Here’s what he told Chris Korman of the H-T/Hoosier Scoop:

Question: Can you say what prompted the outburst? Do you know?

Crean: I don’t know. I would say not getting the answer that he probably would have liked. It was about taking some time to go through this, but, I’ve seen now, this was totally part of an orchestration. It just was. I don’t have a lot of respect for that. I like Eli and I wish him well. I really do. In the short time we were with him, I liked him. But I don’t have a lot of respect for the way that it turned out.

Question: Did you put any conditions on Eli’s release?

Crean: No, not really. But it’s all sort of starting to play out, isn’t it?

It’s not often you hear a coach speak on the record like this, but I’m actually glad Crean stood up and put his feelings out there. And I must agree with his comment that called the transfer orchestrated. It’s certainly no coincidence that Holman ended up at Detroit. If Ray McCallum actually thought he was doing Eli a favor by bringing him to Detroit, he’s more worried about his immediate success in his new job than he is concerned for the kid. You can sense a bit of frustration in Crean’s comments and that likely comes from the fact that Holman gave the impression he wanted to stay at IU and then called a meeting out of nowhere to tell him he was leaving. Then just a few days later, he finds out he’s going to play for McCallum. I think we can all put the pieces together here.

Eli Holman confirmed his enrollment at UDM in a text message Tuesday to his high school coach, Robert Collins. “He’s an NBA player,” said Collins, the former coach at Richmond, Calif. “I think he can do a lot of good there.”

Nothing against the big man from Richmond, but I really wouldn’t call him an NBA player at this point. Potentially? Perhaps. But he’s got a long way to go before the NBA would even enter the discussion. And Detroit isn’t exactly a hotbed for producing players for the next level, either. Good luck Eli, we hardly knew ye.

Update: Detroit has issued a press release with some quotes from Eli and McCallum. Holman is the second former Hoosier to land with McCallum in the past couple of weeks as Xavier Keeling will also be a Titan. Here’s a couple of quotes:

Ray McCallum: “I’m really happy that Eli made the decision to come to UDM. I think me having been at Indiana and recruiting him was a big reason why he went there and he had a great opportunity there. But when you’re involved in a young man’s life for two years, you obviously build a relationship that he cared about and respected and he wanted it to continue. With his size, he’s an athletic player who can finish around the basket, he can block shots, he rebounds, he has good hands, he’s a good runner. I think the next phase for him is to continue to grow as a player in our practices. I’m glad he’s here with us.”

Eli Holman: “I want to thank the University of Indiana for the time that I spent there. I was treated fairly by all the people connected to the University. But, at this time, I think that it is in the best interest for me and my family to transfer to the University of Detroit Mercy. I wish the University of Indiana the best of luck. Coach Mac is a big reason why I’m here. He recruited me out of high school, and he’s been like a father figure to me. I think he’ll make an impact on the University. He’s going to put some more (championship) banners up in the arena and he’s going to get us to the NCAA Tournament. I want to help him do that. I found out right away there are some great people on this campus. I’m very comfortable with my choice.”

Note to Eli (because it obviously didn’t resonate in the year he spent in Bloomington), it’s Indiana University. That is all.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – ­ Indiana Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Crean announced today that junior DeAndre Thomas has been dismissed from the program and will not have his scholarship renewed. In addition, sophomore Armon Bassett will not be reinstated for failing to comply with University and Athletic Department guidelines. Junior Jamarcus Ellis also will not be reinstated to the active roster. Both Bassett and Ellis were originally dismissed from the program on March 31. Crean also announced on Thursday that freshman Eli Holman could not return next season.

“Before you build a team, you need to develop a family,” said Crean. “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.”

“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,” added Crean. “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.”

New Indiana coach Tom Crean will be down to three returning scholarship players and eight players in all for next season once the school officially announces the departures of four Hoosiers later Friday afternoon, a high-ranking Indiana source told ESPN.com.

Sophomore Armon Bassett and junior Jamarcus Ellis, who had appealed their suspensions by former interim coach Dan Dakich, were dismissed from the program. Junior forward DeAndre Thomas will also not return and neither will freshman Eli Holman, who has elected to transfer after a meeting Thursday that required a call to campus police when Holman became agitated.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. More later today after we’re able to wrap our collective brains around this mess. For now, I’ll just say: Thank you Kelvin Sampson. Not.

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. I appreciate everything Indiana University and Coach Crean have done for me and I hope nothing but the best for the program in the future.

Pretty milquetoast stuff. And we still have absolutely no idea what got Eli so riled up in the first place. Thirty Five Seconds has a pretty decent hypothesis — that Crean maybe, just maybe, questioned Holman’s manhood for abandoning the program in its hour of need — but since that hypothesis is untestable, best to leave it alone. Who knows, right?

Regardless, it’s unfortunate Eli isn’t going to get to pursue his potential here. He seems like a good kid, and would have been a lot of fun to watch. And I hate potted plants anyway.

IU Media Relations Director J.D. Campbell released the following statement from Crean just a short time ago:

TOM CREAN STATEMENT ON ELI HOLMAN

We met with Eli Holman this afternoon. He had a good meeting with our assistant coaches earlier in the day. I felt like he still was not sure whether or not he wanted to be here which surprised me because everything we have seen from him had been very positive in terms of staying at Indiana and moving forward. I have no idea what made him change his mind and arrive at this point. He indicated that he would like to leave Indiana, although I was hopeful that we could work through this situation to come to an arrangement we both were comfortable with and to take some time to make a decision.

