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(12/10/08 11:30pm)
The game is over. The Hoosiers put together as strong of a second half as they have all season, distancing themselves from the Horned Frogs and running to victory, 64-54. We're in the media room waiting for Coach Crean and the players. Check the basketblog later and tomorrow's IDS for more coverage.
(12/10/08 5:45pm)
This just popped up in my inbox: a letter from IU coach Tom Crean urging students to come out and support the team tonight against TCU (8 p.m., ESPN2). Maybe we'll get Christmas cards in two weeks, too. Wishful thinking?
(12/10/08 5:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Many of the turnovers IU has committed this season have been self-inflicted. As one Basketblog reader quipped last week, the Hoosiers just can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the thigh.Of the 330 Division I men’s basketball teams, the Hoosiers rank No. 327 in turnovers per game at 20.3. In turnover margin, the Hoosiers are No. 276.Through eight games, the Hoosiers have turned the ball over more than their opponents in all but one of the contests. On Nov. 26 against Chaminade, a D-II school, IU committed a season-low 11 turnovers.But when they haven’t been playing the Silverswords, the 4-4 Hoosiers have struggled immensely to take care of the ball. IU coach Tom Crean’s young squad has committed 20 turnovers or more in six games this season. Last year, the Hoosiers turned the ball over 20 times or more only twice.Last year’s Crean-led Golden Eagles at Marquette accomplished the “feat” only once.But neither of those teams faced the challenges the rebuilding Hoosiers face this season. IU’s backcourt rotation is composed of a sophomore walk-on, a junior college transfer and four true freshmen. The Hoosiers have struggled handling the ball so much this season, they’ve turned to freshman Malik Story, primarily the team’s sixth man and backup power forward, to play point guard in spurts out of “necessity, not desperation,” Crean said.He added that the speed of college basketball is something the Hoosiers are struggling to grasp, with so much inexperience. With the team struggling to get a possession past halfcourt at times, opponents have begun to pressure the Hoosiers’ young ball handlers. Freshman guard Daniel Moore and junior guard Devan Dumes have each committed a team-high 30 turnovers, and freshman forwards Tom Pritchard, at 23, and Nick Williams, at 20, aren’t far behind.The only guard on the team with more assists than turnovers is freshman Verdell Jones, who has missed the last two games with a head injury.Throughout the season, Crean has turned to a baseball analogy to illustrate his team’s mistakes. Like a power hitter with holes in his swing, the Hoosiers too often try to swing for the fences just to end up striking out. Rather than hit the long ball, Crean wishes his team would become a singles-hitting team and try to make the smart pass rather than the heroic one.On Wednesday, the Hoosiers will need to play within themselves and limit self-inflicted mistakes. Texas Christian University (6-3) has the No. 32 best scoring defense in the nation and a turnover margin about plus-two through nine games.After the Zags game, Crean said a lot of his team’s turnovers can be attributed to technique issues, such as creating a better angle for an entry pass into the post. But for the most part, the Hoosiers’ struggles have to do with the speed and length of their opponents, something Crean and his coaching staff can’t mirror in practice.“If we could, we’d play those guys,” he joked.
(12/10/08 1:02am)
With a new roster and a young team, the Hoosiers are going to have their fair share of problems this season. But IU's biggest struggle up to this point would have to be limiting turnovers and handling the ball with care.
