New Gear for the New Coach

Tom Crean was hired last night. He had a press conference today at 11:00 A.M. Eastern. He was handed this shirt early this morning. It's not just some enterprising student, it's already on sale.

The 'Crean and Crimson' Era of IU Basketball

Seeing "The Crean and Crimson era of IU basketball" as the title of blog post by Terry Hutchens finally got me excited about the hiring of Tom Crean as IU's next basketball coach. And more I read about Crean, the more I think this is a really solid hire for IU:

I like the hire on several levels. I was not looking forward to a coach who was too old because I felt they needed a younger coach to build a program around. At the same time I wasn't crazy about coaches who had only led a program for a couple of years because I've never thought of Indiana as a place that should be a proving ground for anyone. And so while I thought Tony Bennett would have been a good fit on many levels, his inexperience as a head coach was a less than favorable point with me. With Crean, you have a 42-year-old coach with nine years of head coaching experience at a good school. He's a Midwestern guy, has coached in the Big Ten, he's a proven recruiter and he runs a clean program.

Here's a nice look at his profile. Inside the Hall has a link dump about the hire.

I found out about the hire last night before going to bed. I was in a bit of shock to really know how I felt about the hire. It's now a new day--both for me and the Hoosiers. I'm excited.

But it won't be easy.

So welcome to Bloomington, Tom. Just business as (un)usual around these parts. Fix a broken program. And do it within a year. Maybe two. (Full column by Bob Kravitz)

Let the Crean and Crimson era begin!

Hoosiers Hire Tom Crean as Next Coach

Well, that was fast.

Indiana is turning to Tom Crean to bring respectability back to Hoosiers.

A couple dozen wins each year would help, too.

After a tumultuous season and turbulent coaching search, the Hoosiers finally hired Crean on Tuesday as what they hope will be a long-term replacement for Kelvin Sampson. Sampson resigned in February amid a phone-call scandal that included five major allegations from the NCAA.

Crean is not the sexy hire I was hoping for, nor was he really on my radar...this year. He was on my radar two years ago before Sampson was hired. Overall, I'm happy with this choice. I'm not jumping up and down, but I'm not indifferent. I'll reserve full judgment and wait for the press conference.

Here's a nice take on this over at The Dagger:

Now Crean has landed there. The next step is to find out if he can coach. If his Marquette returns are any indication, he could be an inscrutably solid, if not dazzling, solution to IU's considerable woes. Indiana got bailed out with this one. Now it's up to Crean to right the ship.

I hope he can.

Timely April Fool's Joke

Bravo to the Card Chronicle. Nice little joke. Ha, ha.

Good Lord.

Apparently there's some truth to the message board chatter that Louisville fans have been brushing off for the last couple of weeks, as ESPN's Pat Forde is reporting that Rick Pitino met with Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan in Bloomington on Monday afternoon, and cites a source close to Pitino as saying that he is "leaning towards" taking the job.

[snip]

Forde didn't say whether or not a timeline had been set for Pitino to make a decision, but he did say that today is April Fool's Day, and that Mike Rutherford of CardChronicle.com had made every word of this post up.

What the Hell is Going on at IU?

I wake up this morning to a fine how-do-you-do:

From the Indianapolis Star: Basset, Ellis Kicked Off Team
The Indiana University basketball team could enter the 2008-09 season with a new coach and no returning starters.

The latter is the result of confirmation Monday that IU starters Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis were dismissed from the team by interim coach Dan Dakich, according to three people close to the program.

According to The Hoosier Scoop, the two players were hoping that whoever the new coach is would change their punishment:

But [Bassett and Ellis] are telling teammates that they hope the dismissal will turn into more of a suspension. They plan on maintaining their eligibility in hopes that a new coach will allow them back on the team, according to a source close to the situation.

These two have been previously suspended during the year for a violation of team rules. Bassett missed games against Kentucky, Western Carolina and Coppin State, and Ellis missed the regular-season finale against Penn State. It was never revealed what they did to earn their suspensions, but suffice to say, these guys were already walking on thin ice when they decided to play the "you're not my real coach" card.

