Over the holiday weekend Elijah "Eli" Holman became the third commitment for
Coach Kelvin Sampson as he and the rest of his staff look to fill five
scholarship openings from the Class of 2007. Today we get into more detail
with Holman's Richmond high school coach Lonnie Coleman, exploring topics like
what pushed Holman over the top with his Hoosier commitment, the latest on his
eligibility, the big growth spurt, his off court personality and more.

Below are more comments from Richmond (Calif.) assistant Lonnie Coleman from
our Saturday conversation where he gave us the news that Eli Holman had
indeed decided to commit to Indiana.

Below is the Q&A type transcript of those topics not discussed in Saturday's
commitment story:

Where do things stand with Eli's appeal for playing this year for
Richmond?

It is an unknown but what we got from the CIF and NCS, he has kept his
nose clean and met all the stipulations in regard to what they wanted to meet
the criterion. We talked a lot about that yesterday and about what
happened and with the quick success he has had over the summer, I think that
incident humbled him a lot and taught him a valuable lesson as far as how you
really have to respect the game. It can be taken away from you. He
said at the time it was really crushing to him because they were really state
title contenders. He just said today that he goes about the game with a
greater appreciation for it.

Talk about his on court and off court personality:

On the court you see a menacing, tall kid, long with a 7-foot-7 wing span
and blocking everything. Off the court he is the biggest, goofiest,
friendliest kid you would ever meet. We don't go anywhere without somebody
asking him to get his autograph, or asking 'how tall are you?' or 'how big are
your feet?' Most kids get tired of that but he stops what he is doing to
talk to people. He's a great person who is really involved with his
church.