Jordan Crawford to Transfer

[SGWarrior]

I find this very funny.

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/

[MUCrew]

So...that leaves how many on that roster?

[SGWarrior]

Not sure, but something around 2 scholarship players returning!?!?!?

[ecompt]

Can we schedule these clowns next year?

[Coach Norman Dale]

Not sure, but something around 2 scholarship players returning!?!?!?

IU now has one returning scholarship player, senior forward Kyle Taber (a former walk-on), walkon Brett Finkelmeier and recruits.

[The Lens]

Mike Deane would like it known that even he left more food in the cupboard.

[rocky_warrior]

IU now has one returning scholarship player, senior forward Kyle Taber (a former walk-on), walkon Brett Finkelmeier and recruits.

For Indiana's sake, I hope Nick Williams is as good, or better, than we were hoping he would be. 

As well as the rest of their gaggle of 3-star recruits...
http://indiana.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?sport=2&year=2008&school=30

[ChicosBailBonds]

I find this very funny.

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/

Old news really.  Peegs has reported this on the premium site about 4 weeks ago.  Only one left and they should run him off too in many people's opinions.  Clean the slate entirely of Sampson.

[ozmetal71]

But, "It's Indiana, It's Indiana"?  Good luck winning ten games next year, Tommy.  I wonder what sort of excuses and softball questions Tommy and his cronies in the press come up with for the utter disaster that will be IU basketball.

I give him three years before he is run out of Bloomington.

[The Lens]

Old news really.  Peegs has reported this on the premium site about 4 weeks ago.  Only one left and they should run him off too in many people's opinions.  Clean the slate entirely of Sampson.

Chicos, (1) sorry for the vulgarity Saturday night, thanks for the hard numbers.

(2) Why did IU let it get so bad?  It can't all fall on Sampson.  I always thought IU was the cleanest of the clean?  Or was that just how Bobby Knight ran things?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos, (1) sorry for the vulgarity Saturday night, thanks for the hard numbers.

(2) Why did IU let it get so bad?  It can't all fall on Sampson.  I always thought IU was the cleanest of the clean?  Or was that just how Bobby Knight ran things?

I don't recall any vulgarity actually so no big deal from my perspective.

Hard to say what's going on with IU.  The culture when I was there was squeaky clean.  It was ingrained in everybody that you do it one way, the right way. Winning was critical, but winning ethically more important.  Knight was still there when I left. 

However, only a few years later the department was in the red with outdated facilities, football was a mess, there were issues with women's hoops, etc.  Money was certainly one issue they were trying to get turned around in the last 7 or 8 years.  Someone closer to Indy could tell you about that I'm sure.

I'm sure Compliance is going to be thrown under the bus big time in this next review along with academic support folks.  They are likely to be given "LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL" which is one you don't want to have on the resume.  I still don't think they'll get more then 1 year probation which won't mean a thing since they'll be lucky to win 10 games next year and probably will go 1-17 or 2-16 in the Big Ten.  In effect, they're on probation anyway.

Will Greenspan survive after all this?

[Tulsa Warrior]

If you look at the 08 LOI's and the 09 verbal commits things look OK down the road for "it's Indiana."  Just need a big man post commit and they are in business.  They lack experience but it is the Big Ten.

[Sir Lawrence]

Old news really.  Peegs has reported this on the premium site about 4 weeks ago.  Only one left and they should run him off too in many people's opinions.  Clean the slate entirely of Sampson.

Who is this "Peegs" you speak of, and which premium site?  Uncle Larry counts on Chicos to keep us in the loop. 

[79Warrior]

But, "It's Indiana, It's Indiana"?  Good luck winning ten games next year, Tommy.  I wonder what sort of excuses and softball questions Tommy and his cronies in the press come up with for the utter disaster that will be IU basketball.

I give him three years before he is run out of Bloomington.

Get real. TC has the admin's blessing to clean house. You guys will be crying in your beers when TC has IU competing in a few years. If he could turn MU around, he will ost certainly turn around IU. You best get over it.

[nola03]

Most popular topic of the day.

If Crean wins 5 Big Ten games next season, it will be the greatest coaching achievement in any sport in the history of the Big Ten.

[NCMUFan]

65 responses to the blog.  Some highly critical of Crean already.  Oh well, "It's Indiana."

[downtown85]

65 responses to the blog.  Some highly critical of Crean already.  Oh well, "It's Indiana."

It is only a matter of time before the www.firetomcrean.com gets started. I think a lot of that fan base has unrealistic expectations. 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Who is this "Peegs" you speak of, and which premium site?  Uncle Larry counts on Chicos to keep us in the loop. 

Peegs is the guy that runs the I4 rivals site.

[lurch91]

Crawford leaves Indiana, Indiana

Announced today on the day of reckoning for IU basketball, nice timing.  I know the situation will get better, but that might be after Crean runs out of time.  If 90% of taking a job is timing, you would think that Crean would have waited to find a position without the HUGE black cloud over it with a tornado on the horizon.

[lurch91]

However, only a few years later the department was in the red with outdated facilities, football was a mess, there were issues with women's hoops, etc.  Money was certainly one issue they were trying to get turned around in the last 7 or 8 years.  Someone closer to Indy could tell you about that I'm sure.

