The Crean and Crimson
On Thursday, I saw the news that Tom Crean has been fired at the University of Georgia after going 47-75 in his four seasons at the helm, including a 6-26 mark this year. Eerily, that record look similar to his first year record at IU the year following the mass exodus and fallout stemming from the forced resignation of Kelvin Sampson. Two days later, this showed up on my doorstep.
I have several items signed by Coach Crean in my collection…however, for various reasons, I’ve had him sign other items when I’ve had the opportunity to meet him. With that being said, I’ve wanted a signed photograph like this to compliment the other individually signed coach photos in my collection.
One day later, we are all anticipating that our beloved Hoosiers have a resume strong enough to make the Big Dance for the first time since 2016. This grown ass man may just shed a tear of jubilation for Coach Woodson and his team when our name is called, having witnessed a team navigate through and overcome a number of challenges this year…while showing flashes of excellence that clearly demonstrated this team is capable of competing with any team in the land on any given day. If we can muster up enough offense, our defense has consistently been stellar and could certainly carry us in the tournament. Just a few days ago, things looked bleak with us being on the wrong side of the bubble. It’s been a remarkable, quick turnaround in the Big Ten tournament, knocking off two teams that whipped us on our home floor.
Now, back to the “Creaning”. Sadly, it’s been far too long for IU being in the tournament. Driven by faith, Crean was a highly energetic and likeable guy that ran a clean program, embracing the concept of the ‘student-athlete’ and building a team of young men of high character. He also had a knack for finding that raw, undeveloped talent (Wade, Oladipo, Anunoby). Unfortunately…and history has shown and proven this…Crean was more of a flash in the pan type of coach that could create a recipe of success every so often, but not with much consistency. His teams were built around offense… and defense…eh, not so much. His 2013 team was the closest thing to a contender and a top-20 defense; other than that, his teams lacked the defensive prowess to make any significant tourney runs.
As this season has unfolded, Coach Woodson has brought back that defensive mindset that served as the underpinning of Coach Knight’s success in the 70’s and 80’s. Like they say in baseball, good pitching beats good hitting…and the same can be said for basketball. You can also see the culture that he has been slowly building since his hire — while this team is a piece or two shy of being a damn good team, perhaps a knockdown shooter or two, this team has shown grit and fight at times that makes you proud to be a Hoosier. I think we have plenty to be optimistic about after Woody’s first season…let’s all give him some time to get some of those pieces in place to compliment the culture that he’s already put in place.