Tom Crean signs a historic deal with Indiana University to be the new head basketball coach, succeeding Dan Dakich, brief interim coach, Kelvin Sampson, would be Hall of Famer turned hall of shamer, Mike Davis, six year overall disappointment of the the legend Bob "Robert Montgomery The General " Knight. Three national titles.
And we are waiting for more.
Go Hoosiers.
Indiana's basketball program will move forward with former Marquette coach Tom Crean leading the way.
He had nine years at Marquette, and was a formidable producer of talent like Dwayne Wade and now Mighty Mouse PG Dominic James and other competitors of the Mighty Big East.
He worked as an assistant in the Big Ten for a number of years since 1989, quite a few with Michigan State, so he knows the confines of Bloomington and Assembly Hall very well.
If only the current players stand fast, stay united and the future recruits keep filing in as they were with Sampson, this program may get past the upcoming sanctions and find itself back on the road of ...
SUCCESS.
More titles.
Glory.
Indiana Basketball.
Life is OK right now.
Crean & Crimson.
The Hurry'n Hoosiers will be back.
Clinch rogers to all his homies in b-ball land.
Tom Crean listens to fans sing the IU fight song outside the Hilton Garden Inn Tuesday evening on College Avenue. Crean signed a letter of agreement with IU to fill the vacant head men's basketball coach position. Jacob Kriese • IDS
BREAKING NEWS 6:24 PM Crean is the next IU coach Tom Crean has signed a letter of agreement and will be the next coach at IU, said IU trustee Philip Eskew Jr. BLOG: Basketblog
Tom Crean went 190-96 in nine seasons at Marquette, including a Final Four appearance in 2003.
AP
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- 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.
The Hoosiers' rabid fans hope that the tinge of NCAA allegations, the craziness that overshadowed basketball for the past six weeks and the disciplinary problems that have continued in the program will all be forgotten now. Crean is expected to be introduced at a news conference Wednesday morning.
TULSA, Okla. -- Jerome Jordan scored 18 points, including two clinching free throws, to help lead Tulsa to a 73-68 victory over Bradley in the first game of a best-of-three series in the College Basketball Invitational finals on Monday.
Jordan, who also had 13 rebounds and four blocks, ignited a 13-3 run by slamming home a lob pass from Ben Uzoh to give the Golden Hurricane (24-13) a 49-48 lead.
After an inside basket by Sam Mitchell, Uzoh scored on a drive and a 3-pointer and Jordan scored inside. Uzoh then made one of two free throws, created a steal and passed ahead to Brett McDade for a layup to give Tulsa a 61-51 advantage with 4:44 to play.
A steal and layup by Daniel Ruffin started a Bradley rally that cut the lead to 65-57 with 2:52 left. Bradley got within 66-64 on a 3-pointer by Sam Maniscalco with 1:25 remaining.
After McDade hit two free throws for Tulsa with 52 seconds left, Bradley (20-16) missed three 3s on its next possession.
Free throws by Jordan and Rod Earls sealed the win.
Game 2 of the series will be played Wednesday night at Bradley. Game 3, if necessary, would be Friday at Tulsa.
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Uzoh added 18 points for Tulsa, which outrebounded Bradley 47-30.
The Golden Hurricane had 17 turnovers, but shot just 59.5 percent from the line (22 of 37) and was 5 of 19 on 3-pointers.
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Pretty good stufff, I say. We can't all get the dance with the prom queen. But some of us still got some moves on the dance floor.
Cut the rug, Hurricane and Braves! Great new tradition. Clinch rogering to you from here.
We're number one! No, we're number one! No--- we...
Texas and Davidson are battling the powers of the first seeds today. If they both fail to conquer Memphis and Kansas collectively, this will be the unprecedented time for the NCAA tournament since the current seeding system since 1979.
All the way back to Magic and Bird.
Unprecedented.
I would love to see the little guys succeed. Hard to think of Texas as little.
But they are smaller after losing Durrant and Buckman and a few others...
