BLOOMINGTON — Tom Crean put Indiana basketball back in the national conversation.
As it turned out, it was too much talk and not enough results. At least, not for the Hoosiers.
Nine years after taking over a team mired in turmoil following an NCAA scandal, Crean was fired Thursday after missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in his tenure. The 50-year-old coach had three years remaining on his contract.
But with so much angst among fans, IU athletic director Fred Glass couldn’t wait that long.
“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,” Glass said. “While winning two outright Big Ten titles in five years and being named Big Ten Coach of the Year, Tom worked tirelessly to develop great young men and successful teams.
“However, ultimately, we seek more consistent, high levels of success, and we will not shy away from our expectations.”
Crean finished his career at Indiana with a record of 166-135 in a tenure plagued by inconsistency.
Despite winning the two conference titles and being ranked No. 1 for most of the 2012-13 season, his teams never advanced beyond the Sweet 16. And this season, one year after a surprising Big Ten title run, the Hoosiers again fell flat.
They entered the season with three legitimate pro prospects, were considered one of the Big Ten’s preseason favorites and rose as high as No. 3 in November when they upset Kansas and North Carolina.
But when Nebraska ended the Hoosiers’ 26-game home winning streak in late December, the season unraveled quickly.
The Hoosiers (18-16) lost their best defender, OG Anunoby, to a season-ending knee injury and their top scorer, James Blackmon Jr., for three games with a leg injury.
There were other issues, too.
In a state rife with basketball talent, Crean struggled to get some of Indiana’s most talented players.
Four of the last five Mr. Basketballs — Gary Harris, Zak Irvin, Trey Lyles and Kyle Guy — attended college out of state. The lone exception, 2015 winner Caleb Swanigan, wound up at Purdue.
That didn’t play well in the state, nor did a series of embarrassing problems off the court.
The worst event occurred on Halloween in 2014 when freshman forward Emmitt Holt hit sophomore teammate Devin Davis with a car, leaving Davis with a brain injury. The police report said alcohol was a factor.
Davis was booted off the team the following spring after he was cited for possession of marijuana. Holt was kicked off the team the following August after being arrested for illegal possession of alcohol.
But Crean’s tenure wasn’t all bad.
Four seasons after inheriting a team with only two returning scholarship players in April 2008, Christian Watford hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to upset then No. 1 Kentucky in December 2011 — one of the most iconic moments in Indiana basketball history.
Four months later, the Hoosiers were beaten in the Sweet 16 by the same Wildcats.
The next season, Indiana opened the season at No. 1 and but again lost in the regional semifinals, to Syracuse. That was enough for Glass.
“Tom is a good man and a good coach and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for his many positive contributions to Indiana basketball,” Glass said. “We wish him well.”
