job to replace Kelvin Sampson and it reportedly came down to a meeting with the athletics administration just minutes before the press conference. All the players wanted McCallum to be the coach, but the alumni/boosters (even the anonymous donor) wanted Dakich in there. McCallum had the better coaching track record and was seemingly being groomed to take over the position earlier in the season in case something did happen with Sampson at a time when Dakich was just being brought onto the basketball team. Of course, Dakich got the job. McCallum walked out of his meeting with AD Rick Greenspan disappointed and, I'm guessing, hurt.
So now the season has ended, IU has a new coach and McCallum leaves. Since McCallum helped recruit most of the players it's not unfathomable to think that he would take some of them with him to his new place of employment, is it? I understand that Crean is upset because Holman was giving him answers that led him to believe that he'd be back with the team next season but, as McCallum knows, until you have it in writing....it means nothing.
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9 Comments
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Is this that much different than having Eric Gordon leave Ill to come to IU?
Well, in this case the coach (McCallum) is supposedly orchestrating the movement of the player by having the player tell IU certain things that would make them think he was staying and in the end have him leaving.....with Gordon it was the player who changed his mind and orchestrated his move to a new school.
If Holman had come back from his trip to California and said he was leaving at that time then it would be the same thing. Instead he came back, worked out with the team and the team thought he was staying. So, the team continued to recruit thinking that Holman would be back next season, which is why they are still at least one big man short right now.
it's kind of like IU telling McCallum, "Yeah, the job is yours if anything happens to Sampson" and then not giving him the job at the last minute.
It's also somewhat similar to Crean bringing a couple of Marquette "recruits" to IU. Not exactly as they were just recruits, but there are some parallels there.
Also, did anyone ever think that a reason McCallum didn't get the interim job is because IU knew they were going to hire a new coach at the end of the season? With the players rooting for McCallum it could have been much harder to "push" him out the door as they did Dakich?
Dang, gonna miss out on Ray Mc Jr. Oh well, it's Detroit Mercy. If Holman thinks he is going to make it to the NBA from there, then let him flounder away.
It's a good job for McCallum to build his career back up, but not a place for hopeful NBA prospects.
Good luck with that decision Eli.
I agree that it would have been much harder to push McCallum out and hire a new coach so that is a very valid point.
I think the parallels would be greater with the recruits had they already signed with Marquette.
I think it was more of Holman told Crean that he was wanting to leave to be closer to home. If my geography skills are worthwhile, I dont think that Detroit is much closer to Cali than Bloomington. Let the thug go. He shoulda never been able to step back on the court in his life after he shoved down the ref in a high school game.
It was actually that it seemed that Holman was being coached into saying certain things that was the problem. Holman saying that he was transferring to be closer to home is different than him saying he was transferring to go to Detroit. With the latter, Crean could have denied it and forced Holman to stay.
Everyone knows HS refs are worthless.....you know i'm kidding.
Bottom line is that we don't need him. Might as well let him leave town now instead of later. With him in an IU uni this year, what would he bring us???...an extra win or two? In the end, it wouldn't matter. Let Crean continue to think long term instead of next year. I like how Crean threw in a line about this scenario. His "don't bullshit me" attitude is great.
Pretty funny to hear the NBA argument being made by Indiana fans, whose highest scoring NBA player last year was . . . who? Jared Jefferies? What did he average? 3-4 ppg? You haven't had a good NBA player since Isiah Thomas and Kent Benson.
Meanwhile U-D grad Willie Green is a double-digit scorer for the 76ers.
I don't fault a 19 year old from wanting jump ship from a program that will be underwater for the rest of his college elgibility. McCallum is like family for Holman - so he followed "family" to Detroit. What's so difficult to understand?
Amd so Holman's a thug for shoving a ref as a 16 or 17 year old, but Knight's a hero despite being an adult man and acting like a 9 year old throughout his career?