Crean at Gordon Press Conference...

1st of all, I would like to preface this thread by saying that I am not the first to mention this...southernhoosier mentioned it on another thread...my take is a little different than his though....southernhoosier is disturbed by Crean's travel mate....lets come back to that....

2nd...this isn't a thread about Eric Gordon...I think we are all in agreement that we wish him (EJ) the best of the best concerning his future, but quite frankly; I'm sick of reading about Gordon....

No, this thread is to reiterate the impact of this coaching hire-a great hire, and to point out that Crean would make a 140 mile round trip to be with a player that will never play for him.  Why?? you ask.  Quite simple...according to Coach....he wanted to make himself available for any help that the Gordon's might need with the whole ordeal....wait a sec...uhhh coach...he isn't your player....Coach says, "doesn't matter, he (Gordon) is a part of the IU family"....WOW, let me say that again...WOW...that impresses the hell out me....do any you still doubt Crean's committment to IU??? I hope not.

finally...about his travel mate, that is connected to Sampson....don't take another second thinking about it...this is Crean's team now, and besides; Crean himself said that he is hiring his staff from "within" (IU)....alot of coaches' paths cross...doesn't mean that they all think or act alike.

I agree wholeheartedly w/ your post. Coach Crean didnt have to be at the press conference, he WANTED to be there. That speaks volumes in my book!

Keith

Dale,

I'm in agreement on Crean and the class he showed in going to Gordon's press conference. That's the kind of conduct we want from the leader of the program, and in fact from everyone connected to IU.

About Bennie Seltzer and his connection to Sampson. I don't think he's crooked or a bad guy or anything like that, and the fact that Crean had him on staff for 2 years eases my uneasiness quite a bit. Still, he was at Oklahoma while Sampson and his staff made 577 impermissible phone calls. Even if he wasn't involved with that, if he didn't report it, he's guilty of complicity; that is, he allowed it to continue by not acting. It's hard for me to believe that something that went on for several years was unknown to any member of the staff. That's the line of thinking I anticipate from the NCAA, at least.

Of course, we don't even know if Seltzer will be on Crean's staff, as you point out. So it could all be a moot point.

I think a bigger concern is the 'severe academic problems' hinted at in the H-T blog yesterday that I mentioned on another thread. That sounds really bad.

Great post dale.

This does indeed display the committment to Indiana basketball that Tom Crean has.  I think he did the right thing.  It also shows to future recruits that he will support his players even if they think they are ready to go to the next level.  We may not see a great deal of guys coming in under Crean who will only stay for a year, but sometimes you can't pass up on guys like Rose, Love, Gordon, Beasley or Mayo. 

I have been excited about his hire since it was announced.  I had a gut feeling that we would get a coach from the Big East, I forgot about Crean though.  I think he has been outstanding considering he coached some really good teams in a conference with 16 teams including the likes of Georgetown, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Villanova, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and Syracuse.  That is pretty darn impressive.

I think he can build something special at Indiana and I don't think it will take too long.

His commitment is more than simple rhetoric

....that statement in itself is an oxymoron...since you chose to use the word, I will enlighten you to what it means....Rhetoric...is the the art of harnessing reason, emotion and authority; through language--with a view to persuade an audience, or to convince this audience to act...to pass judgement or to identify with given values....

...maybe you should concentrate on "competitive"...huh??