Crean: ‘We need our student fan base’

IU’s student section at men’s basketball games could be getting smaller, and its fate rests in the student body’s wallets.

With the first home exhibition game just more than two weeks away, IU coach Tom Crean expressed concern about student season ticket sales in a one-on-one interview on Wednesday with the Indiana Daily Student.

“I don’t think they are where they should be,” Crean said. “I don’t want that to become a disappointment because we might be disappointed in the short term. But the students who don’t get them – or don’t choose to buy them – are going to be disappointed in the long term.”

    AUDIO: Tom Crean interview

One of the long-term disappointments could be fewer tickets available for the students in the future.

Crean said Wednesday that if students don’t purchase their allotted amount, the tickets would be made available to the public.

“And if the tickets start being sold in a public way, the tickets that were going to students, it’s going to be hard to get those tickets back because they are going to sell,” he said.

The deadline for students to purchase season tickets passed on Oct. 6, but due to the lack of demand the IU Ticket Office has extended that deadline indefinitely. Individual calls were made by ticket office representatives this week to students who had purchased season tickets in the past but hadn’t bought any this season. The calls encouraged students to buy tickets while they’re still available, although the office declined to say when the actual deadline was.

Calls and e-mails to IU Director of Ticket Operations Mike Roberts were not returned.

At Marquette, Crean went to great lengths to reach the student fan base. He was instrumental in the school’s student section formation and made a point of acknowledging students before and after home games.

Since arriving on IU’s campus, Crean has done a lot to reach out to students.

On Oct. 6, he addressed about 500 students and answered questions inside the IU Auditorium. Since then, in various speaking engagements, he’s reiterated how vital student support is to the team’s success.

“There really has never been a student body that I could think of anywhere in the country that is going to be needed more than us as we go through these first few seasons here,” Crean said.

The first-year coach explained that he hopes students “invest” in the program before they claim “ownership.”

“We’re investing in a daily process in getting better inside the program. We’re trying to get everything we can to go out and invest in how important the student body is,” Crean said. “The investment in return, in the land of economics, is coming in and supporting this and see how much you’re needed.”

Rather than wait and see how the Hoosiers will do, Crean said “we need our student fan base to be so involved” and hopes students “jump in with both feet” in supporting this team.

“If people get caught up in the wins and losses right now, they are going to miss the point,” Crean said. “We have to put ourselves in a situation where our home crowd is second to none, and the students are a big part of that.”