Former IU recruit commits to Xavier

Terrell Holloway is staying put.\nHolloway, a senior at Harmony Community School in Cincinnati, will remain in the same city to play collegiate basketball.\nThe class of 2008 recruit, who originally committed to play for IU and Kelvin Sampson, verbally committed to play for Xavier on Tuesday. \nDustin Dow, a Xavier beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote on his NCAA blog that Holloway “said he had planned on transferring to Xavier since he decommitted from Indiana, but that he was trying to keep it quiet until one of Xavier’s players (likely Charles Bronson) transferred out.”\nIn a phone interview Wednesday, Holloway said that wasn’t quite true.\n“It wasn’t so much that I was just trying to keep it quiet, I was just thinking that,” Holloway said. “I made a list of eight schools, but then later in the last couple of days, they (Xavier) kind of just jumped in front \nof everyone.”\nAlthough the Musketeers weren’t a part of Holloway’s top eight teams last week, the point guard cited Xavier’s outstanding graduation rates and head coach Sean Miller as two of the main reasons he chose the Atlantic 10 school over USC, Virginia, St. John’s and IU.\n“I just felt that (Xavier) is the best fit for me,” Holloway said.\nIn January, Holloway said that exact thing about IU, but he now notes the rebuilding process in Bloomington and said there is “a lot of things going on at IU,” and that his original choice might not be the best one for his college career.\nThe 5-foot-11 guard enrolled at Harmony in the fall to improve his academics in hopes of playing Division I basketball next year. When former IU coach Kelvin Sampson revoked a scholarship offer to Bud Mackey, Holloway quickly committed to play for the Hoosiers.\nHolloway signed a letter of intent in November but was able to get his release from IU along with five-star forward Devin Ebanks after Sampson’s contract was bought out.\nUpon the hiring of Tom Crean last week, Hoosier fans had reason to be optimistic that Holloway, also a Marquette recruit, might re-commit to IU and play for Crean.\nCrean will now begin the rebuilding process of the IU program, with at least two scholarships available for the next season. \nDespite losing out on Holloway, Crean has his eyes on one of the next best point guards in the class of 2008, 6-foot-4 Verdell Jones. Jones, a three-star recruit from Champaign, Ill., has recently been offered scholarships from Georgetown and IU and is said to be closely considering Minnesota, Kentucky and Texas. \nIU is also is in the mix for 6-foot-9, 270-pound big man Josh Harrellson of Southwestern Illinois Community College, the same junior college IU senior Lance Stemler attended. Harrellson, who originally committed to Western Illinois, is also considering Kentucky, Purdue, Illinois and St. Louis.\nHarrellson told John Decker of HoosierNation.com on Sunday he was planning on sending his release papers to IU on Monday, which would allow Crean to begin recruiting him.\nDecker said it sounds as if Harrellson will give IU some “serious consideration” and might be the one player IU has the best chance at landing. While the Hoosiers have plenty of open roster spots, Decker said IU should not get “marginal guys” who will fill the roster but use valuable scholarships.\n“Honestly I think IU fans need to be patient; I think it’s just what it is,” Decker said. “Next year is probably going to be a tough year. I think it’s going to be a pretty thin roster.”