(12/08/08 3:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS – Stopping short of calling it a moral victory, IU coach Tom Crean said his team played “as close to a full 40-minute effort” as they have all season.In their third game against a nationally ranked opponent this year, the Hoosiers (4-4) hung with No. 5 Gonzaga (6-0) much longer Saturday than they had previously against ranked opponents.After suffering blowout losses earlier this season to No. 7 Notre Dame (38 points), Saint Joseph’s (26 points) and No. 15 Wake Forest (25 points), the Hoosiers played the Bulldogs close until about six minutes left in the second half. Crean said his young squad competed harder during a longer period of time than it has in its previous seven games.“Before we could ever talk about strategies and execution ... we had to get in our mind that we were really going to come in and compete,” Crean said following IU’s 70-54 loss.Wanting his team to come in with toughness and a mindset that they wouldn’t let Gonzaga’s substantial size and speed make a difference, Crean said he implored his team to have its will be the difference-maker.In the Zags’ first five games, the Bulldogs were barely challenged.On Saturday, Gonzaga coach Mark Few described the win as “ugly” and a “grinder game.” The Hoosiers held the Bulldogs to a season-low 70 points, 10 fewer than their previous low.“One of the best compliments I think you can give a coach is his team plays hard,” Few said. “If you tell me that, I feel pretty good about that. And (Crean’s) team is playing extremely hard. They are young, and they just don’t quite have as many horses as they’ve had in the past.”With three minutes left, Crean screamed at his bench to “stay alive” and reminded them it was only a three-possession ball game. Throughout the afternoon, Crean tried to maximize his team’s effort level. He went 11 players deep and subbed out Hoosiers he didn’t think were playing smart or competing as hard as they could. “I’m always going to try and correct that,” Crean said. “There were a couple of times today I took a guy or because I didn’t like their shot selection, but that’s part of the learning process. That’s what we have to do.”Shot selection and turnovers continued to plague IU on Saturday, as they have all season. The Hoosiers committed 25 turnovers Saturday after turning the ball over a season-high 26 times against Wake Forest on Wednesday.Giving up size at every position, the Hoosiers were only outrebounded by two (37-35). But the Bulldogs chewed out the Hoosiers in the paint, outscoring them in the area, 46-10.Like in previous games, the Bulldogs eventually pulled away from IU, winning by 16 points. But the Hoosiers were encouraged by what they considered their best on-the-court effort this season. Freshman forward Tom Pritchard said the game showed “they could play with anyone.”Junior guard Devan Dumes, one of only three players on IU’s roster with Division I experience coming into this season, agreed.“A lot of the first games (against ranked teams) ... we didn’t really compete for the duration of the game,” Dumes said. “But today I felt like we competed for almost 40 minutes. If we had competed for 40, we might have even pulled it out.”JONES OUT AGAINFreshman guard Verdell Jones sat on IU’s bench against No. 5 Gonzaga on Saturday, but did not play for the second straight game.“The doctors took a look at him again right after the game,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “His spirits are great, but his body is just not there yet.”Crean said Jones could not have played on Saturday and was not a game-time decision. The team will continue to monitor his status.
(12/06/08 6:32pm)
Sorry for the delay today, very slow driving up to Indy... We are live blogging courtside from Lucas Oil Stadium, be sure to join in on the chat below.
(12/05/08 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gonzaga’s glass slipper no longer fits.Once an annual Cinderella story, the Zags have evolved into one of the top programs in the country. The northwest school that used to be regarded as the feel-good story of college basketball now has opponents worried sick about playing them.“There really is not anything that doesn’t concern us (about Gonzaga),” IU coach Tom Crean said in a Thursday teleconference.With a balanced scoring attack, talent at every position and “tremendous” chemistry, Crean said he thinks the Bulldogs have been one of the best teams in the nation for more than a decade.“I don’t think you’ll find any college basketball coach or player that has competed against them that wouldn’t refer to them as one of the best programs in the country,” Crean said.On Saturday, the Hoosiers (4-3) will try and create a feel-good story of their own when they face No. 5 Gonzaga at 1:30 p.m. in the Hartford Hall of Fame Classic in Indianapolis. The IU-Gonzaga showdown will be the first basketball game ever played inside Lucas Oil Stadium, the host of the 2010 and 2015 Final Fours. Following the game, No. 7 Notre Dame and Ohio State will play.“It’s a great honor for us at Indiana to play in the first game at Lucas Oil Stadium,” Crean said. “It wouldn’t seem right in my opinion, and a lot of others’, if Indiana wasn’t in the first game.”Gonzaga coach Mark Few acknowledged the Hoosiers have a “huge challenge” in rebuilding the program but maintained Crean’s Hoosiers are, nevertheless, a “dangerous team.”“It’s really important everyone understands where they’re at and give (Crean) some time and patience,” Few said in the teleconference. “That being said, they are a very, very capable team that is playing hard and seems to be executing what he’s got them in.”Few also said his team is executing better than it was at the same time last season, partially in thanks to its lack of a “star” player.Gonzaga is led in scoring by senior center Josh Heytvelt (15.0 points), a potential match-up problem down low for the Hoosiers. Adding to the Zags’ advantage in the post is 6-foot-11 forward Austin Daye, a lanky sophomore. Through five games, Daye is averaging 12.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest.The Bulldogs’ balanced scoring attack features five players averaging in double figures. The team’s sixth-leading scorer, senior guard Jeremy Pargo, returned to school this summer after entering his name into the NBA Draft.“Everything that came out of that was positive,” Few said. “Kids so many times just focus on scoring, but what we’ve been harping Jeremy on is running the team, being a point guard ... and leading us. And that was reinforced, that was what the NBA people wanted to see.”Because of Gonzaga’s depth, Crean said IU will be “very match-up oriented.” He wasn’t sure if he’d start freshman point-forward Malik Story against Pargo and said freshman guard Verdell Jones is still “day-to-day.”After watching the tape of IU’s 83-58 loss to No. 15 Wake Forest on the bus ride home Wednesday night, Crean said the Demon Deacons wore his team down mentally and physically after the Hoosiers got off to a strong start.“A lot of the things we’re not so good at right now can change with better technique, change with better angles, change with better execution,” Crean said, pointing out the Hoosiers gave up too many lay-ups Wednesday.After turning the ball over a season-high 26 times Wednesday, Crean said the Hoosiers need to do a better job mentally of taking care of the ball. “There are certain things physically we can’t change,” IU’s first-year coach said. “The bottom line is there are things we can’t change, and that’s why we’ve got to tighten up the details of the game for us.”
