Indiana Fires Tom Crean

According to a press release on Thursday afternoon, Indiana basketball opted to relieve head coach Tom Crean of his head coaching duties. Crean had just completed his ninth year with the program earlier this week.

During his nine years in Bloomington, Crean had compiled a 166-135 (.551) overall record and a 71-91 (.438) mark in Big Ten play. He led Indiana to two Big Ten titles, three Sweet 16 appearances, and five postseason appearances.

However, inconsistency and unmatched expectations dominated Crean’s tenure with Indiana. And his first three seasons (albeit it in unfortunate circumstances), left a tough mark to overcome. In particular, the team’s regression following Big Ten titles in 2012-’13 and 2016-’17 was frustrating.

Athletic Director Fred Glass talked about the change from Crean’s leadership.

“After deliberative thought and evaluation, including multiple meetings with Tom about the future, I have decided to make a change in the leadership of our men’s basketball program. Tom Crean brought us through one of the most challenging periods in IU basketball history, led his players to many successes in the classroom and on the court and represented our university with class and integrity. While winning two outright Big Ten titles.

“The national search for our new coach begins immediately. The Board of Trustees and the President have expressly delegated to me the responsibility and authority for this search and hire. While I will not be establishing a formal search committee or advisory committee, I will consult with basketball experts from around the country and throughout the State of Indiana, including many former Indiana University basketball players. The expectations for Indiana University basketball are to perennially contend for and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament, and win our next national championship—and more after that. We will identify and recruit a coach who will meet these expectations.”

Indiana will now begin its search for its next head coaches. BTPowerhouse put out a list of 11 potential replacement candidates earlier this week. It will be interesting to see who the Hoosiers can land in the coming weeks.