Hollowell Finds His Fire; IU Benefits From Ohio State Football Scandal; More

Has Jeremy Hollowell finally found his fire? Is his passion and intensity finally matching his potential?

His performance at the adidas Invitational suggests yes to both. If that’s true, it bodes very well for Indiana’s basketball future.

Hollowell had a team-leading 28 points in another Indiana Elite/Team Indiana victory, this time 75-65 over the Houston Defenders on Friday. He’s been the team’s dominant scorer, if not dominant player, in every game, averaging 23.2 points. Sure, Hanner Perea has more spectacular dunks and Yogi Ferrell more running-the-show leadership, but the 6-7 Hollowell has been the guy with the big offense this week, which is what you’d expect from a guy rated as the nation’s No. 11 small forward and No. 52 player overall in the Class of 2012.

Hollowell is far from a finished product. He has to play better defense, become a better rebounder, understand what working hard really means and just play with more consistency, but that’s true of every high school player.

The bottom line is it seems that the casual attitude that hindered him earlier has been replaced by a more mature approach. He’s becoming the player IU coach Tom Crean envisioned when he offered him a scholarship. If that continues, look out. He might end up being the best player on what should be a dynamite freshman class.

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What does Ohio State forfeiting its entire 2010 football season mean for Indiana?

Not much in the big picture, but it does give the Hoosiers a 6-6 record for the season, 2-6 in the Big Ten, instead of 5-7 and 1-7. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 2 when they beat IU 38-10 in Columbus last season.

Ironically, if the forfeit had occurred during last season, it would have made the Hoosiers bowl eligible and, perhaps, gotten them a bowl bid and, with an even bigger perhaps, saved former coach Bill Lynch’s job.

Instead, Lynch was fired and Kevin Wilson was hired.

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Ohio State is trying to dodge the wrath of the NCAA in the wake of its memorabilia-for-cash-and-tattoos scandal. It forfeited the entire 2010 football season, including its Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas. It stripped its program of a share of the Big Ten title and ended its seven-game winning streak against Michigan. It put the program on a two-year probation, meaning there will be harsher penalties if more violations are discovered.

Oh, yes. It got rid of coach Jim Tressel. Technically, he resigned, although that didn’t fool anyone. Then, in a neat twist, it said he retired rather than resigned and is waiving its $250,000 fine against him for breaking NCAA rules. Tressel has indicated he’ll take responsibility for the NCAA investigation.

Finally, quarterback Terrelle Pryor left school and will try to get into the NFL.

Is that enough to prevent a loss of scholarships and a postseason ban?

Maybe.

Tressel and Ohio State will go before the NCAA Infractions committee next month to give their side of this mess. Tressel didn’t start the problem -- players who sold memorabilia for cash and tattoos did –- but he sure made it a lot worse. He knew about the violations and didn’t tell anyone for almost a year, lying to the NCAA and his own university in the process.

Athletic director Gene Smith said the university will change the way it manages its football players. It will focus on the cars they drive, where they live and what bars and restaurants they visit. It all sounds good, but is it enough to buy NCAA mercy?

Our guess is the NCAA will add additional sanctions, including a postseason ban. Ohio State already has lost a couple of recruits, and when this is over, it will lose a couple more.

IU is only now recovering from its basketball mess. Figure the Buckeyes are about to go through similar struggles in football.

We should know sometime this fall.

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So now we know, thanks to Jeff Rabjohns and Peegs.com, that Hamilton Southeastern shooting guard Gary Harris has narrowed his recruiting list to four schools: Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and Louisville. Much like Cody Zeller last year, he will make his official visits in the fall and then pick a school.

Considering that Harris is the No. 28 ranked player in the Class of 2012, it will be a huge announcement and big news for whichever school lands him.

One thing. He’ll only make official visits to three of those schools and will finalize that by the end of the summer.

If he goes to IU, he would clinch any doubt that it has the best recruiting class in the nation. The Hoosiers already have Yogi Ferrell, Ron Patterson, Hanner Perea, Jeremy Hollowell and Peter Jurkin.

Both of Harris’s parents went to Purdue, and his mother played basketball for the Boilers, but that doesn’t give the Boilers any more of an edge. It will be Gary’s decision based on what’s best for him.

Could that be football given he’s an outstanding prospect in that sport? It’s very unlikely, although the Harris family told Rabjohns that football coaches from Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU, Florida State and Tennessee have contacted him.

Here’s how much Crean wants Harris. He came to more Hamilton Southeastern football games than any other college basketball coach last season. He also was very visible at the LeBron James Skill Academy in Akron this week where Harris is playing.

Figure Crean will attend every Hamilton Southeastern home football game this season. Don’t be surprised if he has to battle Purdue’s Matt Painter, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Louisville’s Rick Pitino for most visible college basketball coach on the sidelines.

No matter what happens, it’s going to be a very intriguing fall.

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IU’s Mitch Ewald is reaping the benefits of a big-time kicking freshman season. He is one of 30 candidates for the Lou Groza Award, which goes annually to the nation’s top kicker. Ewald went 16-for-19 last season. The 16 field goals ties Bill Manolopoulos for third on IU’s single-season list. He also went 33-for-33 on extra points. He earned All-Freshman honors by ESPN.com and Rivals.com.

After kicking the game winning field goal in overtime to beat Purdue, he was named Big Ten freshman of the week and Big Ten special teams player of the week.

The award is named for Lou “The Toe” Groza, a Hall of Fame kicker for the Cleveland Browns and the 1954 NFL player of the year.