(12/05/08 12:37am)
Here is the centerpiece story from our basketball guide.
(12/04/08 5:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – In a season of firsts, the Hoosiers set the wrong kind of milestone Wednesday.First road loss.For the third time in 10 days, the Hoosiers suffered a blowout loss, falling to No. 15 Wake Forest (7-0), 83-58, in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.The loss drops IU (4-3) to 3-5 all-time in the event and marks the second time it has lost to Wake Forest in the tournament’s nine-year history. In 2003, the Hoosiers lost to the Demon Deacons in similar fashion, suffering a 100-67 defeat.On Wednesday, the Hoosiers stayed with Wake Forest in the opening minutes, even holding an early lead. But freshman guard Daniel Moore’s made free throw with 11:42 left in the half gave IU its final lead of the game, 18-17.“We were turning the ball over still, but we were playing more as a team and doing what our assignments were and sticking to the game plan,” said IU freshman guard/forward Malik Story.The Deacons quickly regrouped and responded with a 12-2 run. By the half, the lead stretched to 16.“At halftime we said, ‘We can’t have much worse of a finish to a half,’” said IU coach Tom Crean. “We were right in there, executing the game plan, rotating right, getting good shots. We were still turning it over some, but they were too. We were right in the game. But we’re not a team who can deviate from what the plan is.”Crean declined to go over what exactly went wrong in the game, specifically his defensive strategies, explaining he didn’t want to give out “some dissertation on what we did defensively and what (was said) after the game.”When asked how he thought his young team handled its first road game, Crean responded with eight choice words.“I think 26 turnovers tells the story.”The 26 turnovers were a season-high for the Hoosiers and led to 26 points for the opposition.Like Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Saint Joseph’s Phil Martelli, Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio went out of his way to praise Crean and the young Hoosiers after the game. And like the rest of the coaches, Gaudio said his team’s talent and experience were just too much for a rebuilding program.“They’ll be as good as they can possibly be with (Crean) coaching. ... And they gave us a tough time tonight,” Gaudio said.In addition to turning the ball over, the Hoosiers struggled with their shooting, hitting 37.7 percent of their field goal attempts and only 54.5 percent (12-22) of their free throws.“Before we can make strides, we’ve got to learn to compete at a higher level over a longer period of time,” Crean said.Freshman guard Matt Roth led the Hoosiers with 12 points, becoming the fourth different player in seven games to lead IU in scoring. Malik Story, who started in place of injured freshman Verdell Jones, also scored in double figures with 10.Crean said his team struggled handling the ball in Jones’ absence. Story, who played some point guard for the second straight game, committed six turnovers. Junior guard Devan Dumes had seven.Jones, who traveled with the team but did not dress, is day-to-day, according to IU spokesperson J.D. Campbell. Jones suffered a serious head injury against Cornell, and Crean said earlier this week that the team is treating the injury as a concussion.After losing their third game of the season, the Hoosiers resume action when they take on No. 5 Gonzaga at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Hartford Hall of Fame Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium.
(12/04/08 3:43am)
Tom Crean said he and his team will take something away from every game this season, with Wednesday being no exception.