But here is my problem: UCLA already has eleven rings. Enough already. Twelve is Yankee like.
UNC has gotten their four so far, and are threatening to tie up Indiana with five. 1993 and 2005 came on the backs of Hoosier boys. (Eric Montross and Scott May.)
And now they are on the cusp of five. At least they don't have any Hoosier big men until Tyler Zeller next year. Five for UNC seems somewhat appropriate for the talent they have enjoyed over the years. It even seems low.
In a way, Memphis winning it all would be a cool achievement for that school. I think that would all right. Not too many rings there.
And Kansas? Like IU, it has been since the end of the 1980s since they have won it all...And their program deserves more championship recognition...
But I'm good with Cinderellas Davidson and Texas.
Are the Davidson Curry killers Wildcats or something?
Props to them.
But my heart was bereft with my disheartened Hoosiers. And Cougars. And even their conference chums...
No matter how much you wanted to be an astronaut when you were six, and a weight lifter when you were eight, and a pro baseball player when you were twelve, and a Top Gun Navy pilot when you were fifteen,
It usually doesn't happen.
Props do those who actually accomplish any one of these goals.
Or any other lofty lifetime goal or shorter goal championship of competitive nature. Race winner. Doctor. Millionaire. Actor. Lawyer. Basketball hero. Coaching victor.
Fill in the blank. Anyone we deem "a winner".
When it comes to our partisan hopes and March, oh how reality bites!
My first blow of my Hoosier hopes was when we (yes, I did say "we") lost to UAB in the 1982 or 1983 season.
I was invested. And then I was an outsider that first weekend.
Isaih was a Piston. Landon Turner was a parapalegic. Ray Tolbert was in Italy or somewhere earning a check. Ted Kitchell couldn't get his back healed. Maybe Randy Wittman and Jim Thomas were all we had left. Not enough for the Blazers.
My Indiana Hoosiers were eliminated until the following year, when they could end the college dreams of some college kid named Michael. 1984 was great until Ralph Sampson, the very next game that weekend leading to the Final Four of Patrick Ewing. Hakeem was around back then, too. Or make that Akeem.
The Dream.
At least Steve Alford was a freshman. We could dream of his jumpers for the next three years.
And 1987, his last game of a remarkable college career, was exultant jubilation.
Keith Smart played the half of his life. And made "The Shot".
And Derric Coleman missed his free throws.
Like Eric Gordon, another prosperous and heralded freshman shooting 2-6 on the line last night.
He was only fouled 3 times? Yeah, right.
I saw him get pushed under the basket on a rebound.
No whistle.
I saw him draw contact near the rim with Razorbacks 4-6 inches taller than him.
No whistles.
Meanwhile, DJ White was picking up ticky tack fouls on defense.
Besides the discrepancy in free throw attempts, the refs did us Hoosiers no favors. As did the Selection Committee.
An eighth seed awarded for finishing so poorly the last 6 games.
Not 10. Six.
Yes, IU imploded.
Eric must decide what his future entails. As does former coach Kelvin Sampson.
Next year? A new coach. A few new recruits, probably not including heralded players from New York, Ebanks or Holloway.
But a few good recruits.
Not the little Zeller brother committed to North Carolina.
Next year.
And we can get over the sadness, and continue to be a dreamer, hoping like the little tyke that we all once were and will forever be that someday we shall hit that home run on the moon.
I don't know about you, but I like the NIT---College Basketball
There was a time when the National Invitational Tournament competed with the NCAA Tourney. Maybe it changed during the UCLA golden years.
For those without a clue, that started in the 1960s and didn't let up until the mid 1970s.
I credit Bob Knight for having helped end that.
Anyway, the NIT is still a cool tourney.
It represents a lot of good athletes, and if you were to look at former and current pros, you would see many got there licks in the NIT.
Like Reggie Miller. Ever heard of him?
He won it in 1985 with UCLA over my Indiana Hoosiers.
And my other alma mater, BYU, has fared well in the NIT of yesteryear.
