Those of you holding out hope that Tom Crean could convince former signees Terrell Holloway and Devin Ebanks to come to Bloomington can give up right about…now.

Holloway has given a verbal commitment to Xavier. The Cincinnati Enquirer has the details:

Xavier received an oral commitment from a fifth incoming freshman for next season while one of its current players prepared to take leave of the program Wednesday.

Point guard Terrell Holloway orally committed to play for the Musketeers Tuesday night, joining a stable of incoming recruits that includes two other guards, bolstering Xavier’s backcourt depth.

Meanwhile, Ebanks has set his list of visits, according to Adam Zagoria of the Zagsblog:

The 6-foot-9 Ebanks, a small forward who is the No. 13 prospect in the Class of 2008, will visit West Virginia this weekend before playing in the Jordan Brand Classic April 19 at Madison Square Garden. Ebanks will then visit Texas the weekend of April 25, Rutgers the weekend of May 2 and Memphis the weekend of May 9, according to his AAU coach, Lawrence McGugins.

“We would decide within that two-week span because the last signing day is May 21,” McGugins said. “It all depends on how he feels. All four visits are a definite.

Ebanks has spoken with new IU coach Tom Crean, but they have not yet met. “Indiana is still in it but they have not met,” McGugins said, adding that Ebanks had no definite plans to meet in person with coach Crean.

If Ebanks ends up anywhere but Memphis, I’ll be shocked (Coach Cal can thank his boy, Worldwide Wes). As far as Holloway goes, he’ll be missed initially for depth reasons but long term there are better options out there in the upcoming classes that IU can hopefully get involved with.

That’s the word, according to Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com. Like Devin Ebanks, Holloway had an agreement with IU to be released from his Letter of Intent if a coaching change was made or the school was placed on NCAA probation. Shortly after he signed with Indiana, I talked with one scout who told me he was skeptical about Holloway’s ability to be an impact player in the Big Ten. According to this scout, Holloway was the fourth most valuable of the signees. I’ve also heard rumblings that Holloway’s jump shot was going to need quite a bit of work. With that said, you never like to lose a player given the circumstances but I’m sure IU will be just fine without the services of Terrell Holloway.

Here is the latest on Indiana’s four signees in the 2008 class – Devin Ebanks, Matt Roth, Tom Pritchard and Terrell Holloway – as well as 2009 commitment Derek Elston.

2008 signees

Devin Ebanks: St. Thomas More Prep is 6-2 on the season. Ebanks had 27 in a 71-63 loss to Massanutten back on November 16. Ebanks also had 25 points in a 85-70 win over Lee Academy in the New England Prep Showcase back on November 17. St. Thomas More returns to action on Wednesday opposite South Kent school at home.

Matt Roth: Roth led Washington to a 83-54 win on Saturday night with 24 points. Roth’s layup started a 14-0 run in that game to give Washington a 45-31 halftime lead. Washington plays again on December 11 at University and hosts Dunlap on December 14.

Tom Pritchard: Pritchard impressed a lot of Indiana fans with 23 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots as St. Edwards beat Campbell Hall 78-73 last Thursday on ESPN2. Pritchard followed that up with 10 points on Friday as St. Edwards beat Western Reserve Academy 58-38. St. Edwards will take on St. Vincent-St. Mary on Friday at home. St. Vincent-St. Mary is the former high school of NBA star LeBron James.

Terrell Holloway: Holloway is playing for Harmony Community school in Cincinnati and told Mike Pegram of Peegs.com that he’s averaging 13 points and 10 assists per game for his 7-1 team.

2009 commitment

Derek Elston: The Tipton Blue Devils are 6-0 and beat Rensselear Central on Saturday night behind 21 points from Elston. Elston shot 7 of 16 in the game, including 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Tipton is ranked No. 4 in Class 2-A. Tipton plays at Westfield, a Class 4-A school on Friday before taking a three week hiatus.

The following is a release from IU Media Relations with Kelvin Sampson’s comments on the 2008 recruiting class:

Opening Statement:
“First thing is that today is National Letter of Intent signing day. We are excited about this entire recruiting class. When you look at the kids we will have returning, DeAndre Thomas, Eli Holman, Brandon McGee, Jordan Crawford, Armon Bassett, Jamarcus Ellis and when you add this class to them, we think we have a chance to remain a contender to play at the top of this league and play for Big Ten championships. That is our goal.

On Matt Roth:
“What I liked about Matt Roth from the first time I saw him was his ability to make contested three’s. A lot of guys can make three’s when they have time to set their feet, but he makes a lot of contested three’s. He has a great moxy about him and a swagger on the court. He is a prolific three-point shooter. He plays in a great program (at Washington (IL) High School) under coach Kevin Brown and his team will compete for a state championship this year. Matt is a tough kid and he has a lot of what I like in a basketball player. He will represent this university in a great way because he is an excellent student and an excellent person and he comes from a great family. With his three-point shooting, when you are as good at one thing as he is the other things tend to get overlooked. But Matt is a great three-point shooter that is improving in every area of his game.”

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The Hoosiers are expected to sign four players in the early signing period, which begins today and runs through Nov. 21, and we’ll also learn where Mt. Vernon (NY) forward Kevin Jones will continue his career.

The four-man class, highlighted by Devin Ebanks, is considered to be one of the top 20 in the nation. That ranking could get a sizable boost if Jones decides to don the candy striped pants. Joining Ebanks in the 2008 recruiting class are guards Matt Roth (pictured) and Terrell Holloway and forward Tom Pritchard.

I’ve fielded some e-mails and I’ve been asked in the comments where Mr. Jones is going and your guess is as good as mine. All of the buzz seems to be centered around Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Indiana. However, Kevin’s brother, Gerard, still mentioned Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. John’s and Massachusetts as possibilities as recently as last week.

The fact is the lid has been kept fairly tight on where Jones will end up. He’s expected to announce his decision at a 2:00 presser at Mt. Vernon.

While I’m very encouraged with a second straight top 20 recruiting haul for Coach Sampson and staff, I’m also left daydreaming on what could have been if Bud Mackey and Tyler Zeller were a part of this class. We’d probably be talking a top three class nationally, but so it goes in the world of recruiting. There’s always next year, right?

So what are your thoughts on this recruiting class? Thrilled? Disappointed? Indifferent? And where is Kevin Jones going to end up? Since I don’t know, can you fill me in?

Related:

• Matt Roth will be a Hoosier
• Ohio forward Tom Pritchard joins 2008 class
• Terrell Holloway picks the Hoosiers
• Scouting report: Devin Ebanks
• Tyler Zeller heading to Tobacco Road
• Bud Mackey arrested on drug charges

The unfortunate situation with Bud Mackey presented an opportunity for another guard to grab a spot in IU’s 2008 recruiting class and Terrell Holloway made a claim to that opening late Monday evening with a verbal to the Hoosiers.

The 6′1″ Holloway, a New York native, was an unknown to most Hoosier fans until a couple of weeks ago when he visited Hoosier Hysteria. Now he’s the newest member of the 2008 class.

I spoke with two recruiting experts, Dave Telep of Scout.com and Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal, to get the scoop on the Cincinnati Harmony guard.

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Indiana has added a fourth member to the 2008 recruiting class and it’s 6′0″ point guard Terrell Holloway. Holloway is rated among the top 150 players in his class according to Rivals.com and one of the top 20 point guards according to Scout.com. Holloway selected IU over Tennessee and Virginia.