(12/04/08 3:03am)
IU Class of 2009 recruit Bawa Muniru was spotted courtside before Wednesday's IU-Wake Forest game. Due to complex and unwritten rules I don't fully understand, we didn't talk to Muniru out of fear, but our photographer Jay Seawell did capture this pic of the 6-foot-11 recruit.
(12/03/08 11:18pm)
The game is over. Hoosiers drop to 3-5 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. We'll have more for you after the game. Read below about our blog issues this evening.
(12/03/08 4:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Wednesday, the Hoosiers will face one of the best floor generals in the country. Without an All-American in the backcourt, IU plans to use a point guard by committee approach to run its offense.In search of size and depth, IU coach Tom Crean played freshman Malik Story at the point position for the first time Sunday. Story, a 6-foot-5, 222-pound freshman from Los Angeles, has primarily played frontcourt positions this season, splitting time with freshman Nick Williams at power forward. But Crean said the Hoosiers would take advantage of Story’s versatility, playing him at as many as four positions this season. “We’re not making this move out of desperation, we’re making it out of necessity,” Crean said. “He is pretty good with the ball, and he is strong. We’re going to be playing against so many bigger guards in the time coming up that we are going to need that. We’re going to need a guy that can guard that position.”The first of the talented guards the Hoosiers will face over their several next games is Demon Deacons’ sophomore Jeff Teague. An Indianapolis native and a Pike High School graduate, Teague is averaging 21 points, five assists and four rebounds per game this season. Crean said Sunday that Teague is playing as well as any guard he’s seen this season, adding he’s “on an absolute roll right now.”After Wake Forest, the Hoosiers will have to game plan for talented guards like Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo and Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks.With freshman guards Verdell Jones and Daniel Moore in the starting lineup Sunday, Crean decided to add Story, a “point-forward,” to the mix against Cornell.“We need to have another point guard that can come off the bench so we are not so winded,” he said.In 21 minutes against the Big Red, Story finished with five points, three rebounds, one assist and one turnover.Crean said his new point guard “played really well” Sunday, adding he communicated on the floor as well as he had all season.After playing on the wing primarily in high school, Story’s ability to create off the dribble and guard bigger players has landed him in the Hoosiers’ point guard rotation. In 18.7 minutes per game this season, Story is averaging 5.8 points per game, making him the team’s fifth-leading scorer.Along with Jones and Moore, IU’s top two point guards who both started Sunday, Story is one of only three Hoosiers to have more assists (10) than turnovers (7).On Monday during his weekly radio show, Crean described Jones’ status as “day-to-day” and said the team’s training staff is treating him as if he has a concussion after Jones had to be stretchered off the court Sunday, the victim of a hard screen.Even if Jones can go Wednesday, it is likely Story will at least help back up Moore, the team’s fiery 5-foot-10 walk-on.Moore is leading the team in assists (24) and steals (9). He scored a career-high 10 points against Chaminade in the third round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational and is shooting 57.1 percent on 14 attempts from the field this season.Jones, IU’s most productive point guard offensively, is averaging 8.2 points per game through six games and has gotten to the free-throw line more than any other point guard on the roster.If Crean decides to dig deeper into his depth chart, he could turn to junior Devan Dumes or sophomore Brett Finkelmeier. Dumes is the team’s second-leading scorer (12.3 points per game), but has played almost exclusively at shooting guard this season. Finkelmeier, one of two returning players this season, has played in every game, but has had minimal impact.
(12/02/08 7:14pm)
The BTN's latest commercial... If only Joe Paterno coached the basketball team, too.
(12/02/08 1:09pm)
Here is another story posted online from our annual basketball guide from a few weeks back.
(12/01/08 5:55pm)
The IDS' annual basketball guide came out a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to give our loyal basketblog readers a chance to read our stories in case they missed them on newsstands.
