March Madness doesn’t just mean madness on the court. This is also the time in the calendar when collegiate programs reevaluate their staff and a number of top programs ultimately end up deciding to act on it and make coaching changes. A day after Washington fired head coach Lorenzo Romar, who’d been at the helm of the program for 17 seasons, Indiana announced on Thursday morning that it has fired its head coach of the past nine years Tom Crean.
Below is the official announcement from the university’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass:
After deliberative thought and evaluation, including multiple meetings with Tom about the future, I have decided to make a change in the leadership of our men’s basketball program. Tom Crean brought us through one of the most challenging periods in IU basketball history, led his players to many successes in the classroom and on the court and represented our university with class and integrity. While winning two outright Big Ten titles in five years and being named Big Ten Coach of the Year, Tom worked tirelessly to develop great young men and successful teams. However, ultimately, we seek more consistent, high levels of success, and we will not shy away from our expectations. Tom is a good man and a good coach and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for his many positive contributions to Indiana basketball. We wish him well.
The national search for our new coach begins immediately. The Board of Trustees and the President have expressly delegated to me the responsibility and authority for this search and hire. While I will not be establishing a formal search committee or advisory committee, I will consult with basketball experts from around the country and throughout the State of Indiana, including many former Indiana University basketball players. The expectations for Indiana University basketball are to perennially contend for and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament, and win our next national championship—and more after that. We will identify and recruit a coach who will meet these expectations.
