Tom Crean Fired 1 Minute After the NCAA Tournament Started
By Jason McIntyre
Tom Crean, the embattled Indiana coach who missed the NCAA Tournament this year, was fired by the Hoosiers in gangster fashion – the school announced it one minute after the tournament began.
Literally one minute into Notre Dame-Princeton, Indiana put out a release firing Crean. It’s not a big surprise, but the timing is funny.
Simply put, he underachieved at Indiana. Reaching the Sweet 16 three times looks good on paper, but two of those teams were expected to make deep runs as high seeds. He had three lottery picks in 2013 and 2014 – Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo and Noah Vonleh – and both years suffered a harsh March loss.
Who’s getting the job?
There probably won’t be a better gig available – though Washington is open – so Fred Hoiberg will be a candidate (after the Bulls fire him), and Archie Miller’s name will be mentioned, as will Gregg Marshall. Expect the Hooisers to make a run at Virginia’s Tony Bennett, too.
What about Billy Donovan? If the Thunder lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs, would he go back to college?