Former neighbor was an Assistant Coach at Butler and had friends at UI during the whole Bobby Knight firing thing.  The Athletic Department went from cashcow to in the red overnight (talking tens of millions of dollars in the red).  IU desperately needed a winner to regain alumni support.  The Final Four trip was just what they needed, IF Davis would have been marketable to the alumni (they hated him from the start).  They needed someone to come in, win immediately and regain alumni support, that's what they saw in Sampson.

The IU football team might as well be a club sport, no one goes and not many care about football.  Like Marquette, IU basketball is what drives the Athletic Department

[ozmetal71]

Notice how they already are complaining/worrying about a "lack of bigs".  Where oh where did we hear this before?

[ecompt]

People seem to forget that Indiana basketball before and after Bob Knight has been exceedingly mediocre. Had IU hired Bob Dukiet instead of Bob Knight back in the early 1970s no one would have ever heard of IU basketball. "It's Indiana" isn't exactly "It's UCLA."

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

People seem to forget that Indiana basketball before and after Bob Knight has been exceedingly mediocre. Had IU hired Bob Dukiet instead of Bob Knight back in the early 1970s no one would have ever heard of IU basketball. "It's Indiana" isn't exactly "It's UCLA."

I agree, but let's also realize that high school basketball in that state is insane... and that does have a trickle up effect on IU. Its like UTexas with football, or Minnesota with hockey. The college programs are always going to have some swagger because of the state's sports culture.

I think Crean will be successful there. I don't know if he will be "successful enough" as the pressure at IU is crazy... but he's starting at the bottom, so I think that definitely helps.

People may not like his personality, or his exact style of coaching... but the guy made a winner out of MU, and most likely will make a winner out of IU (even if people think he can't sign any bigs, or is still signing 3 star players, etc.)

[NCMUFan]

Even if he fails and gets fired, there will be some coaching job out there.  And after years of collecting salaries in excess of $1,000,000/year how much money will he need?  So in that regards Tommy is a success.  If the IU coach was really a second thought because the state's HS basketball program is so strong, why wasn't Indiana better in the past?

[lurch91]

I agree, but let's also realize that high school basketball in that state is insane... 

Having lived in Indy the last 14 years, the height of High School Basketball was still when Indiana had ONE State Champion.  Now that it's broken down into class divisions, it lost some luster.  It's still big, but not as big as it once was.

Back int he 80's the biggest Championship was when Shawn Kemp played Damon Bailey, somewhere around 40,000 people packed the RCA dome to watch.  Would never happen today - they'd have played in different divisions/classes.

The belief that there was another "Hickory" around the corner each year was what made the Indiana High School Basketball special.

[bma725]

People seem to forget that Indiana basketball before and after Bob Knight has been exceedingly mediocre. Had IU hired Bob Dukiet instead of Bob Knight back in the early 1970s no one would have ever heard of IU basketball. "It's Indiana" isn't exactly "It's UCLA."

No, actually it wasn't.  There were a down years before Knight, but we're talking about a program that had two Hall of Fame coaches, two National Championships, multiple NCAA appearences in the era when only conference champs went, multiple All Americans etc.  

Indiana has been one of the premier basketball schools in the country since the 1940s, any attempt to diminish what they are just comes off looking like sour grapes.

[AlumKCof93]

I understand that when a new coach comes in, transfers happen. I also understand that the change at IU is not typical as its the result of a scandal, but at this point, when do all of these changes reflect on Tommy?  I'm not referring to the posts on the IU message board, but when does the national media comment on the fact that Crean is helping these kids out the door while offering scholarships at an incredible rate.  Will Crean get a pass now, but then get his critics when the inevitable occurs and the kids he's giving scholies to now transfer out in the next 1-3 years?

If I'm an Indiana fan, I'm a little uneasy about how things are proceeding thus far.  I understand that some of it was bound to happen, but the whole frickin team.  Something stinks in Bloomington.

[ecompt]

The two national championships IU won before Knight are hardly noteworthy since the NIT was considered the national championship in both 1940 and 1953. They did have great teams 50-60 years ago, but so did NYU and CCNY. My point was that if Knight had not been hired, no one would be talking about IU basketball.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

If the IU coach was really a second thought because the state's HS basketball program is so strong, why wasn't Indiana better in the past?

I'm not sure I think the coach is a second thought, I'm just saying that one of the reasons that IU is one of the premier jobs because of that state's basketball culture, and that is culture deeply rooted in high school hoops.

There are a lot of talented kids in Indiana who grow up wanting to play for IU, especially if Crean can start winning again. The coaches, parents, etc. etc. all love high school basketball, and most would love if they went on to IU to play. 

Now, with this said, a winning program isn't a guarantee simply because of the in-state talent, you only need to look at St John's or DePaul to know that.

[MR.HAYWARD]

2002alum...is dead on correct.

As Mu fans we see the affect UW has on the local Wisoconsin kids growing up wanting to go to UW.  Now take a state with a 50% larger population and about 500% more talent.  National title teams could be assembled every year just from the kids that leave the state.  Indiana sent 4 or 5 teams to the NCAA's and in year past it has been more.  When Iu, Purdue, were at the top they typicaly had 9-10 Indiana kids on the roster.  Look at Purdues success last year starting 4 freshamn from within an hours drive.  heck even Butler has put together a great program picking up the scraps.  Bruce Pearl won howmany D2 national titles picking up the scraps. Even small Schools like Bethel and grace collge simply own the NCCAA and NAIA national title using local talent.  Homer Drew won gobs of National title at Bethel before taking the Valpo job which again has had good success using local kids.   Talent out the wazoo.