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(04/09/08 7:45am)
Out with the blue, in with the red. \nFor Tom Crean, that means his wardrobe. And his gameday drink. \n“I was killing the Diet Pepsis the last few years during the games – three or four a game,” the new IU men’s basketball coach said. “My wife would just be miserable with me. Win or lose, she’d be more miserable with me for how many Diet Pepsis I drank during the game.”\nBut IU’s a Coke school – just another adjustment for Crean, hired last Tuesday to coach the Hoosiers after nine years at Marquette, whose colors are blue and gold. \nIn an interview Tuesday with the Indiana Daily Student, less than a week since he agreed to coach in Bloomington, Crean talked about the challenges and the thrills of his new job.\n“It hits me, not every day, but really about every hour about how big this job is – how big a deal it is to be the Indiana coach,” he said. “But at the same time, it drives me.”\nThe first jolt came last Tuesday, when Crean flew from Milwaukee to Bloomington and met a group of students at the Monroe County Airport.\nThat was the prelude, he said. Crean heard, or saw, rather, the overture the next morning when he was handed a red “Crean & Crimson” T-shirt.\nHe was thrilled.\nIt took his kids a little longer to share in the excitement.\n“This is the first time we’ve had change in our life with three children,” Crean said. “It will be a process for us.”\nCrean’s daughter, Megan, was only 3 years old when he took the head coaching job at Marquette. His son Riley and daughter Ainsley weren’t born yet.\n“I thought it was a great sign when I was home Thursday night that my son, Riley, was sleeping in his candy-stripe warm-ups that they gave him,” Crean said.\nAinsley’s still trying to pronounce “Bloomington,” he said.\nWhile Crean tries to hire a new staff and recruit a new crop of IU players, he and his wife have already begun their search for a home in Monroe County.\n“We don’t have a plan yet,” he said. \nHe hopes his kids can finish school in Wisconsin, but that could change, he said. \nIn the meantime, he’s been trying to soak it all in. \nHe peeked into the Dave Matthews concert Sunday at Assembly Hall to show someone the arena but was mobbed by a group of students who wanted to meet the new coach, get his autograph or grab him for a quick snapshot. \n“I’d have stayed in there all night, signing autographs and taking pictures, but that wasn’t the place to do it,” he said.\nHe hopes to interact with student fans on a regular basis. \n“We’re going to have great student involvement, as far as a staff as far as players as far as the head coach and his family,” said Crean, who did his best to invoke student support at Marquette. “The great thing to know is that it’s already built in.”\nHe’s been juggling engagements he made before his job switch with ones he’s made at IU. Crean, who said baseball was his first love as a kid, hopes he can make a singing engagement at Wrigley Field – the seventh-inning stretch at a Cubs game later this month. \n“That’s pressure, now,” said Crean, who’s sung “Take me out to the ballgame” at previous Cubs games. “That’s pressure. I’ve never coached in the National Championship game, but I’ve got to believe standing in front of all those fans in the seventh inning, that might be the equivalent.”\nCrean was joking, of course. He admits he still gets sick to his stomach before some games, a sign that it’s “usually going to be a good game.”\nHe craves the opportunity to coach in the National Championship game. He has ever since his first trip to the Final Four in 1987 as a 19-year-old college student. \nThat, most IU fans remember, was when Keith Smart hit a jumper from the baseline with five seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 74-73 win against Syracuse – IU’s last national title. \nCrean was there. \nAnd he hopes it’s not the last time he witnesses an IU championship. \n“That dream’s intact,” he said. “I could be coaching anywhere in America and that dream’s intact.”
(04/08/08 7:20am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Less than a week into his tenure as IU men’s basketball coach, Tom Crean realized one of his greatest challenges to success on the hardwood will come in the classroom.\nShortly after IU freshman Eric Gordon declared his intention to enter the NBA Draft, Crean told a small group of reporters that some members of the team are struggling with academic issues. \n“It’s not good,” Crean said. “We’ve got a lot of work today, and I think you’re going to get sick of hearing me saying that, but I have no other way of putting it. It’s a situation that’s got to be addressed immediately.”\nHe declined to elaborate. \nThe Hoosiers could hardly spare an academic suspension, let alone another player, when it comes to next year’s roster. Of the nine players who could return to next year’s team, one – Gordon – declared for the NBA Draft, and two others – junior Jamarcus Ellis and sophomore Armon Bassett – were kicked off the team two days before Crean was hired.\nCrean, who was introduced as IU’s head coach at a press conference Wednesday, could reinstate the two players, but has yet to announce his intentions.\n“No updates that I’m ready to give right now,” he said.\nIn addition to academic woes, Crean will have to deal with a difficult recruiting situation, as well. No recruits are allowed to take official visits to IU, and Crean can’t visit any players because of IU’s sanctions and the fact that the previous coaching staff used up its allotted visits. \nBut the new coach tried to stay positive. \n“It’s opportunity,” Crean said. “If I look at it any differently, I’m going to crawl under the car. It’s an opportunity. You just have to go with it.”\nCrean was late for Gordon’s announcement Monday because he attended IU basketball meetings throughout the day. \n“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and today was the first day that I really started to learn more about that,” he said. \nDespite the problems, the honeymoon hasn’t worn off.\n“I haven’t regretted it, I know that,” Crean said of taking the job. “I’m pretty excited about it. It’s just a lot of things going on. It wouldn’t be a great job if there wasn’t.”
