The Man Should Really Shut Up (Part II)

A lot has happened at Indiana since the days of Bobby Knight.  It has been quite a road for the Hoosiers to end up with essentially the same basketball coach they tried to get rid of 13 years ago.

First, after Knight's dismissal in 2000, a search for the "anti-Knight" landed Mike Davis a genial first-timer who not only won a share of the Big Ten title in his second full season as head coach but in the same year took the Hoosiers to their first title game appearance in 15 years (2002).  But as is the case in the world of college basketball's "what have you done for me lately" culture, two years in a row without a March Madness trip (2004 and 2005) spelled doom for Davis' tenure with Indiana.

Enter Kelvin Sampson.  The NCAA's equivalent of a junkie when it comes to rules violations, Kelvin had already had issues with Oklahoma, his previous employer, but a proven enough track record with 11 NCAA tournament appearances in 12 years that Indiana overlooked the "stripes" and named him head coach in 2006.  (REG NOTE--Sampson's 2002 Sooners club lost to Davis' Hoosiers in the Final Four).  Unfortunately, that "beginning" was actually the beginning of the end for Sampson with the Hoosiers.  Little Kelvin couldn't keep his hands out of the same cookie jar he had raided at Oklahoma.  Not only did he make impermissible phone calls to recruits as he had at Oklahoma but he was accused by the NCAA of lying to Indiana and the NCAA officials about his role with the phone calls.  When he was fired in 2008, Indiana's president referred to the hiring as a mistake. 

All of which brings us to Tom Crean.

The former Marquette head coach is in his fifth year at Indiana and after winning only 28 games in his first three years with a program decimated by the "Kelvin era", Crean has the Hoosiers playing like it was 1987 all over again.  The Hoosiers have been in the #1 mix all year long and are pretty much a lock for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  They are leading a Big Ten resurgence that includes four teams ranked in the top ten headed into Championship Week.

But Tom has a chip on his shoulder and much like the "General" from glory days past, Tom just couldn't keep his mouth shut.  After edging Michigan by one in the last game of the regular season to clinch the Big Ten regular season title (a meaningless distinction nowadays given the weight we put on conference tournaments), Crean took advantage of the situation to make a point.  One of the Michigan assistants, Greg Meyer, was also an assistant under Little Kelvin during his cup of coffee at Indiana.  Crean accosted Meyer at half court after the game was over, shouting "You know what you did" and "You wrecked our program" (for video evidence of Crean's "look at me" moment, go here).

A forgiving analysis says that Crean's spotlight stealing accusation was actually sweet revenge for all Hoosier fans who not only suffered through the "Little Kelvin" years but also Crean's first three years which contained the fallout from Little Kelvin's impermissible activities.  But if you dig deeper, you see it for what it really is--an arrogant coach who decided it was more important to be bombastic in a winning situation than to win with class and dignity.  Look at the video--the evil, crazy smirk he flashes as he is restrained is enough to make you hide your children from him for fear of his next move.

Besides, in his haste to make himself part of the story, Crean missed a crucial distinction.  He shouldn't be confronting Meyer.  Especially after the victory, he should be thanking him.  If it wasn't for those sanctions and Little Kelvin's dismissal, Crean would never have ended up at Indiana because there wouldn't have been a job opening.

And Indiana wouldn't be right back where it started 13 years ago.  With a bombastic, arrogant coach who knows how to win.

And, in success, knows how to make it all about him.

Peace,
Reg