Welcome to The Hoosier Insider, our weekly insider roundup of the latest IU basketball and football news, notes & recruiting. Let's get to it:
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Obviously with a coaching change there are some recruiting ripple effects.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
When I sat down to write this week's insider, I didn't think I would be discussing a coaching change. But, sure enough, at 12:16 p.m. ET yesterday, the decision was made. Tom Crean is now out as head coach at Indiana after nine up and down seasons.
Though inconsistent with his on-court results, Crean recruited players who represented IU well both on and off the court. He was a fixture in the IU community. But he never lived up to the lofty expectations of the program which he recognized and discussed when hired in April 2008, and now the national search begins for his replacement.
Regarding that search, a source tells me UCLA head coach Steve Alford is not on the list of possible candidates at this time due to how he handled a rape case while at Iowa.
Questions about his handling of the Pierre Pierce situation at Iowa arose when UCLA hired him four years ago. After facing lots of criticism, Alford released a statement apologizing for it and acknowledging it was inappropriate to proclaim Pierce's innocence before the legal process played itself out. In another statement, UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero said he was aware of the situation when they hired Alford and that Alford had learned and grown from the experience.
Regarding other candidates, I'm working to get more information and will post updates as often as I can.
Regarding current players, IU athletics director Fred Glass said Thursday he hoped they would give the new head coach a chance, but he/the department will help them should they decide to pursue other options (i.e. transfer) instead.
When Indiana hired Crean, it was three days before the Final Four in 2008. That was under a previous administration, though, and there's no telling how long this process could take. Glass said he wants to have the hire done as soon as possible but also wanted to be sure the department is thorough with its approach.
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Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
While IU basketball was firing Tom Crean (which still feels weird) to say, Indiana football was taking full advantage of spring break time.
From as far as I can tell, there weren't any scholarship offers given out during this off time. I put together a list of recent offers on Monday, and I haven't seen any other recruits reporting anything since.
There's two major reasons for this, I'm speculating.
The first is that the new coaching staff already sent out quite a few offers in the previous handful of weeks. I think we saw guys like Mike DeBord already circle the wagons in reaching out to kids they were recruiting at their former schools and telling them they could also play at Indiana.
The other, slightly more simple reason, is that it's spring break. The coaches aren't exactly sitting on a beach in a lawn chair during this time like some of the players might be, but the break allows them the chance to unwind a moment and study whatever film they've gathered from practice so far.
Indiana is installing this new offense and taking its time in doing so. DeBord has been bringing out basically one run play at a time, from the sounds of it. So that's a long-term work in progress. We still haven't been able to get much look at it.
In terms of potential new commitments, I don't believe anyone is particularly close to pulling the trigger. IU only has the lone commitment from Jordan Jusevitch up to this point, and it would definitely be nice to see a couple of more roll in sooner rather than later. But having spring practice start up again next week will allow for kids to come in on visits and see the team. That typically is a nice chance to hear commitments.
Three-star offensive lineman Michael Furtney was one who suggested he was close to making a choice, and he did. But he opted to go to Wisconsin. He sort of blew up late and had bigger things in mind.
Last thing, but Pete Thamel gave IU football a mention in his column about Crean and Indiana. It wasn't a good mention.
"After firing football coach Kevin Wilson in December, Glass hired Indiana defensive coordinator Tom Allen. While Allen should be given a fair chance, you’d have to search long and hard around college athletics to find anyone impressed with the hire. Let’s just say Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin didn’t shudder in fear. (More likely, they went to Google. And it will surprise many if Allen wins as much as Wilson did, which, really, wasn’t that much)."
Woof.
I thought that was a little harsh. Allen wasn't a sexy hire like Wilson was at the time when he opted to leave his offensive coordinator spot at Oklahoma for Indiana, but I was just surprised to see a national writer like Thamel who clearly doesn't watch hardly any Indiana football take the time to throw a joke about the program into a column about Crean and basketball.
That speaks to the national perception of IU football still. I found it fascinating.
Last note: IU women's basketball plays Saint Louis at 2 p.m. Sunday in the second round of the WNIT. Tickets are cheap, and it's played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. If you've got nothing else going on, it's worth watching.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Obviously with a coaching change there are some recruiting ripple effects.
- Signees - Obviously a letter of intent binds them to the school, but when there is a coaching change the two parties sit down with the new coach and decide what is the best path moving forward. It’s too early to say what will happen with any of them. I do think with Clifton Moore one of his biggest appeals to the program was what Crean has done with recruits like him that were “under the radar.” If Crean lands at a good spot, I could see him following him. That’s total speculation on my part so don’t take it as fact, just basing that off what I know from covering his recruitment. Al Durham committed to Crean/IU really early in the process, so there’s a longstanding relationship there. We’ll see what happens with him. With Justin Smith being from nearby, maybe you got a shot to keep him depending on who the new guy is (I reached out to his dad but haven’t heard back.)
- Jordan Tucker - I think he likes IU as a school, but kind of similar to Moore in that he has bought in to how Crean develops players. I don’t know if he’ll necessarily follow Crean to his new school, but he said IU is definitely not his leader anymore following Crean’s departure Obviously the recruitment could go a number of ways from here (watch IU make a home run hire and Tucker want to be onboard,) but as of today it doesn’t look promising. The 6-7, 200-pound four-star forward from Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler is ranked as the No. 54 player nationally in 2017.
