by When he left Marquette in 2008 to be saddled the next head coach of an Indiana basketball program with an exhausted selection and paralyzing NCAA sanctions, Tom Crean only needed two words to justify his decision.
“It’s Indiana.”
For Crean, Indiana was ‘the absolute top of the entire college basketball’, a program with ‘incredible tradition’. There was “absolutely no way” that he would have run away from what he would have built on Marquette if he didn’t feel that way.
Seventeen years further away from the glory days of Indiana under Bob Knight, the basketball track of the school is open again. With Indiana (14-10, 5-8) to the lower half of the Big Ten classification and to the edge of NCAA Tournament, Mike Woodson agreed last week to resign at the end of the season.
The continuing question while Indiana is looking for Woodson’s replacement is whether coaches still perceive the program in the same way as Crean. Is Indiana still a top job because of the rare combination of resources, tradition and ambition? Or is the track less attractive as a former powerhouse is blurred with relevance?
To say that Indiana has performed none of the elite programs of college basketball for decades, is a huge understatement. It is 38 years ago that De Hoosiers last raised a national title banner, 23 since they last made the last four and 12 since they have obtained a top-three NCAA Tournament Caad. Indiana has won the Big Ten three times since 1993. Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State each have more during that period.
Since Indiana finally decided 25 years ago that it could no longer tolerate Knight’s poorly suspended lack of human decency, the Hoosiers have sought in vain to find a long -term successor. Five coaches of all different backgrounds have crashed and burned to restore the program to his former greatness.
Emergency Interim coach Mike Davis earned a shot at the full-time job after the resignation of Knight by leading Indiana to 21 wins and treating a difficult situation with Grace. In his first full -time season, Davis led the fifth posted Hoosiers on an unlikely run to the national title competition. That turned out to be the highlight of a otherwise unobtrusive six -year term of office.
The proven winner Kelvin Sampson was perhaps the savior of Indiana, were it not because of his habit of running Afoul of NCAA rules that limit how often coaches could contact recruits. When the NCAA claimed that Sampson violated the same rule that he did in Oklahoma and then lied against researchers, Indiana cut him off for the end of his second season.
That paved the way for hiring Crean, who rebuilt a program in disorder and made the Hoisiers as relevant as they have been since Knight. He won a few outright Big Ten titles, reached three Sweet 16S and had a 29-win team that was a real threat to secure the sixth national title of Indiana. Die Hoosiers 2012-13 came across the threat of March that Jim Boeheim and his feared 2-3 zone was, a spot on Crean’s CV where he never recovered.
Archie Miller then came, an apparent home run rental that did not come out. The rising star that Ledton led to four consecutive NCAA tournaments did not produce any winning Big ten -record in four Inglorious Seasons in Indiana.
Indiana then turned to Woodson in 2021, a former striking under Knight with two decades of experience in the NBA, but none at the university level. The Indiana Fanbase soured on Woodson during the second half of his four -year term of office because of its outdated attack, his apparent disinterest in creating relationships on the recruitment track and its under -performance results.
With fans in Assembly Hall who is already fascinating Woodson and sang for his resignation, Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson could no longer wait to make a movement. He convinced Woodson to go aside and go out with dignity, otherwise the atmosphere would become more toxic and Indiana should fire one of his legends.
Why Indiana is still good
The knee-shock reaction of some potential candidates in Indiana is perhaps to have a job remembered with such a gloomy recent history. Why does your career risk and your family uprooted to go somewhere that is about to hire the sixth new coach since the turn of the century?
In reality, Indiana’s decades of mediocrity can also work in favor of a new coach.
Expectations, although still high, are not as unreasonable as they were just after Knight. The coach that Indiana turns into a regular NCAA tournament -participant and incidental title candidate will be praised as a hero. Social media are melancholy for the Trio of Crean with sweet 16 performances during his last six seasons.
These results are very feasible for the right coach, one with the personality to thrive in the spotlight of 365 days a year. In Bloomington, Indiana Basketball is more than a game-it is a source of community proud, an age-old citizen institution.
The next Indiana coach will take over a program that is assumed to have one of the most robust zero budgets in college basketball. Indiana had to pay the last out of season to keep guard Trey Galloway and Malik Reneau and Mackenzie MGBako, three of the four top scorers of last year, ahead. Then the Hoosiers went out and spread on portal objectives Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Canaan Carlyle and Luke Goode, each of the most coveted transfers of the nation.
The abundance of in-state high school Talent is a big advantage for the next coach of Indiana, just like the facilities and fan support of the school. A crowd of 17,222 was last Saturday’s home game against Michigan, despite the fact that the Hoisiers had dropped six of their last seven games. Most high-major programs would be lucky to attract half of so many fans, even if they were on their way to a NCAA Tournooi bid.
Between the winning tradition of Indiana, the home advantage, zero war box and administrative support, the job in Indiana is a huge opportunity for someone. Throw the again calibrated expectations, and this task seems just as attractive as in a long time.
Who will be the next coach?
The last time a program was so tradition-rich if Indiana wanted to land a new coach, Kentucky and Louisville both waved at their top goals last spring. Louisville sniffed on Scott Drew and Dusty May before turning to Charleston’s Pat Kelsey. Kentucky aimed to chase Dan Hurley and Drew before he turned to Byu’s Mark Pope.
Who will Indiana focus on?
Would Dolson go after Drew and let the Indiana indigenous say no to a third blue blood? Would he pursue May and see if the former student manager of Indiana can be tempted to be tempted to leave Michigan after a year? Can Dolson try to pry Mick Cronin away from UCLA or TJ Otzelberger away from the state of Iowa?
Does he have the stomach to take a chance on a promising but unproven mid-major coach such as Drake’s Ben McCollum? Or to go after Ole Miss Coach Chris Beard, despite the arrest of Baard in December 2022 on a charge for domestic violence?
The person who hires Indiana, who gets the coach the chance to hit the ground as Pope has in Kentucky and Kelsey in Louisville. In this era of College Basketball you don’t need three years to rebuild a worn selection. You can reload within a few weeks.
The right coach can win if he embraces the spotlights, plays modern basketball and benefits from the means that are available to him to extract high school ranks and the transfer market.
Are still Indiana.
It is a clear possibility that crashes within four years. This also applies to building a team that can play in April.
