Indiana University fires men's basketball coach Tom Crean, former Marquette head coach
INDIANA -- Indiana University officials on Thursday, March 16th fired Tom Crean, IU men's basketball coach.
Below is the statement from Indiana University VP and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass on Crean's firing:
"After deliberative thought and evaluation, including multiple meetings with Tom about the future, I have decided to make a change in the leadership of our men's basketball program. 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. 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. 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. We wish him well.
The national search for our new coach begins immediately. The Board of Trustees and the President have expressly delegated to me the responsibility and authority for this search and hire. While I will not be establishing a formal search committee or advisory committee, I will consult with basketball experts from around the country and throughout the State of Indiana, including many former Indiana University basketball players. The expectations for Indiana University basketball are to perennially contend for and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament, and win our next national championship—and more after that. We will identify and recruit a coach who will meet these expectations."
CLICK HERE for Crean's stats at IU.
Crean once served as the head coach at Milwaukee's Marquette University. He was named head coach at MU on March 30th, 1999.
In his nine years with Marquette, Crean's teams earned five NCAA Tournament bids, one more than the previous four Marquette coaches had in the 16 years prior to his arrival. During his tenure there Crean recruited, developed and coached a number of skilled players that made significant contributions in both the NCAA and NBA, including Dwyane Wade, Dominic James, Steve Novak, and Travis Diener.
Over his final seven seasons at Marquette, Crean compiled an aggregate record of 160-68.
The 2002-03 season was one of the best in Marquette history. The team made a Final Four appearance for the first time since winning the NCAA Championship in 1977. Crean has referred to the team's run as "one of the greatest four or five days of my life."
In the spring of 2008, Crean announced he was leaving Marquette University to take the head-coaching job at Indiana University.