- Zach Gunn - In-state three-star forward committed to Ball State after Crean’s departure, which is fine. He had been waiting around for a chance to commit to IU but that obviously isn’t going to happen now.
- Keion Brooks - The state’s top sophomore and a borderline five-star prospect hadn’t heard much from IU to-date, and it wasn’t doing the Hoosiers any favor in this recruitment. Purdue and Michigan State among others have been on him hard and early. With Crean’s departure, it creates an opportunity for a fresh start with a new guy and there’s still plenty of time to go in Brooks’ recruitment to make up ground. The 6-8, 180-pound four-star sophomore from Fort Wayne (Ind.) North Side is ranked as the No. 22 player nationally in 2019.
- Rob Phinisee - I talked to him last night and tried to gauge his interest in IU with the coaching change. He said he has not heard from Crean yet, but interestingly has heard from assistant Tim Buckley. I think depending on the hire IU would still have a good shot here. Look for that story later today. The 5-11, 155-pound guard is ranked as the No. 134 player nationally in 2018.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
When I sat down to write this week's insider, I didn't think I would be discussing a coaching change. But, sure enough, at 12:16 p.m. ET yesterday, the decision was made. Tom Crean is now out as head coach at Indiana after nine up and down seasons.
Though inconsistent with his on-court results, Crean recruited players who represented IU well both on and off the court. He was a fixture in the IU community. But he never lived up to the lofty expectations of the program which he recognized and discussed when hired in April 2008, and now the national search begins for his replacement.
Regarding that search, a source tells me UCLA head coach Steve Alford is not on the list of possible candidates at this time due to how he handled a rape case while at Iowa.
Questions about his handling of the Pierre Pierce situation at Iowa arose when UCLA hired him four years ago. After facing lots of criticism, Alford released a statement apologizing for it and acknowledging it was inappropriate to proclaim Pierce's innocence before the legal process played itself out. In another statement, UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero said he was aware of the situation when they hired Alford and that Alford had learned and grown from the experience.
Regarding other candidates, I'm working to get more information and will post updates as often as I can.
Regarding current players, IU athletics director Fred Glass said Thursday he hoped they would give the new head coach a chance, but he/the department will help them should they decide to pursue other options (i.e. transfer) instead.
When Indiana hired Crean, it was three days before the Final Four in 2008. That was under a previous administration, though, and there's no telling how long this process could take. Glass said he wants to have the hire done as soon as possible but also wanted to be sure the department is thorough with its approach.
----------------------
Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
While IU basketball was firing Tom Crean (which still feels weird) to say, Indiana football was taking full advantage of spring break time.
From as far as I can tell, there weren't any scholarship offers given out during this off time. I put together a list of recent offers on Monday, and I haven't seen any other recruits reporting anything since.
There's two major reasons for this, I'm speculating.
The first is that the new coaching staff already sent out quite a few offers in the previous handful of weeks. I think we saw guys like Mike DeBord already circle the wagons in reaching out to kids they were recruiting at their former schools and telling them they could also play at Indiana.
The other, slightly more simple reason, is that it's spring break. The coaches aren't exactly sitting on a beach in a lawn chair during this time like some of the players might be, but the break allows them the chance to unwind a moment and study whatever film they've gathered from practice so far.
Indiana is installing this new offense and taking its time in doing so. DeBord has been bringing out basically one run play at a time, from the sounds of it. So that's a long-term work in progress. We still haven't been able to get much look at it.
In terms of potential new commitments, I don't believe anyone is particularly close to pulling the trigger. IU only has the lone commitment from Jordan Jusevitch up to this point, and it would definitely be nice to see a couple of more roll in sooner rather than later. But having spring practice start up again next week will allow for kids to come in on visits and see the team. That typically is a nice chance to hear commitments.
Three-star offensive lineman Michael Furtney was one who suggested he was close to making a choice, and he did. But he opted to go to Wisconsin. He sort of blew up late and had bigger things in mind.
Last thing, but Pete Thamel gave IU football a mention in his column about Crean and Indiana. It wasn't a good mention.
"After firing football coach Kevin Wilson in December, Glass hired Indiana defensive coordinator Tom Allen. While Allen should be given a fair chance, you’d have to search long and hard around college athletics to find anyone impressed with the hire. Let’s just say Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin didn’t shudder in fear. (More likely, they went to Google. And it will surprise many if Allen wins as much as Wilson did, which, really, wasn’t that much)."
Woof.
I thought that was a little harsh. Allen wasn't a sexy hire like Wilson was at the time when he opted to leave his offensive coordinator spot at Oklahoma for Indiana, but I was just surprised to see a national writer like Thamel who clearly doesn't watch hardly any Indiana football take the time to throw a joke about the program into a column about Crean and basketball.
That speaks to the national perception of IU football still. I found it fascinating.
Last note: IU women's basketball plays Saint Louis at 2 p.m. Sunday in the second round of the WNIT. Tickets are cheap, and it's played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. If you've got nothing else going on, it's worth watching.