Back when it competed "ned bil ned" with the NCAA, pre-March Madness.
And there is still a lot of life to it today.
Could we get an Ohio State/Florida rematch?
Or Syracuse against a Missouri Valley team?
Do you think it still means something?
Of course it does!
Blog on.
Clinch.
PS: Update!
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Sean Singletary scored 18 points, including a go-ahead jumper with 1:16 to play, and Virginia held on to beat Richmond in an opening-round game of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational tournament
Posted: 12:36 AM- Not long ago, the Utah Utes probably would not have been too excited about landing an invitation to a start-up postseason tournament that few fans have heard about and that includes only teams that weren't good enough to reach the most prestigious events. But times have changed. Having not played in the postseason for three years, the Utes and coach Jim Boylen were excited to learn late Sunday night that they will play at UTEP in the opening round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST, though the game will not be televised. Fans can, however, view the game online by purchasing either an all-tournament subscription for $29.95 or a 24-hour pass for $12.95. Visit http://cbi2008.com for more information. "It means a ton," Boylen said. "I think it's very important for this team to have postseason experience, to feel the pressure of an elimination tournament, where if you don't play well you're out, or if you don't win, you're out. To have the preparation and to go through the process, I think is really helpful." The 17-13 Utes even practiced late Sunday night, in anticipation of the opportunity to take another step in their rebuilding process after losing to UNLV in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament last week.
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Nobody espects the Big Ten to do to well this coming week. I can't say I blame them. The Big 10 is down in basketball. And football.
Ohio State doesn't enter the Dance (Florida doesn't either, while 14 loss Arizona does...Somebody check me on that).
1989 was a great year for my home conference. Illinois played Michigan in the Final Four and the Wolverines went on to win the whole thing over Seton Hall. Remember the Coke Machine?
Well, thanks to the last second free throws by juco-transfer Rumeal Robinson, not as many do as they would if the Big East Seton Hall Pirates had prevailed.
My Indiana Hoosiers were a really good team that year.
They beat Michigan ( I was at the game that was won by a thirty footer by sophomore ace SG Jay Edwards), and they could beat anyone in the country and shared the Big Ten title.
They did lose midway through the NCAA tournament but they had a decent year and the Big Ten was king. Steve Fisher went on his historic end of the season run. It helps when you have Glenn Rice and Terry Mills and Loy Vaught and other bruisers and skills players who escape the memory for the time being.
So here is my dream scenario 2008, a mere 19 years later:
IU wins a tough one first round against the Razorbacks, first round.
Then it gets funny in Raleigh when the Hurry'n Hoosiers shock the world and run over the Heels.
Yeah, you laugh now. Remember 1984? Maybe Dan Dakich can get the team to play...Like his team did versus Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins back when I was 13 years old.
Then Notre Dame. Bragging rights for the state.
And then Tennessee or Butler. Lofton is from Kentucky. And the Bulldogs claim Indy (50 miles drive from B-town) as their home.
And once you have made it to the Final Four, might as well just knock off Kansas or whomever, and do the crazy run like 2002 but swap the results (Terrapins slayed the upstart Hoosiers).
Improbable? Yeah. But the Wolverines in 1989 were quite unlikely, too.
Loaded with talent, yes. But they had just lost their coach. And Bill Frieder had gotten all that talent.
I know Eric Gordan of IU is a bit more fragile, he has had a bad wrist and the other players are hurting, like sharp shooter Armon Bassett and recentyly suspended versatile guy LaMarcus Ellis.
But who knows?
Crazy things happen. Crazier runs have happened. right?
PG Armon Bassett. Soph, sweet shooter, 6'1".
SG Eric Gordon. Frosh, first round draft pick, 6'4".
SF LaMarcus Ellis, juco junior, rebounder, 6'5".
PF Lance Stemler, senior, long distance shooter, 6'8".
C DJ White, All-American and future pro PF, 6'9".
