by Kent Sterling
There are Indiana fans who would like to see Tom Crean replaced, but that doesn’t mean that he is utterly loathed.
In a list predicting who the top 20 coaches in college basketball will be in 2025, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller mischaracterized the feelings of Indiana Basketball fans toward Tom Crean.
Crean didn’t make the list (he was honorable mention) which did include Purdue’s Matt Painter at #13, but somehow omitted Notre Dame’s Mike Brey. Brey’s omission reduces any respect that might be conferred upon this silly list, but that is a post for another day.
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I’m sure the list is getting massive clicks, and that’s what Bleacher Report is all about, but the sentence explaining Crean not being included mischaracterizes the feelings of Hoosiers toward its coach, “Tom Crean meets the criteria to be included, but the complete and utter loathing from much of the Hoosiers fanbase makes it hard to imagine he’ll still be there in 10 years.”
I have never heard any Indiana describe his or her feelings toward Crean as hatred or loathing. There are plenty who would like to see Crean replaced, but I’ve never heard one express personal loathing or acrimony toward Crean.
By all accounts, including my own, Crean is a good guy who earnestly tries to lead Indiana as best he can. He is a tireless worker who makes every effort to earn the respect and love of fans. Most respect him. Few love him.
But that doesn’t mean he’s loathed.
Loathing is personal. The distaste for Crean, among those who feel it, is not personal. It’s connected to the lofty standards applied to program by those who remember a time when championship banners were hung by teams filled with players from Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. Names of the players weren’t on police blotters, but that was more about the Bloomington Police choosing to handle misbehavior of the books during a simpler time. Again, perhaps the subject of a post for another day.
Make no mistake, there is a significant portion of the Hoosiers fanbase that looks forward to a change in the leadership of their favorite basketball program, but the reasons are not personal. It’s about basketball acumen, recruiting strategy, and the sense that Crean doesn’t fit the mold of the Indiana coach as established by Bob Knight for 29 seasons.
Few want a churlish boor again as the Indiana coach, but many want a coach who knows the game as Knight did, can teach it in the way Knight did, and do it with Indiana-type players who understand the game at a high level. That’s an extreme standard that few can meet, but one thing many Indiana fans are sure of is that Crean falls short.
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There is no shame in that. Even for those Indiana fans who pine for Brad Stevens as the leader of the program, there is an understanding that Crean would be an outstanding coach for the vast majority of Division One programs.
Indiana fans’ expectations may be impossible to meet, but that failure does not deserve “loathing”, and Indiana fans understand that even if Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller does not.
Just like Michael Corrleone told Sonny in The Godfather, “It’s not personal.”
“Few want a churlish boor again as the Indiana coach, but many want a coach who knows the game as Knight did, can teach it in the way Knight did, and do it with Indiana-type players who understand the game at a high level.”
I think herein lies the problem with the IU basketball fanbase, of which I consider myself a diehard member. To begin with, if “churlish boor” is the most honest assessment you can make of Knight, then you are wearing blinders of the highest quality. The guy is a psychopath, a bully and someone who was unable to change with the surrounding world. Great coach? Yes, for many years he was as good as they come. That so many IU fans still put him on a god-like pedestal is embarrassing, however. It is easy to draw comparisons to the cult of Knight to the Kentucky fanbase, which either doesn’t care about the perception of their coach, or they’re very good at sticking their fingers in the ears and yelling “blah blah blah I can’t hear you!”
Knight. Is. Gone. And he’s not coming back, even for a visit. It’s time for everyone to let it go and to stop expecting every successor to be his clone. It takes awhile to move on – I worshiped Knight, too, for many years – but I root for the Indiana basketball team and the guys who put the uniform on, not the coach. Knight thought he was god and that he could tell people – not just his team – what to think. Well, horsesh*t, buddy. Enough was enough. Good riddance.
Now, Crean inherited a tough situation (that had nothing whatsoever to do with Knight), but he’s also had lots of time to sort it out. Everyone has their opinion on whether he’s done a good job, though most in the sports talk world in the IU realm want him gone, regardless of how diplomatic and neutral they try to present themselves as. Crean is generally seen as a nice guy who works hard. So Sterling is right, most people don’t “loathe” Tom Crean. They “loathe” that he’s coaching their team using, god forbid, a different style than Knight and not replicating the remarkable success he had. That’s a heavy, heavy weight to be carrying, especially when it’s put there by the fans who are supposed to be supporting the program. And yes, to be fair, that’s why he gets paid the big bucks.
I know there have to be fans out there who can think of worse things than Crean coaching the team. But I’m sure the rest will continue to howl until Brad Stevens is on the sideline and IU never loses a game again and every player is a 4.0 student from the state of Indiana who’s having trouble deciding whether they want to be a first-round draft pick or go to medical school.
Apparently it’s just a requirement as an IU fan to be perpetually unhappy about something.
Perhaps I understated Knight’s quirky personality, but I believe you marginalize those who want Crean replaced as those who will accept nothing other than Brad or a Knight clone as a replacement. As though Crean is a reasonable longterm solution given the lack of availability of those two options.
Come on Ken, I’m in btown and Florida and NJ and I’ve heard loathing and disdain in all 3 states. Surprisingly there’s a large fan base at his defense because he recruits decently and gives us a sweet 16 once in a 5 year span. NITs and 4-7th place finishes are the norm for us now but he’s doing just enough to keep the fans that are okay with mediocrity appeased.