Is Crean In Trouble?

[Tugg Speedman]

The ESPN college basketball home page has this:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

Rumors: The status of Indiana's rebuilding

It links to the ESPN insider page which says this:

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors?&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2ffeatures%2frumors#2024

The Hoosier rebuilding report
11:41AM ET
Indiana Hoosiers

Crean is battling to bring back the Crimson and Cream.
Subscribe to Insider for as low as $2.50/month to access the complete rumor insider

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I don't have an account so I don't know what it says.  But the use of the words "current status" and "battling to" suggests that all might not be well in Bloomington.

Anyone have access, know what is going on?  A Google search turned up nothing.


P.S. Please save all of us the 20 posts that "Crean is dead to you" and "who cares."  Just ignore this thread.

[brewnewsman]

It's ultimately a puff piece. Since its paid content I wont post the whole thing but it starts like this:

As Tom Crean continues to rebuild an Indiana team decimated by NCAA rulings, his recruits follow a pattern of sorts. They're "scrappy", "solid" or "tweeners". Sometimes all three at once. That means they look like a good mid-major squad instead of the all-time elite powerhouse they have been in the past, and aim to be again.

It goes on to say these recruits will be stop-gaps getting IU in right direction before ending like this:

It's asking way too much to see vast improvement in the Hoosiers just yet, but this year's recruiting class is a nice incremental step toward an eventual return to glory in Bloomington.

[TedBaxter]

Crean needs to get over .500 this year minimum to get a 4th year in Bloomington in my opinion and maybe .500 in the Big Ten.  If he does get a 4th year and doesn't crack the top 5 in he Big Ten after that 4th year, he'll be looking for work elsewhere.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Crean needs to get over .500 this year minimum to get a 4th year in Bloomington in my opinion and maybe .500 in the Big Ten.  If he does get a 4th year and doesn't crack the top 5 in he Big Ten after that 4th year, he'll be looking for work elsewhere.

He will get over .500 this year.  All he has to do is have his team improve 6 games in the win column.  They likely would have been .500 this year if not for the loss of their best player to injury.  I'd say 17-15 this year or somewhere in that realm.

[Canadian Dimes]

This years class will be an incremental step towards an eventual return to glory?  Are you kidding two 3 star recruits and a 2 star. No top 100 recruits is not an incremental step towards glory those guys are Acker/Burke/Cubi type recruits roster fillers and kids that can make the team but building blocks towards glory?  Please Crean signed a terrible class by "elite program" standards

[MarkCharles]

I think Crean's deficiencies are coming to light at IU. He is a very inconsistent recruiter and doesn't bring much dynamic to game management. I'm not sure why he can't get more top-level players to come to that storied program. He has all the playing time in the world to  offer, which Buzz seems to have used to attract some elite talent. And Indiana produces so much high school talent. He just needs to recruit his state and he's have a power. I would laugh if we got a top-10 guy out of Indiana (Dawson).
That being said, I think it would be unfair to not give him 4 years to turn things around, considering where that program was. Not like I'd lose any sleep over  it, just sayin...

[mviale]

Crean at UWM would be a great series.  Its Milwaukee, Milwaukee...

[Doctor V]

Canadian Dimes and others should watch what they wish for... Crean gave Buzz the opportunity at the head coaching job at MU, the least Buzz could do is hire him as head assistant 

If that were to ever happen, it would be my favorite day on this board

[CrimsonNCrean]

Crean has been a "colossal"   disappointment...  

He is "not" a "good" x's n o's coach....
He is "not" a good recruiter.........
He is "full' of chit...................  

He fooled me, .......   he talks the talk...  but does not come near to walking the walk...

IU just signed the 66th ranked JUCO player in the nation....  ?????????  

I an on the get rid of TC time clock but he will get a lot more than most are willing.....

[Doctor V]

Crean has been a "colossal"   disappointment...  

He is "not" a "good" x's n o's coach....
He is "not" a good recruiter.........
He is "full' of chit...................  

He fooled me, .......   he talks the talk...  but does not come near to walking the walk...

IU just signed the 66th ranked JUCO player in the nation....  ?????????  

I an on the get rid of TC time clock but he will get a lot more than most are willing.....

Haha oh boy here we go... In all honesty he was great for MU, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be shocked to hear this after a few seasons from the IU faithful. He does talk the talk, and is good at it, but he in not a top tier recruiter and apparently the Indiana "name" isnt helping him much. Its obvious that "Its Indiana" is overrated, because that would help him land much better classes. I also thought he made some poor in game adjustments as well, but I see that at times from Coach Williams as well.

Atleast Buzz got the #1 JUCO in the nation, to go along with a few top 5 JUCOs the last few seasons 

[CrimsonNCrean]

Haha oh boy here we go... In all honesty he was great for MU, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be shocked to hear this after a few seasons from the IU faithful. He does talk the talk, and is good at it, but he in not a top tier recruiter and apparently the Indiana "name" isnt helping him much. Its obvious that "Its Indiana" is overrated, because that would help him land much better classes. I also thought he made some poor in game adjustments as well, but I see that at times from Coach Williams as well.

Atleast Buzz got the #1 JUCO in the nation, to go along with a few top 5 JUCOs the last few seasons 

[Murffieus]

For Crean to be a success at Indiana by their standards, he will need to finish the season better.

His teams are always better in Nov, Dec, Jan, than in Feb & March. Works the hell out of them. Al told him to never forget that he's dealing with human beings, but TC is so intense he treats them like they were machines.

