Brad Stevens Leaving the Celtics for the Indiana Hoosiers Will Be a Storyline All Season

Brad Stevens left Butler to coach the Boston Celtics on July 4th weekend in 2013 in one of the biggest coaching shockers this decade. Stevens had rebuffed all comers after guiding the Bulldogs to the Final 4 in 2010 and 2011, even though he could have had just about any job he wanted.

But the Celtics more than tripled his 2011 salary ($1.2 million), lavishing the then-36-year old with a 6-year, $22 million deal, and he couldn’t resist the pull of one of the most storied franchises in sports.

Stevens hasn’t been heard from since. The Celtics are in the midst of a extensive rebuilding project, and the only time they’re mentioned is when Rajon Rondo trade talk bubbles up. Barring some (more) behind-the-scenes wizardry from GM Danny Ainge, Boston is still a couple years away from the playoffs, even in the woebegone East.

Which makes you wonder: What if the NBA losing gets to Stevens, and the Indiana Hoosiers fire embattled coach Tom Crean?

Since Crean flopped out of the 2013 NCAA Tournament to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 – despite having two lottery picks (Zeller and Oladipo) – he’s been in trouble. Indiana missed the NCAA tournament last year and the program has been hammered with a slew of transfers and off-the-court problems.

Then, the season started, and the Hoosiers lost to Eastern Washington. At home. The Eagles do appear to be the class of the Big Sky, and nearly beat Washington Sunday, but still, that’s a game Indiana isn’t used to losing.

The good news for Crean is that the Big 10 isn’t loaded this year, and after Wisconsin, it’s anyone’s guess who the 2nd best team is (Maryland?). Ohio State and Michigan State should qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but they’re more deeply flawed than normal and probably wont get out of the 1st weekend. Michigan is struggling mightily, Nebraska suffered an embarrassing loss last week and teams like Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa and Illinois are nothing special.

So maybe Crean gets Indiana to 20 wins and back to the NCAA Tournament.

I’m not sure it happens.

If it doesn’t, and the Celtics don’t swing some franchise-altering trade, April and May could be long months for Tom Crean and Boston Celtics fans.

The Globe explored the possibility of the Celtics losing Stevens over the weekend:

"Stevens has never even discussed returning to college coaching, and NBA sources said he is totally invested in the Celtics. He wants to restore the organization to a contender and also has four more years on his contract. The organization made a sizable investment in his talents."

Sounds like exactly what Stevens said at Butler for a couple years.

Then, he left.

How many Celtics fans are now Hoosiers fans?