I heard it was juicy. Can someone sum it up. Must be ESPN Insider.
Thanks!
not online yet!!
Currently watching "Best of Mike & Mike" on ESPN2. I'll keep you posted.
Crean was on with them yesterday. Same stuff you already heard everywhere else.
Thanks Dish.
I shouldn't have wasted so much time on this, but here it is...
Q: blah blah blah about Indiana and it's problems.
A: You mention the issues here, and I have to quadruple that because of the fact that I was leaving my own team back at Marquette which was as painful a though, and as painful a decision, and then as painful an action of telling them as I've probably ever been through in my adult life. It always came back that it's Indiana. It's Indiana basketball blah blah blah...
Q: At what point did you know you were going to accept this job?
A: I would say it was tough... every time I got comfortable it's on a Tuesday afternoon, to say ok, I'm ready to do this, I started to really think about the team, I started to think about the friendships... So it took a little time, but it was mid to late Tuesday afternoon where I tried to take a breath and just say "I gotta do it." My wife - it was agonizing for her with what we built at Marquette and in Milwaukee and what we have as a family there, but we pulled the trigger and it's getting better every minute being here.
Q: You said leaving Marquette, leaving the players was one of the most difficult thing you've had to do. Tell us about that, tell us about the conversations you had to have.
A: Well, unfortunately it was really one-sided... That night we brought them to the house and, uh, there's no easy way... I was texting with Dwayne Wade in the middle of the night last night trying to explain the decision and the timing of it. You know, everybody wants to know, and they want to know ahead of time, but in this job, when you're making a decision of this magnitude, with a school of this magnitude, it doesn't work like that. It's gotta be decisive and it's gotta be private. It's hard... but when they came over... I'll put it in perspective like this: when I left town that night, I realized I think how much my team cared about me and how much they loved me by probably the anger and the feelings that they had. Because it was a very one-sided conversation with a lot of crying on both ends. But the biggest thing I told them was I felt I always had their heart and I that know that they had mine. And we had to focus on the bonds that we built, we had to focus on the care that we have for one another and not on the decision. And I .... I never really said goodbye, I'm gonna try to do that when I get back into Milwaukee and do that individually, but it was tough. I mean it was... I can't make an equivalent of anything I've ever been through.
Q: Spinning it forward - what do you tell players as you are recruiting them to come to Indiana and you're sitting in their house and talking about them coming to Indiana - how do players of today, and this is more a general question, how do players of today that are listening to coaches believe that that coach is going to be around through their time at that school?
A: I thought about that some last night. That's a good point, because it was really not until late that I was able to go into the office and have some time to start making some phone calls and I started to think about that as I got into recruiting... I think the bottom line that I would say is that, from my first year on it was used against me in recruiting and in situations that I wouldn't be there, that I would leave. Well 9 years later I was still there. And I had many different contracts with the school. The greatest feeling I have with Marquette is that I never had to go to them to ask for an extension, to ask for anything. They always came to me with that, which is the most incredible feeling you can have. So I feel like even though I had years on my contract, I put in 9 years that I'm proud of. And I think that I would talk about what we did inside of those years. I think I would not only talk about the guys that went to the NBA, but I would talk about the 5 business owners that we have, I would talk about 23 of 23 on graduation for guys that used their eligibility, and I would also say, coming here... Marquette turned into a destination job. It may not have been at the beginning, but it certainly turned in that way to me. Indiana, there's no question. And I would let them know that, actually that the buyout that I have to leave here... there not... corporate America wouldn't pay that. And that was fine with me. I had no problem with taking as big a buyout as there could possibly be, because I don't want to leave. You don't come to Indiana to leave. But again, I feel great about the 9 years that were there, and I hope in time that others back there will as well.
Q: Theres a perception that the spectre of Bob Knight has continued to hang over that program blah blah blah...
