Tom Crean Out at IU
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Mar 18, 2017
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The Indiana Hoosiers decided to make a coaching change on Thursday, and after nine years Tom Crean has been removed as head coach.
Over the last four years, Crean failed in all three areas. After hearing their seeding and destination on Sunday night, they had a quick turnaround for a Tuesday night tip in Atlanta against a Georgia Tech team that was 15-4 in home games.
IN has had its share of success under Crean, leading the team to 29 wins in 2012, and 27 wins in two other years.
Alford has three more seasons left on the seven-year contract he signed upon his arrival in 2013, which pays him a base salary of $2.6 million a year.
Here are a few more helpful Big Ten men's basketball links.
Thursday afternoon, just moments after Notre Dame began the NCAA tournament, in-state rival in fired Tom Crean as its men's basketball coach.
IU director of athletics Fred Glass said at a press conference Thursday that the decision is going to take time, as he will consult with basketball experts from around the country and throughout the state of IN to find the right fit for the program. On top of that, IN guard Robert Johnson went 1-for-8 from the field including 0-for-5 from behind the arc.
Glass later would say that resources would not stand in the way of hiring the Hoosiers' next basketball coach. As a senior, Alford led the Hoosiers to the 1987 national championship.
It's hardly the exit many envisioned years ago. In the KenPom era, only one team has won a national championship with a defense ranked outside of the top 20.
The turnovers were also a constant of Crean's teams in Bloomington. "You've got to come back and you've still got to guard at a high level, and that's a big part of it".
"I didn't think Glass would do it", said longtime IU fan Tim Weaver, a 52-year-old former Fort Wayne resident who now lives in Las Vegas.
"I've overcome it before, " Crean said.
None of that should be forgotten or minimized as he departs the IN job.
IN is one of the most fertile recruiting territories in the country.
"The expectations for Indiana University basketball are to perennially contend for and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament, and win our next national championship-and more after that". "We will look to identify and recruit a coach who can help us meet these expectations".
