Crean hits recruiting trail

While Purdue, Butler and Notre Dame prepare for tournament games and a chance to play for the championship in their home state, Indiana is on spring break with no place to go.

The Hoosiers (10-21) lost 12 of their last 13 games to finish with a losing record for a second straight season, leaving IU coach Tom Crean plenty of time to tweet about his hopes for future NCAA tournament berths.

"From the cornfields to the Capitol we are out and about today. We need to get the guys added that can help us get back to Selection Sunday," Crean posted Sunday on his Twitter account. He was not available for comment Sunday.

A day earlier, Crean posted about being at high school basketball sectional finals, saying: "I wish I could tell you where we are heading but its against NCAA RULES. WE NEED TO ALL TAKE BACK THE STATE THOUGH."

The Hoosiers haven't been the best team in the state since Kelvin Sampson resigned because of recruiting violations two years ago. That left the Hoosiers with only eight scholarship players and one senior for the 2008-09 season, when they finished with a 6-25 record — the school's worst winning percentage in nearly a century.

Crean said the Hoosiers are further along in their rebuilding than it appears.

"I can promise you that with the trial and error and the rebuilding situation that we've been in sometimes, I'm shocked we're as far along as we are," he said after the Hoosiers lost in the Big Ten tournament. "I know our record doesn't indicate that, but this program has endured a lot. A lot. And certainly we're not — we're not through the tunnel yet."