As an Illini fan eager to hammer Indiana at every opportunity, we must admit that we can't find much to mock about the hiring of Tom Crean. The guy's a respected coach, a solid citizen and has a funny name. No arguments there. Except ... why the heck is he leaving Marquette for Indiana?
East Coast Bias has the same thought we do: Why is the Indiana job so attractive?
Indiana could lose all 5 of their regular starters from last year, as two seniors graduate, two starters were dismissed from the team this week, and Freshman Eric Gordon could bolt for the NBA. At this point, the Hoosiers program is clearly a rebuilding job, while Marquette seems to be on the cusp of something bigger.
By the way, we're pretty certain Kelvin Sampson is gonna pull a Todd Bozeman and coach, like, Stephen F. Austin in a couple years, bring them to the tournament, get promoted to a mid-major job, then to BCS school, and then this whole process will repeat itself.
Oh, and Crean has the greatest endorsement possible:
"He's got a brilliant basketball mind — definitely a good hire for Indiana — I was very vocal about Dan [Dakich] getting the job, but Tom is definitely qualified and will do an excellent job at Indiana," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said before his game in Milwaukee on Tuesday. "Any way that I can help him, I definitely will."
What could possibly go wrong?
Is Indiana Really A Step Up From Marquette? [East Coast Bias]