(04/08/08 7:07am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Eric Gordon’s bright yellow shirt removed all doubt, if there was any left. \nHe’s going to the NBA. \nAt a press conference Monday afternoon in his hometown, the IU freshman announced his intentions to leave school and play professional basketball next season.\n“I will be entering my name in June for the 2008 NBA Draft,” Gordon said during a press conference at the Jewish Community Center in Indianapolis. “I am doing this to compete at the highest level, not for the fame or the money.”\nGordon’s decision didn’t surprise many, including new IU coach Tom Crean, who said he did not try to persuade the star freshman. \n“I would do as little as he wanted, I would do as much as I could, and at the same time we were just here to support him,” Crean said. \nBefore Gordon even suited up in his No. 23 Indiana jersey, most Hoosier fans thought it would be one-and-done for the North Central High School star. \nIt was a season that almost didn’t happen. Gordon had committed to play at Illinois during his junior season before spurning the Illini to play for his home-state school after Kelvin Sampson was hired. \nSampson, the coach that lured Gordon to come to Bloomington, resigned mid-season because of NCAA violations.\nStill, Gordon’s father, Eric Gordon Sr., said his son made the right decision. \n“It was a tumultuous season, without a doubt,” Gordon Sr. said. “But I think this is what he wanted to do. ... We’re all about community, and Indiana University is part of our community. Although things didn’t necessarily go as planned, things were good overall.”\nIn his sole year in college, Gordon wasted little time to wow the IU crowd, scoring 33 points – the most for a Hoosier in a debut – in IU’s season opener against University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Gordon led the Big Ten in scoring (20.9 points per game) and set a Big Ten record for most points scored in a season by a freshman (669). \n“Wherever you go, you’ll always be an Indiana Hoosier,” IU assistant coach and long-time family friend Jeff Meyer told Gordon. “And we appreciate that. And more than that, in my humble opinion, you’ll always be a great Indiana Hoosier.”\nBut to many fans, Gordon’s brief stay was a disappointment.\nHe shot 19-for-63, or 30.1 percent, in his final four games and scored just eight points in IU’s first-round loss to Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament. \nNinety-one percent of readers said they believed Gordon was not ready for the NBA, according to a non-scientific poll conducted on the Indiana Daily Student Web site. \nCrean disagrees. \n“The proof is there,” Crean said. “I think he’s going to be outstanding.”\nCrean said he believed Gordon’s near-complete skill set will only improve as a professional. \nGordon’s projected to be the seventh pick in the draft, according to NBADraft.net.\nGordon Sr. said he believed his son could be drafted anywhere between the No. 3 and No. 8 picks. \nHe added that his son will sign with an agent, taking away any chance Gordon could return for another year at IU. \n“He’s committed,” he said. “He’s going to be going to the NBA, and he’s looking forward to it. He wants to compete at the highest level, and there’s no better place than the NBA to do that.”\nGordon said he expects to earn a degree in the future. \n“I’m willing to graduate from IU at some point in time,” he said. \nThat, his father said, is important to him. \n“Everyone’s not going to be a professional athlete,” Gordon Sr. said. “For him, he’s going to have kids some day, and I think it’s a great testament for him to be able to tell kids, ‘Hey, you may not be a professional athlete, so please get your degree because I got mine.’”
(04/08/08 4:00am)
Michael Sanserino
(04/08/08 4:00am)
Michael Sanserino
(04/05/08 7:51pm)
Mary Beth Schneider of the Indianapolis Star caught up with Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign stop in Fort Wayne and asked what he though of IU's new coach.
(04/04/08 6:04pm)
Though the Indy Star says he has already decided to go pro, IU says he will wait till Monday before addressing his future.
