IU recruit Eli Holman, a 6'9 center Kelvin Sampson signed as part of his Eric Gordon-led 2007 class, was grazed by a bullet in a parking lot outside a friend's party late Saturday night, the Contra Costa Times reported this morning.
Holman was seated in the front passenger seat of a Mercedes when bullets were fired at the car. One ended up just inches away from his spine and one settled in his seat's head rest, according to the Times. Obviously, Holman seems very, very lucky to be alive.
This will end Holman's quest for reinstatement into California high school basketball; he was previously appealing a year-long suspension for pushing an official in his junior year. Even if the state board reinstates him, Holman says he does not want to step foot in Richmond - where he plays basketball for Richmond High School and where the shooting occurred - again.
Holman seems to understand the seriousness of the incident:
"I could have been another Terrance Kelly," Holman said. "I can't picture my family like that. Me not being there on my birthday."Kelly was a star football player at De La Salle, who was shot and killed in central Richmond on Aug. 12, 2004, just days before he was to arrive at the University of Oregon on an athletic scholarship.
It might be easy to jump on a kid for an incident like this, especially considering Holman's past on the court, but let's reserve judgment here. By all accounts, it seems like Holman was a victim here (after all, he was SHOT AT), and seems justifiably terrified. It looks like he's going to leave the house as little as possible from here on out; he'll finish his senior year through home-schooling and make no attempt to play basketball until his freshman year at Indiana.
Crazy, crazy stuff.
