IU coach Tom Crean dismisses Emmitt Holt, Thomas Bryant faces 'internal team discipline'

UPDATE SEPT. 1: Brandon Thomas, a public information officer with the excise police, told The Star that IU freshman forward Juwan Morgan and former Hoosiers player Hanner Mosquera-Perea were also in the vehicle when Emmitt Holt and Thomas Bryant were cited on Aug. 21 for under-age alcohol possession. Morgan and Mosquera-Perea were not cited. Thomas said it's practice for excise police to run checks on all occupants of a vehicle, whether they are cited or not.

BLOOMINGTON – IU coach Tom Crean dismissed Indiana sophomore forward Emmitt Holt, 19, on Monday for his alcohol-related citation Aug. 21, during Welcome Week.

Discipline for freshman forward Thomas Bryant, 18, also cited for under-age alcohol possession, will remain "internal," according to a two-sentence statement released Monday by IU.

"This is Tom’s decision, and I support it," Director of Athletics Fred Glass told The Star. "We obviously had conversations and took some time to get this right."

Glass made it clear he doesn't advocate a "zero-tolerance" policy with regard to athlete conduct. The punishments announced Monday, he said, were consistent with procedures and recommendations laid out in IU's Statement of Principles on the Conduct of Participants in Student Athletic Programs.

"I’m not a fan of zero tolerance," Glass said. "I think it creates an easy way out and can end up with a result that nobody really wants. ...

"Our student-athlete code of conduct calls on us to address things on a case-by-case basis. That's what we'll continue to do."

The full statement released Monday read: "Sophomore Emmitt Holt has been dismissed from the men's basketball program effective immediately for demonstrating exceptionally poor judgment in the circumstances surrounding his recent citation, particularly coming after his involvement in the Devin Davis accident which should have motivated him to make better decisions. Freshman Thomas Bryant, as a result of his citation, is receiving internal team discipline and is subject to additional discipline for any future failure to live up to his responsibilities to the program."

The announcement came just more than a week after Holt and Bryant were cited by Indiana State Excise Police for illegal possession of alcohol at a convenience store just up the street from Assembly Hall.

It was Holt's second public off-the-court incident. He was behind the wheel when then-teammate Devin Davis was injured in a serious car accident Nov. 1.

Holt had been drinking but was not drunk, registering a blood-alcohol level of 0.025 after the incident. In the state, a motorist with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.08 or greater is considered as having driven while drunk. According to an official report, Davis appeared suddenly in front of the car Holt was driving, and was struck by the car. The resulting head injury sidelined Davis for all of what would've been his sophomore season.

Holt, a late addition to IU's 2014 recruiting class, becomes the third player dismissed from the program this offseason.

Davis and forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea were both dismissed in May, after Davis was cited for possession of marijuana. Mosquera-Perea was not cited or named by the police, but IU identified him as being present for the incident.

Last week's citations were just the latest off-the-court trouble for the Hoosiers.

Mosquera-Perea was arrested for OWI in February 2014. Yogi Ferrell and then-freshman guard Stanford Robinson were cited by excise police after attempting to enter a local bar underage in April of that same year. And Robinson and Troy Williams were both suspended for four games at the start of last season – two exhibition and two regular-season – for failed drug tests.

Holt, a regular bench player last season, appeared in 29 games and finished second among Hoosiers with 21 blocks. His best performance came in a win over Pitt in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, when he scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds.

The fact that Holt's citation was his second incident within a year was taken into account, Glass said.

"After that situation, he puts himself in a situation where he’s subject to getting another alcohol-related citation, and during Welcome Week, and with freshmen on the basketball team," he said. "I took no joy in that, but I think we did the right thing."

Glass said a second freshman player in the car was not cited and he declined to name him.

Crean couldn't be reached for comment Monday, but speaking about the incident last week said: "It's not about, 'I didn't make a mistake. That wasn't me.' That doesn't fly. You've got to protect your teammates. Irregardless of what's there with the other night, Emmitt should've neverhad my freshmen in that situation."

Matt Spadoni, Holt's high school coach at Webster-Schroeder in New York, said he had not heard from his former player since the decision was announced.

Holt joined the program last August.

Bryant, a McDonald's All-American, is expected to contend for a starting spot this season.

"I’m not gonna stand here and say this will never happen again. I hope it doesn’t. We’re doing everything we can to keep it from happening again," Glass said. "I would expect that we’re getting peoples’ attention, given that we have had very significant consequences for behavior that, taken in isolation, wouldn’t merit being dismissed from the program."

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.