(04/04/08 3:22am)
The Indianapolis Star is reporting IU freshman guard Eric Gordon will declare for the NBA Draft tomorrow. No surprise, really.
(04/03/08 4:08pm)
Dallas Maverick's owner and Indiana alum Mark Cuban gave his thoughts about new IU coach Tom Crean via e-mail:
(04/03/08 4:07pm)
An hour before newly-christened IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean stepped into the Hoosier Room at Memorial Stadium to receive his official IU welcome, he got his first chance to address the players on his new team. \nOr what’s left of it. \nOf the nine players with remaining eligibility who competed for the Hoosiers this season, only six met with Crean in Bloomington \nWednesday morning.\nTwo players who didn’t show up, junior guard/forward Jamarcus Ellis and sophomore guard Armon Bassett, were kicked off the team by former interim coach Dan Dakich on Monday. A source close to the team said neither Ellis nor Bassett was invited to the team meeting. \nIU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan said he supported Dakich’s decision.\nAt a press conference Wednesday morning, Crean said he was aware of the situation and did not know whether he would consider reinstating Ellis and Bassett to the program. He said, though, he’d answer the question with a response he thinks “sums it up.”\n“All along the way, (IU) stood for class, it stood for integrity, it stood for doing the right thing, it stood for being the right way, it stood for treating people with the respect,” Crean said. “And the only way you can give respect is to have self-respect and to do those things.”\nGreenspan said he would support any decision Crean made regarding Ellis and Bassett’s future. \n“I don’t want to be in the business of micromanaging the basketball program,” Greenspan said, adding it would not be too difficult to reinstate the players because the University had not begun to terminate their financial aid.\nEllis told the Indiana Daily Student on Tuesday he looked forward to meeting Crean and rejoining the roster. \nBassett declined comment.\nFreshman guard Eric Gordon, the team’s leading scorer, was invited but did not attend the meeting. Gordon is mulling over a decision about whether to enter the NBA Draft. If he does, Gordon is projected by several experts to be a lottery pick. \nCrean said he was glad to meet with the players who showed up for the meeting. \n“I had a chance to meet with my team today, and without getting into details, I told them the same thing that I told my team (at Marquette) last night, which was as painful as anything I’ve ever done in my adult life,” Crean said. “I won’t say that I said goodbye, but (I told) them how I felt about them.”\nCrean paused, fighting his emotions.\n“I had their heart, and they had mine,” he said. “And that’s exactly what I’m looking for at this University.”\nFreshman guard Jordan Crawford said he was impressed with Crean in the brief interaction they had during the players’ meeting, but he had not decided whether he will return to the Hoosiers next year or seek a transfer. \n“Of course (transferring has) crossed my mind because the coach that I came here for is gone,” Crawford said. “It had to cross my mind. I thought about it; I’m still thinking about it.”\nOne day after Kelvin Sampson resigned as coach, Crawford declined to discuss his future, saying he was focused on the season. \nOn Wednesday, Crawford said he wanted to talk to Crean more in the future before making a final decision. Crean will meet with the players on an individual basis, Crawford said.\n“I’m looking for a passionate coach,” he said. “You can tell he’s very passionate about the game. That’s always good.”\nFreshman forward Eli Holman, who missed most of the season with a wrist injury, said he, too, had not reached a final decision about his future in Bloomington. He said he’s going home to California this weekend to talk with friends and family. \n“I am not leaning either way,” Holman said. “I just want to get through these last two days of school and see what tomorrow holds. I think all things happen for a reason, and I think this will be a good fit for some of the guys here.”\n-Men’s basketball reporter Chris Engel contributed to this report.
(04/03/08 5:18am)
New IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean said he was shocked when he learned of the punishment IU imposed on itself as a result of NCAA recruiting violations. \n“Is it going to be a challenge?” Crean said. “It’s probably going to be a greater challenge than I realize, and I’ve thought a lot about it.”\nWhen Crean hires a new staff, it will be limited in the number of calls it can place to recruits, and there will be restrictions on the number of recruiting visits Crean and his assistants can make. \n“The sanctions that were imposed in house, they are very, very strong,” he said. “They are very strong.”\nHarry Gonso, who chaired the search committee that selected Crean, said he was up-front with every potential candidate about IU’s situation. \n“Everybody’s smart enough to know what’s going on,” Gonso said.\nThe NCAA could still impose more sanctions for five alleged “major” recruiting violations. Crean said he is “very concerned” the NCAA could add stiffer penalties.\n“But at the same time, you could either look at that as challenge, or you could look at it as the opportunity,” Crean said. “Because I just got here, I have no choice but to look at it as the opportunity.”\nThe NCAA Committee on Infractions will conduct a hearing on June 14 in Seattle with IU to review its case. Crean said he is willing to help, if necessary.\n“I’ll do whatever they ask me to do,” he said. “If I need to go with the contingent here to Seattle, I’ll be there. If I need to talk to somebody, I’ll do it.”\nA final ruling is expected 30 days after the hearing.
