Indiana Basketball: Tom Crean out as Indiana head coach

A look at the firing of Tom Crean, what he meant to Indiana basketball, and where the Hoosiers will go from here.

I am a fan without a coach. Yes, I am a graduate of Indiana University, so this story means a little extra to me. Tom Crean is out as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. After starting the season so well and climbing all the way to a number three ranking, the Hoosiers fell, and they fell hard, finishing the season 18-16 and losing in the first round of the NIT Tournament.

This season hit its lowest of lows when IU declined to play a home game in the NIT Tournament. Maybe it was because IU didn’t want to play in front of an empty arena, or maybe it was because they didn’t want to have the faithful boo their head coach.

Athletic Director, Fred Glass used the excuse that the students were on spring break. Even though of the 11 teams in the NIT who had students on spring break, IU was the only one to decline a home game. IU could have given the tickets away or did what their opponent did and have the head coach buy student tickets and give them away for free.

But no, IU chose to cower away, believing that no one wanted to watch their team play one last time in Assembly Hall. The writing was on the wall, and with IU’s NIT loss, everything from this season came to fruition. Tom Crean is gone, and now the search for his replacement is on.

Let’s take a step back before we start to look forward. Indiana fans, as much as we loathed Tom Crean at times, we need to be thankful for what he did. I know, we hear it more and more lately, but it is true. Tom Crean inherited a mess. He came in following the Kelvin Sampson scandal, which resulted in a three-year probation. After Crean took the reigns, IU lost stud freshman (and future lottery pick) Eric Gordon to the NBA, Big Ten Player of the Year D.J. White to graduation, as well as two transfers, and three players who were kicked off the team.

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So yeah, Tom Crean inherited a mess. In the next three years, Indiana won 28 games. In years four and five, IU won 27 and 29 games, along with a Big Ten regular season championship, and the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tom Crean brought Indiana out from the sanctioned ashes, and for this, we must be thankful. He knowingly took a job that was already under heavy scrutiny, as well as the massive shadow of Bob Knight, and turned them around.

Why should we be happy that Indiana is moving on? Listen, it’s ok to appreciate what Tom Crean did and still want a new coach. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. IU is a blue blood. They are an elite program and deserve an elite coach. You know how I know that Tom Crean wasn’t the right fit? Because when you just read, “they are an elite program and deserve an elite coach,” you said to yourself, “no they aren’t.” And you’d be right. Right now, they aren’t, and they need to be.

Tom Crean just didn’t get them there. We thought he did when Indiana beat Kentucky at the buzzer in Bloomington. We thought he did when they received the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. But how can you say Crean got them there if the farthest they went was the Sweet 16 only to get embarrassed by Syracuse, even though they had two future top-4 NBA Draft picks?

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It’s tough to buy the idea that Tom Crean brought Indiana “back.” Some Tom Crean supporters will yell, “he won two Big Ten regular season championships in five seasons!” This is true. It is also true that he won two Big Ten regular season titles in nine seasons.

Regardless, since when is winning the Big Ten regular season title being “back?” That’s not what Indiana fans know. They know National Titles.

So, who will IU get as their next head coach? There is a short list of names that have circled the rumor mill, and who knows how much credibility they truly have. I have heard everything from the Miller brothers (Archie and Sean), to Gregg Marshall, to Tony Bennett, Steve Alford, and yes, even Brad Stevens.

Ideally, Hoosier fans would get Stevens. He is an excellent coach and is the perfect guy for IU. Every single fan wants this guy and prays that IU throws the kitchen sink at him in order to convince him to uproot from Boston and come back home to Indiana.

I’ve been told to be realistic, but IU needs to get a big name coach, so why not dream of the top candidates possible? Does this new coach need to be a home run? You betcha. Indiana fans want a household name who has established himself as a great coach. If the Hoosiers hire some up and coming coach, people will be mad. If they hire someone no one has heard of, people will be angry.

In Indiana, basketball is much more important than other states. IU fans literally say the phrase, “in 49 other states, it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.” Google “top-10 largest high school basketball gyms.” Indiana has nine of the top 10. We love basketball that much. If you haven’t already, read what Mark Titus of the Ringer said about growing up in Indiana. It hits close to home, and everything about it is true. Growing up in Indiana, we are raised on basketball, and the Indiana Hoosiers are our savior.

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Right now, I am a fan without a coach. I hope for myself and all Indiana fans that IU gets a big name hire. We care too much, and maybe that’s not always a good thing, but it sure as hell justifies that we deserve it.