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Is Tom Crean Overspending to Cover Up Underachieving?

By Hashim R. Hathaway

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When it comes to recruiting, Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean is outspending the Big Ten by a wide margin, but will his spending shore up his poor coaching?

There’s an old adage about throwing money at one’s problems, and in the Big Ten, no one is doing that with more dollar signs than Tom Crean.

According to a report appearing in the IndyStar, in 2013-14, Indiana spent $673,708 in recruiting expenses, a difference of $242,381 from the closest spending school in the Big Ten, Illinois, who spent $431,327. IU spent three times as much as in-state rival Purdue in the same season, and let’s be honest, the results were about the same, with Purdue slapping the Hoosiers around 82-64 in their only meeting that year.

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While it’s easy to say that high recruiting expenditures are just part of doing business in college athletics, it’s probably important to note that in 2013-14, Wisconsin spent only $62,082. That’s right, Bo Ryan spent less than 10% of what Crean spent, and the Badgers finished 30–8 overall (12–6 Big Ten), with an appearance in the Final Four.

The Hoosiers finished the 2013-14 season 17–15 (7–11 Big Ten), missing the postseason altogether.

Sounds like money well spent. Except it’s not, at all.

Kent Sterling, host of the “Kent Sterling Show” on CBS Sports 1430AM in Indianapolis, spoke with coaches who gave a little insight into where all that money might be going.

"Coaches…have mentioned demands by Crean that are unique among those recruiting to Indiana schools – requests for reserved parking spots and a security guard to escort him into the gym at high school games and for teams to change their defensive strategies in order to better prepare a player to conform to his system at IU."

So Crean is out on the road big timing his way into high schools and AAU competitions flashing cash but not having much to show for it.

As Sterling mentions in his article, it makes little sense that Indiana has to spend so much on recruiting the nation when there is so much talent within the state of Indiana itself. The problem is that very little of it seems to be willing to enroll at the flagship state university, which says even more about the state of a program that has been treading water for the last few seasons.

This hasn’t escaped the notice of those in Indiana who are used to a different, more productive and cost-effective type of recruiting. Former Indiana coach, ESPN analyst and radio host Dan Dakich fired off a series of tweets calling the current spending at IU “absurd and ridiculous.”

And to put the cherry on top, at least in a way that would be sure to fire up the Hoosier fanbase, Dakich ended on a truly sobering note:

That’s right, coaching legend Bob Knight stayed with friends, of which he had many, while recruiting. Crean is staying in fancy hotels with bodyguards and town cars, and while he certainly didn’t write the book on overspending, the clear fact is that the return on investment is showing more holes than an Enron balance sheet.

The truth is, none of this would matter if Crean was able to do the one thing that has eluded him throughout his tenure as head coach: Win.

Eight seasons with only one Big Ten Title and two Sweet Sixteen appearances is probably a worse investment by the athletic department than what Crean is doling out year after year, and certainly Indiana can afford such exorbitance, netting $22.2 million in revenue in 2013-14. But if dollars bought wins, Crean is shopping at the wrong stores.

That said, the more “Pastor” Crean spends and the less he wins, the more it looks like the only effective thing he’s doing in Bloomington is burning cash in a barrel, which does no one any favors, that is, except for the realtor who’ll get a nice commission on the house Crean has to sell when he’s finally sent packing after another lackluster season.

Next: Four Burning Questions Ahead of the Pan-American Games Basketball Tournament

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