(04/03/08 5:15am)
Though IU President Michael McRobbie appointed a 10-member committee to help select a new IU men’s basketball coach, it was committee chair Harry Gonso, IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan and McRobbie who “did most of the footwork,” Gonso said after a press conference Wednesday.\nDuring the press conference to introduce new IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean, the veil of secrecy that silenced the committee during its search was lifted, and members offered insight into the process that led to the second men’s basketball coaching hire in about two years. \nThe 10-member committee met only three times, during which it set out a list of goals and qualifications each member sought in a new coach, Gonso said. Members submitted a handful of names on their coaching wish lists before whittling the number of candidates down even further. From there, Gonso and Greenspan contacted coaches to gauge their interest in the job. McRobbie helped by calling Gonso, attending meetings and recruiting potential candidates. \n“He was with us every step of the way,” Gonso said. “He is a great man.”\nMcRobbie provided the committee with a list of qualifications the new coach should have, including an understanding of academic achievement, a clean NCAA background and an understanding of IU’s \nbackground.\nMcRobbie also asked that the new coach have a considerable amount of success coaching at the Division I level or in the NBA, as long as the NBA coach had an understanding of college basketball.\n“President McRobbie delivered to us a charge, and we, I think, satisfied every requirement that he asked that we achieve in our search,” \nGonso said.\nCrean coached at Marquette for nine years, leading the Golden Eagles to the Final Four in 2003 and compiling a 190-96 career record.\nMcRobbie did not attend Wednesday’s press conference, but he said in a news release he was pleased with Crean’s hire.\nGonso, who led the IU football team to the Rose Bowl in 1968, said he did not have a role in the selection of the committee members. \nThe committee worked without pay, he said. \n“A contribution to good ol’ Indiana University,” Gonso said. \nGonso, a lawyer for Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller, said the committee will not comment about any coach besides Crean, adding he was the only one offered the job.\nGreenspan called all reports to the contrary “poor journalism and inaccurate.”\nWashington State coach Tony Bennett said he and Greenspan talked, though Greenspan did not extend an offer. Bennett withdrew his name from consideration Sunday.\nGonso said he did not know whether IU’s NCAA violations had scared some coaches away from the job.\n“Everybody was aware of the situation with respect to the existing self-imposed sanctions and the termination of coach Sampson and the impending June (14) hearing,” Gonso said. “But yes, we had very open, candid \ndiscussions.”\nGonso said Crean’s courting was quick and took just 72 hours to complete. \nCommittee member Wayne Radford, a member of IU’s 1976 undefeated National Championship team, said he wasn’t surprised by how quickly the University moved on Crean.\n“I think if it were Tom Crean or another selection, the process probably would have been the same,” he said, adding the committee had already researched most candidates’ background information. “You already had all your T’s crossed, your \nI’s dotted.”
(04/02/08 6:48pm)
A source close to the team said Jamarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett were not invited to the team meeting with Tom Crean this morning. Former interim coach Dan Dakich kicked Bassett and Ellis off the team Monday.