Bench: SG Fr. Joe Crawford, 6'3", PF Kyle Taber 6'8", PF DeAndre Thomas 6'8"(300 pounds and a decent passer).
I know they that they lose more first rounds than a lot of teams, and they have lost the last 3 out of 4 games to lesser talent this month.
Growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, you are aware of this sport.
People care about it. It moves them. Motivates them. Defies and challenges and entices them.
Enrages them and elates them. Sometimes in the same minute.
I have an early memory of my parents being in awe of the All-American center that walked into our family copy shop on 10th street. I was but a lad. My six year old is bigger now than I was then.
He was as tall as Goliath but as beloved as David.
Kent Benson. IU pivotman and one of the members of the last undefeated team in NCAA history (1976).
Later Isaih Thomas, another player of Biblical proportion, more civilian of heighth but bigger than life in on court stature, would bring a nine loss team to greatness.
Reagan was shot? He lived? What about the...
Let's play the championship game in Philly!
A second ring for the Knight squad.
By then I was old enough to know I was missing out. Tales of a fourth grade nothing.
I was nothing for not going downtown that night and reveling among the students.
I didn't miss it my sophomore year of high school in 1987.
Thousands of fans mobbing Kirkwood from the courthouse to campus, over to Showalter Fountain.
It was below 32 degrees Fahrenheit but us Hoosiers were warmed up for a long time.
Thanks Keith Smart.
Steve Alford. Daryl Thomas. Dein Garrett. Rick Calloway. Todd Meier. Joe Hillman. Steve Eyl.
And the poor Orangemen on the other side: Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and little Sherman Douglas.
It all came down to one shot, like Michael Jordan his freshman year versus Georgetown.
Only better.
In 1992 the Knight protoge Coach K got in the way. And a dimbwit official named Valentine. Ted Valentine? A chapter must be written about you.
Yes, us Hoosiers have long memories.
We do hold grudges.
Bobby left town without another final four ring, and many more first round losses than long runs in the March tourney.
Mike Davis seemed to find an answer in 2002.
Maryland was too much. Too big. Too talented.
And we kept sliding...
And Sampson was another Biblical figure, who would lead us to the Promised Land.
But also, like many a Biblical figure, he fell due to cellular peccadillos.
And now we call upon Bill Murray physiogamical brother Dan Dakich.
The man who did stop Michael Jordan.1984.
Can he, a former Hoosier player, lead the Hoosiers across the parched Sinai? After 21 years and two lesser prophets who could not bring enough manna from the desert to succeed the crossing?
We pray, us Hoosiers.
And like Moses, who never crossed the river Jordan into Canaan, we do see our boys taking the Holy Land as an inheritance once more.
But do we have to wait another 20 years, wandering across the wastelands?
This is March. This is madness. This is Hoosier Hysteria.
All those top 20 teams that blow out their competition when they are playing at their best are more primed for March Madness.
My Indiana Hoosiers don't really blow anyone out too much.
But they win.
Can they make a crazy run this March into April???
A man once stopped Michael Jordan from scoring in March of 1984. It was his Greatness' last year in college and his team was ranked number 1 at UNC. He scored under 10 points and his team lost to an underdog Indiana that would lose to Ralph Sampson's Virginia next round...
The IU player who did this, "guard" the Guard was named Dan Dakich. 24 years later...
I have lived in a few different sports areas and I am faithful to these places and their passions, give or take. I was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana (1970-1989). Bob Knight was a central figure. I then lived in Chile for two years, where soccer became more of a presence on my global map. After returning to the Hoosier state one year, 1992, I became more aware of college football for a five year stint in Provo, Utah (1993-1997). BYU Cougar football! I made another return to Indiana from 1997 to 1999, and then spent the last six years in southern California, minus the last six months of 2005, in southern Chile again. And I got back yesterday, UPDATE:Now in Loudoun Cty, Northern VA! I am in the South! I love sports enough to think that they matter...Some how.
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Tom Crean went 190-96 in nine seasons at Marquette, including a Final Four appearance in 2003.
AP