(12/01/08 5:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>LAHAINA, Hawaii – Tanned from a week of vacation and tired from three straight days of basketball, Tom Crean said he was proud of his team as he left the Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday. Following back-to-back blowout losses to No. 8 Notre Dame and a veteran Saint Joseph’s squad, the Hoosiers avoided an upset to tournament-host Chaminade and held onto a late lead to get their lone win at the EA Sports Maui Invitational.IU’s first-year coach smiled as he left the media room of the high school-sized arena packed with die-hard fans.Above him, No. 1 North Carolina and No. 8 Notre Dame warmed up on the court, set to take part in the tournament’s championship game.Crean stopped as he left the gym’s media room and thanked a tournament official for the great week, vowing to return.“Some day we’ll stand out there when you’re passing out that trophy,” he said.SUNDAY: ALOHA, MAUI INVITATIONALThe tournament’s eight coaches sat with leis around their necks at a press conference table outside the Maui Westin, the Pacific Ocean at their backs. Crean sat next to his close friend and former Big East rival Mike Brey, coach at Notre Dame.“I’m so glad Indiana got this guy out of our league,” Brey said half-joking. “I just didn’t want to see him again so soon.”Minutes later, the two coaches posed next to surfboards for a photo-op followed by a free-throw shooting contest for charity. As Crean explained, when you’re on the island and you’re working, you work hard. Outside of that, hey, this isn’t Indiana: It’s Maui.“We needed binoculars to see how far Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber were out in the ocean the other day on their boogie boards,” Crean said. “I think they’re having a good time.”MONDAY: ‘WE’RE NOT GUARDING LUKE WITH ONE PERSON’The Hoosiers’ game planned for Notre Dame All-American forward Luke Harangody and held the big man to 14 points (well below his season average), but the depth of the Fighting Irish made his production irrelevant, as the Hoosiers lost, 88-50.IU trailed by 21 at the half and couldn’t muster a run against Notre Dame. Despite the IU fans in attendance far outnumbering the Notre Dame faithful, one memorable quote stood out as freshman guard Malik Story toed the free-throw line for his first attempt.“Nobody knows who you are!” an Irish fan screamed.After the game, Crean told reporters who they were: “a brand new program” facing unprecedented challenges. “Obviously we’re in a learning process,” he said. “We learned a lot today.”TUESDAY: A MESSAGE FROM THE MAINLAND, THREE YEARS PROBATIONThe much-anticipated announcement from the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions overshadowed the 80-54 drubbing Saint Joseph’s handed the Hoosiers.Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli attributed the loss to “older against younger.” After the game, Crean was cornered by a dozen reporters who questioned him about the NCAA’s decision to accept the University’s self-imposed penalties and give the school only three years of probation.It proved the self-reporting system works, but Crean couldn’t help but put the sanctions in perspective.“This is what gutting a program and starting over looks like,” Crean said following the loss and the NCAA’s announcement.As for former IU coach Kelvin Sampson and assistant Rob Senderoff, the NCAA levied a five-year “show cause” against Sampson and a three-year penalty against Senderoff.Sampson issued a statement through his agent, partially accepting responsibility and partially reflecting his deep disappointment.“It is time to move on,” it read.WEDNESDAY: A WIN IS A WIN IS A WINWhen one of the top programs in college basketball history is up by one point with 4.7 seconds left against Chaminade, you know it’s a season like no other.After the Hoosiers opened the game on a 16-2 run, the Silverswords made a spirited comeback in the second half and had a chance to win the game on the final possession.“We learned that the game is never over in the beginning,” Pritchard said afterward.While there weren’t many Chaminade fans in attendance, the strong North Carolina contingent that was waiting for the next game cheered fiercely against the Hoosiers.“DE-FENSE,” the Tar Heels screamed.With less than five seconds on the clock, Pritchard hit one of two from the free-throw line. When the second one rimmed out, Chaminade guard Noah Gottlieb raced down the left side of the floor as the clock winded down and heaved a hurried 3-point attempt that would have buried the Hoosiers in last place for the week.The shot fell short: air ball.Following their celebration, the Hoosiers came up with a new chant.“Let’s go Irish!” the IU fans chanted at the Tar Heels who had made their allegiances known.“There is no price tag you can put on experiences like this,” Crean said after the game. “We’re not going to be a team that’s blowing a lot of people out.”The Hoosiers escaped with an 81-79 victory and were headed back to Bloomington with more than just a tan. “These guys worked so hard, and I’m glad they are going home with a win,” Crean said.