Those people say Bassett and Ellis missed a pre-arranged appointment late last week, and Dakich told them that they were required to run at 6 a.m. the next day as punishment. He also told them at the time that if they didn't show up, they would be off the team.

The next morning neither was there and Dakich informed them later of his decision.

All this happened last night, while I was blissfully unaware. This morning, IU confirmed that the dismissals are a done deal:

Indiana athletics media relations director J.D. Campbell confirmed this morning that IU has dismissed Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis from its basketball team.

Campbell gave no explanation about the reasons for or timing of the dismissals.

Terry Hutchins of the Hoosier Insider has a nice post that about sums up the whole mess that is IU basketball:

A friend just told me that IU was worried at one point about what the NCAA might do to them and what it would do to the program. But this team appears to be imploding all by itself. Can you believe the timing of this one? If this program didn't have bad timing, it would have no timing at all.

I have no idea why an interim coach would toss these two off the team, but clearly there's more to all this than what's on the surface. One thing is for sure, it's going to get worse before things get better. What coach wants to inherit this mess?

Pssst. Hey Buddy. Wanna Coach a Basketball Team?

Doesn't anyone want to coach the Indiana Hoosiers? Let's recap my three top choices.

Bruce Pearl (Tennessee)?

From The Sporting News: Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said Friday afternoon he'd received no requests from other schools to interview Pearl for another head coaching position. He is confident Pearl will remain at Tennessee.

Tony Bennett (Washington State)?

From The Hoosier Insider: Indiana and Bennett talked about the opening today and the Washington State coach told IU that he wasn't interested in pursuing the position. "I had an exploratory conversation with Indiana,'' Bennett told the newspaper Sunday, "and I am not going to pursue the Indiana job.'' (Possible reasons why)

Sean Miller (Xavier)?

From The Hoosier Scoop: Publicly, Miller has already stated that he wants to stay at Xavier, where’s he’s been the coach since Thad Matta left for Ohio State.

“I will be at Xavier,” Miller said after his team lost to UCLA Saturday. “I’m looking forward to coaching at Xavier and continuing on with what we’ve done for years behind me and what we’ve done this year.”

I know that most of this is based on speculation and rumor, except the Bennet quote. Coaches will endeavor to say the right thing to cover their butts in case any move doesn't pan out. To quote Don Nelson when he coach the Dallas Mavericks, "If my mouth is moving, I'm lying to you." Not that these coaches are lying, but I do hope one of them has a change of heart.

On the bright side, the great destroyer hasn't been contacted by the search committee.

I'd Like to Thank Tennessee...

...for totally f***ing up my bracket.

On the bright side, the Hoosiers are now free to pursue Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl for its head coach job. Um, so thanks Louisville.

Dakich Receives Kiss of Death

It was bad enough for interim Hoosier coach Dan Dakich to coach what became his final game under the specter of the announcement by the university that it had formed a basketball coach search committee. Now this:

From the NY Daily News: HOOSIER DADDY? With Indiana eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, the school is expected to being a search for a new head coach. Former Hoosier player Dan Dakich is serving as the interim coach. Scott Skiles is scheduled to be interviewed for the job, but when one of Indiana’s most famous alums was asked if he has any interest, Thomas passed. “I would hope that they would keep Dan Dakich there,” Thomas said. “Dan has done a good job under some tough circumstances. “I’ll do everything I can to help and support the program in terms of financial resources and also helping them recruit players. I definitely would like to see Dakich keep the job.”

The support of Isaiah Thomas? The Great Destroyer?

So long Dakich. It's been good knowing you.

Bracket Update

I manged to pick a meager nine of the sweet 16 teams this year. In my favor, I still have my final four intact. In my office pool, I'm currently tied for 68th place out of 206. I have 43 points to the leader's 52. Only one person in the top 11 picked UCLA to win it all so I'm hopeful I can move up in the standings next weekend.

Oh, and the Hoosiers lost. Yippee.

Indiana Could Absolutely Be a Dangerous Team

I hate Billy Packer. And his infinite wisdom is on display again:

"I think Indiana could absolutely be a dangerous team in this tournament. I've seen Indiana play some great basketball and in fairness to the kids they've gone through a lot. What I'm anxious to see right now is what Indiana team will be here. The Indiana team that I've seen play does not lose to Minnesota. Anytime. Any game. On any day. So that goes to show you that they were a far cry last week from the great Indiana team I've seen play several times this season.''

