IU Coach Tom Crean announced Monday that freshman forward Luke Fischer has withdrawn from IU and ended his affiliation with the men's basketball program.
"Luke has decided to withdraw from Indiana and pursue another educational and basketball opportunity," Crean said. "He explained to us he is looking for a different fit for him. We hate to see a fine young man like Luke leave, but he has made his decision and we wish the entire Fischer family well."
The Germantown, Wis., native - a four-star recruit in IU's 2013 recruiting class - had appeared in each of the Hoosiers' 13 games this season, playing an average of 10 minutes per game. He averaged 2.8 points per game, also contributing 27 rebounds and 11 blocks in his brief IU career.
The loss of Fischer leaves IU with only three players who check in at 6'9 or taller: sophomores Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin and freshman Noah Vonleh.
Crean said the news of Fischer's departure did not take him completely off-guard.
"He just told us this morning, at 10 o'clock this morning, that he wanted to do something different," he said. "It's always, in those type of situations, timing issues can always surprise you, but I can't stand here and say that I was in complete shock. It is what it is. You wish him the best.
The sixth-year coach said the freshman's potential will be the biggest on-court loss for the Hoosiers.
"We'll miss his potential. We'll miss him as a person. He did an outstanding job here academically, he's an outstanding young man, and we move right on.
"The team moves right on, practice moves right on, and we just go"
