4 players to leave Hoosier basketball team

After a tumultuous off-season, the roster of the IU men’s basketball team just got smaller.\nLast Friday, new Hoosier coach Tom Crean denied the reinstatement requests of sophomore guard Armon Bassett and junior guard/forward Jamarcus Ellis and dismissed junior forward DeAndre Thomas from the program. In total, four members of last year’s team left the team last week as freshman center Eli Holman decided to transfer Thursday.\nThe dismissals should put an end to one of the most tumultuous seasons in the history of IU basketball. In total, with graduation, NBA departures and dismissals, 10 players will not return next season.\nAlthough there may be difficulties in the coming season, the decisions were in the best interest of the long-term future of the program, Crean said in \na statement.\n“Before you build a team, you need to develop a family,” Crean said in a statement. “We will go through the learning process, feel some growing pains and experience some bumps in the road along the way. We need the Hoosier Nation to rally around this program as we go through these stages.”\nBassett and Ellis were dismissed from the team by former interim coach Dan Dakich for skipping a morning running session the players were to attend as punishment for missing a team meeting. The release did not give a specific reason for dismissing Thomas from the team.\nHolman decided to transfer on Thursday. In a meeting with Crean, Holman lost his temper and threw a potted plant against the wall. Police were called to Assembly Hall, but no arrests were made.\nHolman released a statement through IU director of media relations J.D. Campbell apologizing to Crean and Hoosier fans.\n“Last night and this morning I had the opportunity to apologize to Coach Crean and today I would like to extend that to everyone involved in the program for allowing my frustrations to get the best of me,” Holman said in a statement. “I appreciate everything Indiana University and Coach Crean have done for me and I hope nothing but the best for the program of the future.”\nNone of the players have made their future plans public.\nCrean said that he wants players who respect wearing the Indiana jersey, even if the team’s success next season is limited.\n“Our staff if going to ensure that anyone who attends this University and wears the Indiana uniform will make this privilege among their highest priorities and not treat the opportunity as an entitlement,” Crean said in \na statement.\nThe four remaining Hoosiers – freshmen Jordan Crawford, Brandon McGee and Brett Finkelmeier and senior Kyle Taber – will be joined by a four-man recruiting class and two walk-ons next season.\nRegardless of who is on the team, Crean said that there will be high expectations on and off the court.\n“We fully expect our student-athletes to accept the responsibilities academically, athletically and socially that come with representing one of the top programs in college basketball history,” Crean said in a statement.