Well, DUH. Thanks for that great insight Billy. Of course Indiana could be a dangerous team in this tournament. If they had kept playing like they did right before Kelvin Sampson was fired, IU would be seeded higher and ready to make a deep run. As it stands now, I believe Arkansas will run IU out of the building.

I hope I'm wrong.

UCLA Wins. IU Loses.

March Madness has arrived. It's officially the best time of the sporting year for me. Usually.

It's been a long, frustrating basketball season for me as a Hoosier fan. At it's peak, I was ready to take IU to the Final Four in my bracket and make a case to anyone that IU had just as good a shot as any top team to win it all.

Now? IU is an eight seed and I'm picking them to lose in the first round.

The whole Hoosier team seemed to lose its will to live after Kelvin Sampson got fired. They have played horrible basketball, losing three of the last four games, including a woodshed spanking at the hands of Michigan State and losses to Penn State and Minnesota.

Not only that, the week that IU is scheduled to play after limping into the Big Dance, the university announced the formation of a 10-panel search committee to find a new coach. Nice timing, eh? Just one more distraction.

So this year, its more March Sadness than it is Madness.

Now to my picks. Usually, I do my research, listen to experts, and fill out multiple brackets. This year, I haven't done any research, listened to any experts, and completed only one bracket. There are only three things that are locked in stone for me, the rest are simply shots in the dark: IU will lose to Arkansas in the first round, Tennessee will make it the school's first ever championship game, and UCLA will win it all.

Final Four:
Tennessee
Wisconsin
Texas
UCLA

Final Game:
Tennessee vs. UCLA

2008 Champion: UCLA

Go Vols!

Tough Times for Hoosier Fans

I didn't have the opportunity to watch what turned out to be a terrific game for the Hoosiers. But as luck would have it, they lost when Wisconsin's Brian Butch hit a lucky bank three with just a few ticks left on the clock. The boys at one of my favorite blogs, Inside the Hall, said it best:

The one good thing here? IU played well. This is two games in a row we can sit back and say: “Hey, we’re looking good, we’re finally coming around.” It’s just too bad it had to come in a loss. At home. The day it was announced Kelvin Sampson got slapped with major sanctions.

Here’s a sampling of columns put together by Chris Korman over at The Hoosier Scoop:

• Kravitz to IU: Time to get rid of slime (Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star)
• IU’s best action may be to suspend Sampson immediately (Pat Forde, ESPN)
• Serious allegations (Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated)
• Goodbye to Sampson, IU’s good name (Greg Couch, Chicago Sun-Times)
• It maybe harsh, but Indiana needs to fire Sampson (John Rhode, The Oklahoman)
• Indiana coach Sampson on the brink (Skip Myslenski, Chicago Tribune)
• Indiana has no choice, it must fire Sampson — now (Gregg Doyel, CBS)
• Sampson’s blatant disregard for rules may cost him (Jeff Googman, Fox Sports)
• Allegations of violations upset former Hoosiers (Mark Schlabach, ESPN)

Throw in the passing of Terry Hoeppner prior to the 2007 football season and you have the makings for a really tough year for Hoosier fans. Hope, optimism, and dreams of post season success have been replaced by tragedy, mourning, and feelings of betrayal, anger, and disgust.

Thanks Kelvin Sampson. We can indeed hear you now.

Too bad all you seem to be saying are lies. Time for you to go. But thanks for turning D.J. White into at beast. I can at least give you credit for that.

3: The Number of the Beast

This is D.J. White. He is now officially a beast after his beastly performance against Ohio State last night.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State officials called for "white out" conditions for Sunday's game against Indiana, asking fans to wear white.

Indiana countered with D.J. White.

The IU senior forward had a double-double in the first half and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds as No. 14 Indiana posted its second Big Ten road victory in four days, beating Ohio State 59-53 before a sellout crowd of 19,049 at Value City Arena.

White's 15th double-double in 23 games included 10-of-15 shooting, six offensive rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He played the entire game.

