Earlier today, IU Coach Tom Crean received mid-season honors from the folks at the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award. The Jim Phelan Award itself, is given to the nation's best coach for the whole season, and per a release, "will be announced on March 30 in New Orleans, site of the NCAA men's basketball championship." Past winners include Pitt's Jamie Dixon, John Calipari (while with Memphis) and Bo Ryan.
Also from the release, why Crean has earned the honor:
"After leading Indiana to a 12-0 start, Tom Crean earns the Jim Phelan award mid-season coaching honors. Most experts expected very little from the Hoosier's this season, but instead they are off to the best start since the 1975-76 season when Indiana went 32-0 on their way to the national title and the last undefeated season in NCAA Division I."
My take:
This is certainly a great honor for Crean to receive out of all the coaches in Division I and is well-deserved based on the reasoning stated above. However, to me, it feels like this is kind of like awarding a marathon athlete for leading halfway through the race.
But, the race isn't even half over. The regular season is 31 games and the Hoosiers have played 13. So the timing of the award was fortunate for Crean, because the real halfway point would have come after the Ohio State and Michigan games.
Still, this isn't a huge deal and I don't think Crean will treat it as such. The man is smart enough to know that the real prize comes at the end of the season,