(04/02/08 10:42am)
Tom Crean agreed to become the IU men’s basketball coach after signing a letter of agreement Tuesday to coach the Hoosiers, IU trustee Philip Eskew Jr. confirmed Tuesday. \nCrean, formerly the coach at Marquette, will be introduced at a press conference at 11 a.m. today in the Hoosier Room at Memorial Stadium, IU Athletics spokesman J.D. Campbell said. The press conference is closed to the public.\nCrean, 42, arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn on College Avenue at about 11 p.m., met by a few members of the media and a couple fans. \n“If you’re a college basketball coach, you identify this as one of the greatest jobs in the country,” Crean said outside the hotel. “I’m incredibly honored to have a chance to do this.”\nHe asked the fans near the hotel to sing him the IU fight song, which he said he did not know. He even took the phone from an IU fan to wish the student on the other line a happy birthday. \nCrean flew from Milwaukee into Monroe County Airport shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday and was greeted by a handful of IU fans and members of the media. \nIU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan was with Crean at the airport. \n“What are you all doing here?” Greenspan joked with the crowd. “We had a visitor come visit us today, and we’re pretty happy about it.”\nGreenspan said one of the reasons he wanted Crean is because the coach has been successful over a long period of time.\nHe coached at Marquette for nine years, leading the Golden Eagles to a Final Four appearance in 2003.\n“He has an impeccable background, and I’m just thrilled,” Eskew said. “I think he is just an outstanding coach for Indiana.”\nCrean, who helped the school make the switch from Conference USA to the Big East during his tenure compiled a 190-96 record with Marquette.\n“He did very well at Marquette,” said Joe Weis, IUSA president-elect, adding Crean was able to recruit one Indiana high school star, Dominic James, to play in Milwaukee for the Golden Eagles. “Hopefully we can see that trend continue.”\nMarquette released a statement wishing Crean well Tuesday night.\n“Marquette University wishes Tom Crean, his wife Joani and the Crean family the very best as he pursues new professional opportunities,” the statement read. “Coach Crean has brought pride, honor and a winning mentality to our men’s basketball program. It is no surprise that other universities would seek him out.”\nAt IU, Crean inherits a program facing possible NCAA sanctions.\n“It will be a challenge, I understand that,” Crean said.\nFormer coach Kelvin Sampson resigned in February after the NCAA released five alleged major recruiting violations committed by Sampson and members of his staff. In October, IU reported a series of impermissible recruiting phone calls to the NCAA and classified the violations as “secondary.” IU self-imposed a handful of recruiting sanctions, including the loss of a scholarship for the 2008-09 season and restrictions on off-campus recruiting visits for assistant coaches. \nThe NCAA’s February report revealed new information and reclassified the violations as “major.” It could impose more punishments if it deems necessary.\nThe NCAA Committee on Infractions will conduct a hearing regarding IU’s situation on June 14 in Seattle and is expected to make its final decision within 30 days of the hearing. \n“There’s no way I would have accepted this if I didn’t feel I was up to it,” Crean said.\nRay Schneider, who played basketball at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, Mich., while Crean was an assistant at the school, said he believed Crean could handle the challenges of the program. \n“He understands what he’s getting himself into,” Schneider said, though he added he had not talked to Crean since the hire. “I think he himself is accountable, and he’s going to hold everybody associated with the program accountable.”\nSchneider, now a professor of sports management at Bowling Green State University, credited the new IU coach with helping him play collegiate basketball at Central Michigan.\n“He has lived his entire life to be the best college basketball coach in the country,” he said. “He’s always wanted to coach at one of the top basketball programs in the country. Even when he was a high school coach, you kind of knew he’d be successful.”\nWithin minutes of hearing the news of Crean’s hire, IU senior Chris Eline started a Facebook group in support of the new coach. \n“I’m very excited because hiring a new coach was going to be difficult with our short-term player and sanction issues,” said Eline, the “Crimson and Crean” Facebook group creator. “We needed a guy who would look at the long-term. I think we got someone who’s going to do really well.”\nJunior Brian Bulgatz, founder of student fan group “The Hall Monitors,” supported the hire. \n“I’m feeling it,” Bulgatz said. “It will do wonders for our recruiting.” \nSchneider thinks it could do even more. \n“I think everybody will be thrilled with the situation,” Schneider said. “I’m confident it will lead to many wins and somewhere down the line a National Championship.” \nMen’s basketball reporter Chris Engel and multimedia director James Brosher contributed to this report.
(04/02/08 5:08am)
Tom Crean has signed a letter of agreement and will be the next coach at IU, said IU trustee Philip Eskew Jr.\nA formal announcement is expected tomorrow, Eskew said.\nCrean coached at Marquette for nine years, leading them to a 190-96 record.\nCheck back to idsnews.com for more updates.
(04/02/08 2:53am)
IDS Multimedia Editor James Brosher met Crean at his hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn on College Avenue. Here are some highlights.
(04/02/08 2:00am)
Chris Engel waited for Tom Crean's plane to arrive from Milwaukee, and when it did he caught up with Crean and IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan.
(04/02/08 12:00am)
IDS Sports Editor Lee Hurwitz and Managing Editor Peter Stevenson caught up with Eli Holman and A.J. Ratliff at the HPER. This is what they had to say about Crean and the future.
(04/01/08 11:43pm)
J.D. Campbell, IU athletics media relations director, confirmed there will be a press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the Hoosier Room underneath Memorial Stadium.
(03/31/08 8:45pm)
Bruce Pearl said IU "was" his dream job. But now, he says he believes there is no difference between Tennessee and IU in terms of elite programs.