 |  |  |
The first question was a simple question.
How you doing, man?
|
|
| Tom Crean feels good in Bloomington, despite having his hands full. (Getty Images) |
So there you have it, Indiana fans.
Your coach is just fine -- relaxed, excited and dealing with adversity without blinking. It's not easy, mind you. Let's not kid ourselves. But your coach knew he was inheriting a mess when he inherited this mess, and though it might be a little messier than he expected it's still something he figures he can clean.
"It's a long-haul job," Crean acknowledged by phone Thursday. "But it's such a great tradition and a great job that we're going to be able to recover."
Crean called Thursday after a morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"I was supposed to wave the flag to start the practice round," he said. "But we had too much rain."
In other words, the day didn't go quite as planned. So it was a fitting day in many ways. Or at least consistent with the theme of Crean's first five weeks at Indiana -- five weeks of dismissals and transfers and shakeups in general that will ultimately provide IU basketball with a new foundation on which to build.
You know those people who buy houses and immediately rip up the floor because the carpet is stained and stinks beyond belief? Crean is one of those people. That's what he has done and is still doing at IU. So if you walk into his house right now, yes, it might look rough because the new hardwood floors that will replace the stained carpet aren't yet in place.
This in-depth house cleaning is a necessary component to the rebuilding process, and the only bad part is that it'll likely get worse before it gets better considering there are now only three scholarship players set to return from last season's Indiana team that finished 25-8.
Did you get that?
Just three scholarship players will be back.
They are Jordan Crawford, Brandon McGee and Kyle Taber, and it should be noted that Taber was initially a walk-on. Put another way, Indiana will return an average of 12.8 points per game from last season's team. Meanwhile, the program Crean left behind -- Marquette -- should return a starting backcourt that averaged 34.1 points by itself.
"We really don't have much size in the program at all and we're going to probably be as young a team as there is in Division I," Crean said. "We'll have one senior and one junior. But we have three commitments in the Class of 2009. So I feel good about that."
Translation: Help is on the way.
That's the thing Crean has to keep reminding himself and IU fans. The program he took over after the Kelvin Sampson debacle was in such bad shape, particularly in terms of academics, that a complete overhaul was necessary to properly move forward. This is that overhaul. But Indiana basketball is still Indiana basketball and prospects still want to be Hoosiers and people still have a unique passion, and Crean recognizes that pretty much every day regardless of whether he's walking around campus or pumping gas at a convenience store.
"I was walking with Jordan Crawford one night on campus and a couple of young men stopped their car on the street and ran over to take a picture and get an autograph," Crean said. "I thought that was kind of cool. Then a young man saw me getting gas and followed me 2.5 miles to Assembly Hall the other night just to get a picture and autograph, and I thought that was kind of cool, too.
"It's been overwhelming to see how much people care about Indiana," Crean added. "It's constant and it makes you feel great."
So there you have it, Indiana fans.
Times are tough.
But your coach still feels great.
And though the losses might pile next season given the circumstances -- did I mention there are just three returning scholarship players? -- Crean is certain moving backward is the only good way to ensure everything would eventually move forward. Is it ideal? Of course not. But it's what people have to do when they move into a house that has been trashed, just start at the bottom and progress step by step.
"I had a good friend make a really good point last week about the upcoming season," Crean said. "He said we've got to get our staff and fans focused on what we are and what we are going to be and not on what we are not. And that's a good way to look at it because there are so many things that need to be done and so many pieces that need to be reconnected. It's all part of the process. But that's also part of the thrill of it. It really is."