Hoosiers hyped: Ex-players happy Crean is the new coach

Former IU standout Ted Kitchel said he was surprised when he picked up the phone Wednesday and heard B.J. McElroy, secretary of the men’s basketball office, on the other end. It wasn’t McElroy who surprised him – Kitchel said they speak from time to time – but instead the person to whom the call would be patched through – new IU coach Tom Crean.\n“I was surprised that he called,” said Kitchel, an All-Big Ten and All-American performer on IU’s 1981 National Championship team. “To hear the excitement in his voice, it was nice to have talked to him. I’ll be very supportive of him and the program.”\nTodd Leary, former IU guard and current member of the men’s basketball broadcast team for the IU radio network, said he felt that same sort of excitement. \n“It’s unfortunate the year is over, because I’m excited to get things rolling right now,” Leary said. \nLeary said he thinks it’s important for Crean to develop a solid rapport with former IU players, who Leary said could be invaluable recruiting allies. \n“Where this recruiting situation sits right now, I think that’s going to be his best tool to recruit with,” Leary said at the Hoosier Room at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, “and you really need to have as many positive things going out there as you can.”\nFormer IU All-American Kent Benson said Wednesday he was “ecstatic” at hearing the news of Crean’s hiring.\n“The Indiana basketball program is being turned around just by his credibility and his success,” Benson said.\nBenson had been an outspoken critic of former IU coach Kelvin Sampson, who resigned in February amid further allegations of recruitment violations. \nThe New Castle, Ind., native said at the time he would never attend an IU basketball game until Sampson was gone. However, Benson showed no signs of such protest this time around. When asked if he would attend Crean’s first game as coach at IU next fall, Benson replied, “Absolutely, I’ll be there even before then.”\nKitchel said he watched the press conference held to introduce the new coach, and he said he saw genuine enthusiasm in Crean’s words. \nLeary agreed, adding he sensed Crean embraces the meaning of tradition to the IU men’s basketball program.\n“You can read a book and you can understand the (IU) tradition,” Leary said. “You couldn’t read enough books to go through some of the things that he just said here in the last few hours, so I think there’s definitely an appreciation for the program.”\nKitchel said he’s watched Marquette over the last few years, and said Crean’s teams have impressed him in that time. He singled out two facets of their play in particular – their toughness and “how hard they play.” Kitchel said he believes Crean can put IU basketball back on track by emphasizing those areas of the game.\n“That’s something that we’ve got to get back to,” Kitchel said from his home Wednesday. “I think that he’ll be a good leader, be a good coach and give some good direction.”\nLeary said he was supportive of the University removing the interim tag and making Dan Dakich the full-time coach. However, Leary said after Crean’s press conference that he fully supports the former Marquette man taking the reigns in Bloomington. \nBenson said Crean has the right attitude toward authority and discipline necessary to bring the Hoosiers back together after a year of turmoil that saw several players skip Dakich’s first practice as head coach, two of whom would later be kicked off the team. \n“You’ve got to have that type of discipline, especially with the attitudes and the dissension that was on this team,” Benson said. \nWhen asked about Dakich’s dismissal of sophomore guard Armon Bassett and junior guard/forward Jamarcus Ellis, both Kitchel and Benson said they think Crean will at least speak to both players about rejoining the team. \n“I think that’s entirely up to coach Crean,” Benson said, adding he thinks they will both be expected to respect Crean’s authority, “or they’ll be gone.”\nKitchel hammered on his belief that Crean should take care to run a clean program, a sentiment Benson shared. Kitchel said he doesn’t believe success in college basketball is solely about wins and losses, and he said he thinks Crean recognizes that.\n“It’s important to build a program you can be proud of for 20 or 30 years rather than just winning basketball games,” Kitchel said. “If you get the right people with the right mind-set and do it the right way, it can be done.”\nStaff writer Michael Sanserino contributed to this report.