A: When I went to Marquette 9 years ago, and Al McGuire had last coached in 1977, outside of "are we gonna play Notre Dame," "who are you going to recruit," the biggest question was "how do you feel about coach McGuire?" I never had one problem answering that. Al McGuire in 1977 - that's my memory. I remember the 1976 Indiana-Michigan game, I remember the 1977 Marquette-North Carolina game. I don't remember alot else. I was 10 and 11 years old at that point. I embraced the Al McGuire era, tradition as quickly as possible because I was a fan. It's the same thing with Bob Knight...
Q: More Indiana stuff...
A: Falling over himself trying to say as much as possible as he can about how much he loves Indiana.
"I was texting D Wade..."
Gag me, puke.
QuoteI was texting with Dwayne Wade in the middle of the night last night trying to explain the decision and the timing of it.
Wonder if Wade called him out on it....
Somebody needs to advise him to stop talking.
Quote from: TJ on April 04, 2008, 01:55:04 PM
I was texting with Dwayne Wade in the middle of the night last night trying to explain the decision and the timing of it. You know, everybody wants to know, and they want to know ahead of time, but in this job, when you're making a decision of this magnitude, with a school of this magnitude, it doesn't work like that. It's gotta be decisive and it's gotta be private.
It's gotta be decisive and it's gotta be private, I mean you can't waste time talking to the men that made you (Wild & Wade) you have to call the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
Thanks I appreciate it. The reason I ask, someone was talking about the part of the interview when Mike asked how he can recruit kids and guarantee them that he won't leave, and he was a little taken back by the question. Probably because he really cant make that guarantee. The answer to that completely side-stepped the question. !
Maybe this is just me dreaming of what would be ideal, but it almost seems like from Wades 2 references, his own comments a couple days ago and this, that he must have been just a wee bit perplexed and yes, maybe on the record with Crean about his perplexity.
Probably just a dream.
QuoteYou mention the issues here, and I have to quadruple that because of the fact that I was leaving my own team back at Marquette which was as painful a though, and as painful a decision, and then as painful an action of telling them as I've probably ever been through in my adult life.
He's 42 years old, and the most painful thing he's had to do in his adult life is tell his team something that ESPN and Rosiak had already told them. I can imagine how agonizing it's going to be for him when he has to take the training wheels off his kid's bike.
See...you know you made a crappy CRAPPY move if you are text Dwyane Wade in the middle of the night EXPLAINING to him why you made the move and the timing of it. What. A. Putz.
QuoteI had no problem with taking as big a buyout as there could possibly be, because I don't want to leave. You don't come to Indiana to leave.
i think that says a lot. yet the buyout in his contract with Marquette looks to be about $650,000. (i don't have any confirmation on this) but i can't see MU being the one that wanted to have the buyout that low unless Crean negotiated like that. which means.... he knew he wanted to leave Marquette.
Quotewhen I left town that night, I realized I think how much my team cared about me and how much they loved me by probably the anger and the feelings that they had.
Gross.
Is really does just keep getting worse and worse the more he opens his mouth. The funny thing with all of these (and you have to look back no more than 6 weeks or so to the AD hire) is that if everyone involved were just honest about what was going on, people would be a lot more forgiving.
First the stuff at the IU press conference .... "the student fans had a love affair with [insert me here]" .... the telling statement that he had to explain himself to Wade (if it wasn't a problem and you don't feel that you did anything wrong why the explanation???) .... the lies about never seeking another job .... all the BS about how much everyone loved and cared and cared and loved him .... these buyout details. Really, Tom, just shut up or be honest, it's so much easier.
Quoting Crean: "And I .... I never really said goodbye, I'm gonna try to do that when I get back into Milwaukee and do that individually, but it was tough. I mean it was..."
What...ever.
He made it tough by himself. No one else made it tought for him.
Indiana was only gunning for him. He decided NOT to tell them that he'll accept but needed some time to wrap up some loose ends at MU.
When he gets back at MU, he's not going to be treated the same way and with good cause.
You, Tom Crean, did not think it through. You decided to leave coldly.
And for that, I despise you.