Gone.

Cecilia Jeffries isn't afraid to admit it. Being the IU basketball fan she is, Jared Jeffries' mom had some part of her that wanted her son to stay Hoosier and lead IU on another NCAA tournament run. But now she knows that won't happen. \nLike most IU fans, Cecilia knows the Hoosiers will miss her son.\n"I love Indiana basketball and yeah, I'd love to see him stay, but that's my selfish reasons," Cecilia said Monday.\nMike Davis said this was coming, and he was ready for it. Now, with Jeffries announcing his decision to forgo his final two years of eligibility, Davis will have to begin to figure out a way to limit the damage done. \nJeffries led the Hoosiers with 15 points and seven rebounds per game this season. Just as important, his ability to pass out of double teams created open shots for Dane Fife, Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby. Throughout the year, even as the Hoosiers were breaking the school records for attempted and made three-pointers, Davis repeatedly said IU was built around Jeffries. \nNow, that presence is gone.\nThe silver lining is the way Jeff Newton finished his junior year. Newton played well for most of the second half of the season and culminated his run with a career-high 19 points against Oklahoma in the Final Four. Next year as a senior, Newton figures to be a regular starter for the first time in his career at IU.\nNow that Jeffries is gone along with Jarrad Odle and Fife, the Hoosiers lose two starters in the frontcourt and Fife in the backcourt. IU has a number of guards to fill spots at the guard positions, but George Leach will need to step up in the frontcourt and become a regular starter as a junior next year.\n"Jeff and George will have to step up," Jeffries said. "I know Jeff and George will step up next year. Both of those guys are really good players."\nMike Roberts missed this season after suffering a stress fracture in his right leg in October. Until then, the Hoosiers were raving about how much he had improved and penciled him into the regular rotation. Next year Roberts will be a sophomore and will be expected to have the presence that Odle had.\nSean Kline, who was red-shirted this year as a freshman, has a style that is also similar to Odle's. Some of the Hoosiers have even joked that Kline is Odle's younger brother. \nDaryl Pegram will be a freshman at IU next year and has the same body style as Jeffries but is very skinny. He will probably be red-shirted in order to give his body more time to develop. \nNone of these players had the presence of Jeffries though. The Hoosiers will miss that.\n"It's a big blow. He was their reliable scorer on the front line," recruiting analyst Mike Sullivan of Rivalhoops.com said. "Certainly the backcourt will be the strength and the Hoosiers will be more backcourt oriented."\nJeffries is the second player in two years to leave IU early. Kirk Haston left last season after his junior year and was the 16th pick by the Charlotte Hornets in last year's NBA draft. \nDavis said having players leave early would cause him to change the way he recruits. Now he will have to expect some players to leave early. Jeffries said Monday that it will be a challenge similar to the one schools like Duke have every year.\n"Duke does a good job," Jeffries said. "If you're able to recruit the players like that, you don't rebuild, you reload."\nCecilia Jeffries doesn't want to see the Hoosiers without her son, but all IU fans will have to. Davis and the Hoosiers will probably have to see a change in their philosophy and attack teams from the outside.\nEither way, Jeffries said IU will be fine without him.\n"Coach Davis has always said 'No one person is bigger than Indiana basketball,' and that includes me," Jeffries said. "I'm not leaving the program empty handed. They have one of the best coaching staffs in the country, and with the players returning and those coming in, IU will again compete for a national title"