The conversation was very cordial but unfortunately, it did not end that way. His behavior took me, along with the other people in the office, by surprise. We saw him as a danger to himself and wanted to take precautionary measures to help him. We felt bad for Eli and hopefully were able to help him.

I do not anticipate Eli being back at Indiana. We will do our best to help him move forward and wish him well.

Add this to the list of bizarre events that have transpired over the past seven months in Bloomington. Holman had the potential to be a very good player at Indiana, but that looks to be totally out of the picture at this point. Best of luck to Eli and let’s be thankful that nothing more serious transpired in this situation.

Elsewhere:

• Police dispatched to calm angry Holman (Indiana Daily Student)
• Player’s frustration boils over (Indianapolis Star)

Decision time: Former Richmond High center Eli Holman is still undecided on whether he will transfer from Indiana. Holman will make a decision by the end of next week, said Hashim Ali, founder of Holman’s AAU team.

At the time of Tom Crean’s hiring, Holman said he planned to return to California and would have a decision shortly. And with his participation in recent workouts, the assumption was that he would indeed return. However, this blurb leads one to believe that Eli is still contemplating his future. After everything Eli went through to get himself to this point (the shooting, the eligibility dispute last fall and his wrist injury), it’d be a shame to see him play out his college career elsewhere.

Indiana’s players were all over the board when asked about their future at IU. All of them said they want to wait until a new coach is named and they could meet with that coach.

Two in particular — junior college transfers Jamarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas — indicated they plan to be back next season. Freshman center Eli Holman also thought he would be back. But Armon Bassett, Jordan Crawford and Brandon McGee all said they needed time to sort everything out before deciding.

Ellis said he didn’t feel comfortable talking about what anyone else on his team would do.

“I can only speak for myself, and I’m just looking forward to getting to know the new coach, whoever that may be, and getting in the gym and working hard, because I have a lot of things I can do better in my game,” Ellis said.

Crawford said he plans to see what comes about with a new coach.

That was about the best quote Jamarcus could have given. If he has that attitude going into next season and buys into the new coach, expect him to return to the stat-stuffing player we all loved early on. As far as the other players go, if Indiana makes the right hire, I think everyone will be back. In my view, Bassett is the most important piece to keep in Bloomington. He is on track to develop into an All-Big Ten player and he’s a big piece of the puzzle if IU hopes to field a team capable of making the NCAA Tournament next season (assuming the NCAA doesn’t drop the hammer in June).

One other thing that impressed me was how unselfish the team was with the ball. There were signs of a structured offense and the Hoosiers had a season low 10 turnovers. And by the way, if you have any pictures of Eli Holman in his red suit, please send them our way. PostmanE is Eli’s biggest fan.

- One of the more exciting games of the weekend took place at Freedom Hall in Louisville as former Indiana coach Mike Davis and the UAB Blazers beat Kentucky, 79-76. With his team down 12 at the half, Davis had this to say to his team: “I told our guys at halftime that we’re 15 points better than this (UK) team.”

Led by former IU guard Robert Vaden, the Blazers outscored Kentucky by 15 points in the second half in what was basically a home game for the Wildcats. Vaden put on a ridiculous shooting display in the second half with six three-pointers and finished with 33 points. Vaden looks to be about 20 pounds lighter than he was the last time we saw him in a Hoosier uniform. Thanks for beating Kentucky, fellas.

- And finally, Purdue had a nice win over Louisville in the Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse. Louisville might be the most disappointing team in the country so far this season as they were a trendy preseason pick to end up in San Antonio. That’s what injuries (David Padgett and Juan Palacios) and a knucklehead (Derrick Caracter) will do to a team.

On the Boilermaker side of things, I’m really impressed with the play of the two kids from Valpo, Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin. Both guys are surprisingly polished for freshmen and will be very good four year players for Matt Painter in West Lafayette. Not that I’d ever cheer for Purdue, but it’s good to see both the Hoosiers and the Boilers heading in the right direction. It’ll only make for a better rivalry.

On the status of Eric Gordon:

“Eric has been good in practice this week. I fully expect him to play. He had not done anything to break a sweat since Monday night (vs. Tennessee State). I don’t think he went full court Tuesday; yesterday he went full court pretty good. It is just a matter of time. There were no broken bones. It was more discomfort and a really, really deep contusion. I think the more muscular you are, the more those hurt you.”

On the overall team effort in practice this week:

“Jordan, Jamarcus, all our guys, everybody has been practicing well. It will be interesting to see how we practice today and tomorrow because we have not worked on Western Carolina at all. But we will today. Coach Meyer has the scouting report. We will go over that today and break them down and see if we can’t play better Saturday.”

On the status of Eli Holman:

“I can tell you that he hurt his wrist. I don’t know (how bad the injury is). I know he went to get it x-rayed and it was not broken. But there may be some ligament damage in there. It is in a brace. We went early yesterday, I think it was 12:30, and it was toward the end. I worked him out individually before practice started for about 45 minutes, just he and I. And he had a really good practice. I didn’t see the play. I know that after practice Tim (Garl) took him to the hospital and then Tim text me after to say it is not broken but thought he had some ligament damage. We just have to wait and see how serious it is.”

On the suspension of Armon Bassett:

“Game to game. We’ll see. He had got some work to do. He won’t play Saturday and we will just have to wait to see about the following Saturday.”

On whether or not A.J. Ratliff will play on Saturday:

“Depends on if he gets his classes in. He has a lot of stuff that has to be in. The academic part of it, through the NCAA and forces that be up on campus with the registrar and get all his grades recorded, we just have to wait on that. You know, I talked to our academic people a long time this morning. I would be the wrong guy to try and explain that.”