Colorado State Basketball: Three candidates to be next Rams coach

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DES MOINES, IA – MARCH 19: Head coach Tom Crean of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrates defeating Kentucky Wildcats 73 to 67 during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 19, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

2. Tom Crean

Tom Crean is going to get back into coaching one day. Whether or not he would take a job outside of a major program remains to be seen.

If he’s willing to acquiesce, there’s no reason to believe Colorado State can’t be the place for him. The Mountain West is comparable to the C-USA, which is where Crean began his head coaching career with Marquette. He used that job to move up to Indiana.

Considering Miles moved up most recently from Colorado State to Nebraska, it’s no secret that the Rams can be a stepping stone to bigger things. It’s possible, at 51 years old, that Crean isn’t looking for a stepping stone anyways.

He may just be looking for a place where he and his family can fly under the radar and win some games.

Nobody can question Crean’s coaching acumen. He’s won over 350 games at the Division 1 level, including 11 victories in the NCAA Tournament. He took Marquette to the Final Four back when they were in Conference USA and can take credit for their ultimate move to the Big East.

His motivation to take a job like Colorado State, however, is unclear. It would be a coup for the Rams to coax him out of broadcasting.