Emmitt Holt, Thomas Bryant Latest to Shame Indiana Hoosiers

By Hashim R. Hathaway | Aug 24, 2015

The citation of Indiana Hoosiers Emmitt Holt and Thomas Bryant for illegal possession of alcohol begs the question: Is Tom Crean in control?

Here we go again.

Not even 14 weeks from the last time a pair of Indiana Hoosiers were cited for possession of marijuana, two more players, sophomore Emmitt Holt and freshman Thomas Bryant were cited Monday for possession of alcohol by Indiana State Excise Police.

Holt, 19 and Bryant, 18, got busted while at a convenience store close to campus. IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman elaborated on how they were caught in a tweet posted late Monday afternoon:

Excise cited Holt, Bryant when they were seen trying to conceal two bottles of vodka outside the Convenient Food Mart near campus. #iubb
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) August 24, 2015

What makes the citation all the more infuriating for Indiana fans is the fact that one can actually see Assembly Hall from the convenience story in question, which just seems like such a slap in the face to a program that’s suffered more acts of player defiance than ever before under beleaguered head coach Tom Crean.

At this point, one can’t help but wonder whether or not these players actually respect the program they play for, much less Crean as their coach.

Both Holt and Bryant hail from New York. Neither player has deep roots in Indiana, nor do they have a connection to Indiana basketball prior to being recruited to the program by Crean.

As we know, this isn’t even Holt’s first rodeo with trouble as he was the player who “accidentally” hit former teammate Devin Davis with his car in November 2014, where he was also cited for alcohol, registering a .025 BAC. Davis was allowed to remain with the program because the “accident” was deemed just that, and not his fault.

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Davis along with Hanner Mosquera-Perea would be dismissed from the program in May, with Crean and Indiana athletic director Fred Glass giving the remaining players (which included Holt) a “Come to Jesus” style meeting where they were all warned that this sort of situation mustn’t happen again.

And yet here we are.

There are a number of takeaways and assumptions that can be had about this latest embarrassment to the Indiana Hoosiers, but one thing is as clear now as it was back in May — action must be taken, and it must be done swiftly.

As a leader, Tom Crean has never looked weaker. While Indiana newspapers were busy painting Crean as a Good Samaritan, his players show their blatant disrespect for him and the program with their brazen actions.

Emmitt Holt should be immediately dismissed from the team. This isn’t baseball, and this sort of stupidity doesn’t deserve “three strikes”.

Once again, Holt showed utter carelessness for his position within the university, and if we’re really being honest, he’s not that good a player, averaging 3.6 points and three rebounds, hardly explosive numbers, making his loss more than acceptable.

Bryant, on the other hand, is a much different situation. The center who graduated from Huntington Prep in West Virginia was a highly-sought after ESPN 100 player who turned down offers from Kentucky, UCLA and Villanova to play for Crean, and his size along with his presence make him a must have for the upcoming season.

As it’s his first offense, Bryant, who is potentially that good of a player, has to stay. Albeit after a suspension of some sort, possibly through the first few games. This would hurt Indiana, as their non-conference schedule is the toughest it’s been in years, but is necessary to salvage any dignity the program has left.

For Crean, this is the latest slap in the face that forces one to wonder whether or not Fred Glass has any faith that he can steer this team through an entire year without some sort of arrest.

It would be erroneous to think that Crean doesn’t ride his players, or yell at them like former head coach Bob Knight would.

However the clear difference is that Knight’s players, on the whole, respected him enough to avoid arrest. The pure display of disregard by Crean’s players can only be one of two things: willful ignorance or blatant disrespect.

Neither possibility is any better than the other, but both show just how out of touch Tom Crean is with his players.

That fact is something that Fred Glass is going to have to take a hard look at before people begin to take an even harder look at the future of his tenure at Indiana University.

Next: North Carolina Basketball: Blame 'The Good Ol' Boy Network' for the North Carolina Academics Scandal

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