(12/01/08 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For months, IU has waited in suspense and braced for the worst.On Tuesday, the school let out a collective sigh of relief when the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced it accepted IU’s self-imposed sanctions and would only penalize the school in the form of a three-year probationary period.The case stems from the major recruiting violations committed under former IU coach Kelvin Sampson and his assistant Rob Senderoff.Despite the NCAA finding the University guilty of “failure to monitor,” the committee decided no further penalties were necessary outside of the modest probation.“It is time to move on and put this episode behind us,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release. “We have a new coach and an almost entirely new team, and they should not have to worry about being penalized for things that happened before they were even here.”The Hoosiers’ former coaches, Sampson and Senderoff, were not let off as easy as the University. Sampson received a five-year “show cause” order that will most likely keep him from returning to college basketball during the period. Now an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Sampson is prohibited from recruiting, making phone calls, receiving phone calls or contacting any recruits during the next three years. The sanctions are slightly reduced during the fourth and fifth years.“I’m deeply disappointed in today’s findings by the NCAA,” Sampson said in a statement through his agent. “But the accusations at hand are things that happened on my watch, and therefore I will take responsibility.”He apologized to all of the people “who were hurt in this situation” and added, “it is time to move on.”Senderoff, now an associate head coach at Kent State, was handed a three-year “show cause” that will keep him from recruiting, but allow him to coach the Golden Flashes.No further penalties were levied against the program besides the ones the school had already self-assessed. The University reduced its scholarship allotment by one this season and limited recruiting opportunities for their former coaches and Tom Crean.But beginning in 2009-10, the program will be free of sanctions with the exception of the probationary period.“(The ruling) goes to show that the system works,” Crean said.He said the NCAA looked at the self-imposed sanctions and “respected” them.“Because the sanctions imposed obviously were very, very hard,” Crean said, “we just have to deal with aftermath. ... This is what gutting a program and starting over looks like.”He said he was thankful for all the work the athletics department and the Ice Miller firm had done but said he felt sorry for Hoosier fans everywhere.“Indiana basketball fans deserve credit as much as any in this country,” Crean said. “For fans, and the way they treat this program, they’re sticking with us. They’ve gone through a lot of hard times, we’ve gone through hard times, but now we know we can continue to move this program in the right direction and build it. Without more sanctions.”After increased pressure from the investigation, IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan resigned on June 26, the same day the NCAA announced the “failure to monitor” allegation.On Tuesday, Greenspan, whose resignation is effective at the end of the year and will be replaced by Indianapolis lawyer Fred Glass, said he was “grateful” for the NCAA’s assessment, but also indicated his resignation might have been inevitable once the investigation began.“Based on this decision, it appears that anything less than monitoring perfection in this particular case would have triggered a ‘failure to monitor’ finding,” he said in a release.Since the University announced its self-imposed sanctions in 2007, the men’s basketball program has been on a steady, but steep, decline. Coaches were bought out, players were kicked off the team or transferred and the team has an almost completely new roster.NCAA Infractions Committee chair Josephine Potuto, a law professor at the University of Nebraska, called the self-sanctions “substantial” in a teleconference with reporters Tuesday.Despite the program turmoil, Potuto said the committee never factored in what was going on inside of Assembly Hall during the investigation and deliberation.“The committee can’t consider a prime focus of penalties on what happens to an institution because of a major change independent of what the committee penalties turned out to be,” she said. “We have to be sure that what the committee does reflects the seriousness of the violations and the nature of the violations, how they were committed and the scope that they were committed.”Under the terms of the probation, the University will be imposed with heavy record keeping and heightened scrutiny and will be obligated to report to the Infractions Committee yearly, Potuto said.Following his team’s loss to Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the Maui Invitational Tuesday, Crean said he wasn’t fully aware of the probationary period details but said he was happy the committee spared the school.“We were going to do whatever they said,” Crean said. “We didn’t want to lose postseason, we didn’t want to lose scholarships and we didn’t want to lose television.”“Thank God we didn’t lose any of those,” he said.Crean, who took over the program in April, said he is looking forward to recruiting without other schools making innuendos and spreading false rumors about what the NCAA was going to rule.“And now our recruits can feel good about it, our future class recruits can feel good about it (and) our current players can feel good about it,” he said.“We can just move forward.”
(11/30/08 6:23pm)
Jones released from hospital: Freshman guard Verdell Jones was released from the hospital shortly after the Cornell game ended Sunday. Jones was injured when he blindly ran into a pick at center court in the first half. IU spokesperson J.D. Campbell said all test results were negative and "there was no evidence of serious injury."
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(11/28/08 7:03pm)
I'm stopped in the Minneapolis airport, on my way back to Bloomington after taking the redeye from Maui last night. Let's take a look back on the EA Sports Maui Invitational for just a second...