[Tugg Speedman]

It's ultimately a puff piece. Since its paid content I wont post the whole thing but it starts like this:

....

It's asking way too much to see vast improvement in the Hoosiers just yet, but this year's recruiting class is a nice incremental step toward an eventual return to glory in Bloomington.

It appears the purpose of this puff piece is for Crean and/or the IU administration to explain themselves to the IU faithful to keep the mob forming outside their door.  The only question is how big a favor did they have to call in to get it written?

[Brewtown Andy]

Crean needs to get over .500 this year minimum to get a 4th year in Bloomington in my opinion and maybe .500 in the Big Ten.  If he does get a 4th year and doesn't crack the top 5 in he Big Ten after that 4th year, he'll be looking for work elsewhere.

The fact of the matter is that IU gave him an extension before he even coached a game because more guys left the program than they were expecting.  He has a 10 year contract.  There is ZERO chance that IU gives up on him before the end of the 5th season, and probably not til after the 6th, too. 

It's on two levels. 1) They gave him the extension as a sign of faith, saying "we know it will take a while, so don't worry." Canning him after 4 years just means that whatever coach they bring in to replace him can't trust the administration. 2) They can't afford to cough up 6 years worth of salary while paying someone else (and probably paying the new guy even more) to actually coach the team.

[tower912]

He basically had to start a B10 program from scratch.   Impossible to do overnight, unless you do it Calipari style, which simply does not fly with Hoosiernation.    I am currently completely ambivalent toward Crean, but to expect any coach to build a program from rubble in a BCS conference in 2-3 years without cheating is simply unreasonable.   I'm not saying he can/can't, I am saying that it won't be fair to judge for another 3 years. 

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It appears the purpose of this puff piece is for Crean and/or the IU administration to explain themselves to the IU faithful to keep the mob forming outside their door.  The only question is how big a favor did they have to call in to get it written?

We have a winner!!

Crean's on the verge of losing control and losing the faith of Hoosier fans who have gotten wise to him much quicker than MU fans.

[4everwarriors]

Crean has been a "colossal"   disappointment...  

He is "not" a "good" x's n o's coach....
He is "not" a good recruiter.........
He is "full' of chit...................  

He fooled me, .......   he talks the talk...  but does not come near to walking the walk...

IU just signed the 66th ranked JUCO player in the nation....  ?????????  




I don't know why you were fooled. Had you read this board on April 1, 2008, you would have read first hand what some of us had known since 2003.
I an on the get rid of TC time clock but he will get a lot more than most are willing.....

[avid1010]

He basically had to start a B10 program from scratch.   Impossible to do overnight, unless you do it Calipari style, which simply does not fly with Hoosiernation.    I am currently completely ambivalent toward Crean, but to expect any coach to build a program from rubble in a BCS conference in 2-3 years without cheating is simply unreasonable.   I'm not saying he can/can't, I am saying that it won't be fair to judge for another 3 years. 

Yeah right....they'd take Calipari and his success in a second.

[brewcity77]

I simply couldn't care one way or the other about this. We don't play Indiana. When I'm not on this board, I  probably spend about as much time thinking about Crean as I do thinking about Deane or O'Neill. They were here, they aren't any more, they clearly moved on, don't see why we can't do the same.

[willie warrior]

I realize that this is an opinion board, but talking about Crean is yesterdays news.. He is gone, so let's forget about him. Bring back comments about a much more "colorful" MU coach, good catholic , MU alum and Wisconsin native----Rick Majerus.

Did anybody read his book from several years ago, My Life on a Napkin? Should have been entitled My Life at the Dinner Table.

Speaking of tables, they should have an auction for the Pitino/Cypher table!

[HoopsMalone]

Like Gillespie found out, life without Buzz at your side is tough.

Recruiting is tough, but Crean signed with IU while the next class was in their soph year of high school.  That is a little behind, but not much.  There is no way that this 2010 recruiting class is what anyone would have predicted.  Even those of us who criticized Crean for not recruiting depth at MU would not have guessed this type of recruiting.

[Pakuni]

Yeah right....they'd take Calipari and his success in a second.

Yep.
There wasn't much protest from the IU faithful when the school hired Kelvin Sampson, and especially not after he started landing kids like Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford. They were more than happy to have him, as long as he landed the players and won games. Sampson's act only started to anger Indiana fans when it got them in trouble with the NCAA.

[Blackhat]

TC needs to recruit a lot better.   I still think the guy can coach but his recruiting is suffering, 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yeah right....they'd take Calipari and his success in a second.

Not after the Sampson ordeal they wouldn't.  Prior to that, yes, but because they were burned so badly, not a chance in hell.

[Tugg Speedman]

TC needs to recruit a lot better.   I still think the guy can coach but his recruiting is suffering,  

+1

Crean thought what was holding him back from getting the 5 star recruit was MU.  By going to Indiana, he thought he was correcting this problem.  However, all it has done is expose the ugly truth ... it is Tom Crean's abilites that are holding back the 5-star recruit, not the institution that employs him.

Even worse, a young and dynamic Painter at Purdue, America's favorite underdog in Butler, ND coached by MILF hunter Brey all means that it will be harder for IU to attract attention to themself at home.  And this does not include Louisville (just over the boarder).

What Crean needs to get over the hump is have a team way out perfrom expectations.  Show he can coach and create some buzz about the program.  The problem is the opposite is happening.  His teams under perfrom and then quit on him.