So MU's beat writer felt the need to write about this.
Tommy is on the clock!
Tom Crean under fire after series of incidents at Indianahttp://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/281470951.htmlBy Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 4, 2014 1:00 p.m
The past few days haven't good for Indiana men's basketball coach Tom Crean. In fact, this whole calendar year has been fraught with off-the-court incidents that have caused a firestorm in Bloomington for the former Marquette coach.
Crean, who coached at Marquette for nine years before leaving for Indiana in 2008, was tasked with cleaning up IU's program after Kelvin Sampson was caught making impermissible recruiting phone calls and two players were kicked off the team. During his time at Marquette, Crean led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament five times, including a trip to the Final Four in 2003.
Marquette's press release when Crean resigned to take the job in Bloomington included the following quote about his time in Milwaukee: "Coach Crean has brought pride, honor and a winning mentality to our men's basketball program. It is no surprise that other universities would seek him out."
Crean did turn Indiana's program around, leading the team to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2013. Since then, though, the program has been on a steady decline, with its problems boiling to a head on Saturday night.
Saturday night was when Hoosiers freshman Emmitt Holt struck sophomore forward Devin Davis with his car leaving Davis in serious condition. Holt had just dropped Davis off in a parking lot and then hit him when Davis unexpectedly crossed a street. Both minors had alcohol in their systems and Holt was cited for operating under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21 because his blood alcohol content was 0.025.
That wasn't the only issue this week, though. On Monday night Crean announced that Holt and two other players would be suspended for the Hoosiers' two exhibition games and first two regular season games. Sophomores Troy Williams and Stanford Robinson were the two other Indiana player suspended for failing drug tests according to the Indianapolis Star. The incidents were not related.
The fallout of the past few days has put Crean in the hot seat with local media and the Indiana fan base. According to IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel, the total of current Indiana players who have been cited for alcohol violations and/or failed drug tests is now six out of 13. Hanner Mosquera-Perea was charged with OWI in February and Yogi Ferrell and Robinson were busted for underage consumption and possession of fake IDs in April.
Doyel, who had published a column on Sunday calling for Zero Tolerance 2.0, believes the recent problems at IU are signs of an epidemic and that Crean needs to be held accountable. Doyel didn't mince his words, calling for Crean to be fired now.
On Monday, former Indiana player and interim head coach Dan Dakich used his radio show to decry the current state of the program and express how "embarrassed" he is by his association with the Hoosiers. He questioned Crean's job security, saying that "Indiana basketball stands for nothing. Absolutely nothing," and that the actions of the players were going to get Crean fired.
Other former Indiana players have also taken to Twitter to voice their opinions on the situation. Cody Zeller, who played two seasons for Crean before going to the NBA, tweeted Monday night that Indiana basketball players are held to a higher standard.
CBS Sports college basketball insider Gary Parrish sees a widening disconnect between Crean and his players that has been years in the making. In his column he cites a source that says the disconnect existed in the Hoosiers' revival season of 2012-'13. "It's just that those guys were so talented that they rallied around each other and won," the source said. Parrish himself thought things were off when earlier this year freshman Noah Vonleh told him that he would declare for the NBA Draft without telling Crean.
Former IndyStar columnist Bob Kravitz, who now writes for WTHR Sports in Indianapolis, believes the four-game suspensions handed down aren't even close to being tough enough. He doesn't think Indiana's players respect or fear Crean and that's a big problem.
Speaking on his radio show Monday night, Crean said, "We've got to get our team to understand that there is nothing normal about being a college athlete. We had a couple guys make bad choices."
Despite the turmoil, Indiana athletic director Fred Glass has stood by Crean. After Crean's radio show, Glass said, "But still, people are upset about it. I'm upset about it. I understand it. I'm upset about it. I don't like it. Tom doesn't like it. But I'm confident Tom is the solution, not even part of the problem."
No matter what the solution is, the situation doesn't look very good for Crean. Even if he remains the head coach, the off-the-court problems are a major blow to the Hoosiers' chances on the court and recruiting trail this season.
You know, the season that hasn't even started yet.
