As we sit two weeks away from Hoosier Hysteria, there’s still no confirmation on whether Eli Holman will be eligible for the upcoming season. T-Hutch from the Indy Star talked about this topic in-depth just over a week ago and since that time, all has been quiet on the Holman front.

Most of the comments I’ve read about Holman seem to indicate that he will qualify and I remember Holman telling Jody Demling of the Louisville C-J back in early August that he’d already been cleared to play. Since that time, we’ve been told that he hasn’t been cleared and in early September he was unable to travel with the team on their trip to the Bahamas.

So the facts are what they are at this point: Eli is in school, attending classes and working out with the team. He is not, however, cleared to play by the NCAA. And Coach Sampson has refused to comment on what will happen if he doesn’t get cleared.

For our purposes, which is to analyze (and do it well by the way), I think its importance to stress how essential to the team’s success it is for Holman to play. Besides being PostmanE’s favorite player, Eli is the second best big on the roster behind D.J. White.

If he is unable to play, our frontcourt goes from looking somewhat deep to somewhat depleted. In the scenario that D.J. gets into foul trouble, it’s going to be very important to have a reliable and capable backup. And that’s exactly what Eli Holman is. He can block shots, rebound and while he is still a bit raw offensively, he can finish when he gets the ball on the block.

This is by far the most important storyline currently going on with Hoosier basketball. The more time that passes with no news, the more anxious all of us will become. Either way, we should know soon enough. Let’s just hope that the news is good for our boy Eli.