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:


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.