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One of the hot button topics over the last few weeks has been the status of Indiana head coach Tom Crean and the direction of the Hoosier program has a whole. Many have speculated on whether Crean would return next season, where expectations should be for the Hoosiers on a yearly basis, and whether Indiana can compete for a Big Ten title in the next few years.
On Friday, Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass had some interesting comments for the Indianapolis Star about the status of the program, head coach Tom Crean, and where he hopes the program can go in the next few seasons. The comments are certainly something that will interest all Hoosier fans.
Here are the "money" quotes from Glass to the Indianapolis Star:
"My goals for this program are to perenially contend for and to win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament and win our next national championship," Glass said. "Be elite, if you will. As a lifelong Hoosier and IU basketball fan, alumnus and current AD, nobody wants that more than me.
"Coach Crean's status should be based on his ability to achieve those goals going forward, not what he has or hasn't done in the past. Because I believe in the team he has assembled and is assembling, his leadership of it and their ability to start achieving our program goals, I continue to support Tom Crean as our coach."
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"Tom Crean is the coach here because I believe the future is bright and he can lead us to our goals, not because of the buyout in that contract," Glass said.
These are certainly some strong comments from Glass in support of Crean. There's no doubt that Indiana has not met the high expectations of the Indiana program over the last few seasons, but it does appear that he has done enough to at least deserve one more season in Bloomington. Overall, Indiana is 121-111 under Crean.
Indiana has experienced some attrition over the last week with Max Hoetzel and Stanford Robinson transferring, but it still appears that they should have one of the deeper rosters in the Big Ten next season, including the potential return of James Blackmon, Jr., Yogi Ferrell, and Troy Williams, who all received some type of All-Big Ten honor this season. It should be an important season for Indiana and it appears that Tom Crean will be at the helm to lead the team to what fans hope is another Big Ten title.