"I was just playing hard," White said. "From watching film, I knew we'd have a chance to get offensive rebounds. So that's what I did when the ball went up. I went for the offensive rebounds."

Eric Gordon may be the superstar of this year's team, a title he rightly deserves. But this is D.J. White's team and night after night he shows why. He's the most consistent, most aggressive, and most enthusiastic. This team rises and falls with D.J. Gordon is the superstar. White is the MVB: Most Valuable Beast.

At Least the Hoosiers Won

This was not a good weekend to be a fan of the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams suffered humiliating defeats on their home turf.

First, the Colts returned to their old playoff ways to go one-and-done in their final game at the RCA Dome.

• Chargers stun Colts, will face Patriots in AFC title game (ESPN.com)
• Errors, poor play doom Colts in Dome's finale (IndyStar.com)
• Minus L.T. and Rivers, Chargers Stun Colts (SI.com)

I didn't get to watch much of the game, but from what my buddy Jonathan tells me, the Colts deserved to lose. I hope last year's Super Bowl victory wasn't an aberration. I want to be confident that the Colts have a shot at making the Super Bowl each year without having to worry about choking in the playoffs. I was confidently looking forward to the Colts playing the Patriots is what could have been the best AFC Championship game ever. Now, we're all stuck with watching the Chargers getting their asses whooped. Then again, I assumed that would happen against the Colts. Shows what I know.

Speaking of playoff futility, let's move our attention to the hometown team of the Dallas Cowboys. I was worried about this game from the start, thinking that any upsets that occurred this weekend would happen in the NFC. I was half right (unfortunately).


Da Boys extended their postseason futility by collecting NFL record-tying sixth straight postseason loss. At home. Against the Giants.

• Another Dallas Cowboys season ends on sour note (Dallasnews.com)
• Dallas Cowboys exit playoffs with 21-17 loss (Dallasnews.com)
• Cowboys fall short on last effort as Giants move on to face Packers (ESPN.com)

Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda. The Giants wanted this game more. I guess there's always next year to look forward to. But Decembers have not been kind to the Cowboys the past few years. I'm tired of getting my hopes up and having them dashed over and over with uninspired play. It was a great season for the Cowboys. But what a disappointing way to have it end.

But at least my Hoosiers won.

Unlucky #13

Cowboys Defeat Hoosiers in Insight Bowl

I wasn't expecting the Hoosiers to win, but I was h0ping for a closer game. I didn't watch it and, in a way, I'm glad I didn't. All I need to know is that IU put up some points in the second half and hopefully created some momentum for next year.

"We dug ourselves a big hole but we played much better in the second half," [Head coach Bill] Lynch said. "I was really proud of our guys the way they came back in the second half and kept battling."

I expect the Hoosiers to battle next year. And that may be enough to fully convert me to a full-fledged IU football fan. The spirit of Coach Hoep was honored this year. Let's see what they can do next year without a tragedy to distract them.

GO HOOSIERS.

Lucky #13

Indiana Selected to Play in the Insight Bowl

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University has been selected to play in the Insight Bowl, IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan and Insight Bowl Chairman Dick Stemple announced on Sunday evening. The Hoosiers (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) will face Oklahoma State (6-6, 4-4 Big 12) on Monday, Dec. 31.

IU will be making its ninth bowl appearance and its first since the 1993 Independence Bowl. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. MST/5:30 p.m. EST in Tempe, Ariz. The game will be played at Sun Devil Stadium (73,752) and will air on the NFL Network.

"I was delighted to learn that our football team has been selected to play in the Insight Bowl," Indiana University President Michael McRobbie said. "Coach Lynch and our players persevered through a season of unique challenges and, with strong support from our fans, achieved their goal to `play 13.' As we strive for excellence in all things at IU, this achievement is a point of significant pride for all of us."

Congratulations, Hoosiers. What a great way to honor Coach Hoep's memory and brief legacy by making a bowl game. The kick in the gut is that the game will be broadcast on the NFL Network, which is unavailable to about 70% of the households in the country. I do believe Indiana is very much a cable company stronghold. I hope a local station gets to simulcast the game. That happened here in Dallas for the Cowboys/Packers game. Go Hoosiers!!

Here's the kick that got us to number 13.