Never heard about him in the mix. Mostly Bennett and Miller. Sucks for Marquette. Hoepfully they can nab another top flight coach and keep the program at the current level.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3324439

Crean gets some flack but I liked him, both as a coach and personally. My son has attended his camp the last 4 years. They should be able to attract a pretty good coach here. Bobby Knight anyone?

I know MU fans hate him, but why not Bruce Pearl? Marquette was paying Crean a ton of money, but Indiana is just one of those jobs people will take if its offered. MU would likely pay more than Tennessee and Pearl is an old Big East guy.

I'd take Pearl.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty Larue:
I know MU fans hate him, but why not Bruce Pearl? Marquette was paying Crean a ton of money, but Indiana is just one of those jobs people will take if its offered. MU would likely pay more than Tennessee and Pearl is an old Big East guy.

You think so? I would guess Tennesse to be the "better" job.

Indiana is a top ten for sure and probably top 5 job. Tennessee is a Football and womens basketball school.

Having said that it is much more prestigious gig then Marquette.

Could Tony Bennett be an option?

Bennett was contacted for the job. He later stated he would not pursue the head coaching gig.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3321105

ESPN said Kevin O'neil is in Milwaukee. I hope not.

I liked O'neil's teams. McIlvaine, Curry, Hutchens, Lovette, Miller, Pieper...

Rob Jeter is far and away the best guy for that job.

He wouldnt cost a lot, he has great recruiting ties in state, and he is a Bo Ryan guy.

Far and away the best hire for MU... but, they just aren't that smart. I'd laugh if they re-hired Kevin O'neil.


Majerus could be on the radar for some.. i doubt it though..

Dwayne Wade seems to not be able to finish a season anymore, maybe coaching is in his future?

Pat Forde on ESPN.com ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=...3324733&sportCat=ncb ) mentions Bruce Weber from Illinois, a Milwaukee native. That would be a good hire, but losing Crean is big.

As an MU fan, this is bitter-sweet. The thing TC did right away was generate excitement on campus and re-invigorate the student section at games. It was night and day from the Mike Deane era. If it were not for Crean (and Wade), there is no way MU is even in the Big East. I cannot overstate how important that move was to the future of the program.

Having said that, I never liked TC's self-promoting ways and I always perceived, rightly or wrongly, that he was angling for a better gig. He's a good guy but he was never going to stay here for 15-20 years. His inability to recruit any blue chip post players was a big negative for me and it was clear that against better coaches, he was in over his head at times (see Ryan, Bo).

I wish him luck at IU, because he will need it, at least for the next few years. I just hope he survives long enough.

First off, I think this is a lousy hire for Indiana. Crean's greatest strength is he's a terrific recruiter. He was a great fit for Marquette because he was able to get talent on campus that prior coaches couldn't get. As a marquee program, Indiana shouldn't struggle recruiting talent. They would have been much better off with a better game planner and coach. Someone like Bennett or Miller from Xavier or Few from Gonzaga. That's just not Crean's strong suit. Exhibit A was Kansas Final 4 where for some reason the team was totally unprepared for Kansas's fast break and made no adjustments. Exhibit B was the Stanford game where Marquette just allowed Stanford to lob it into Brook Lopez all 2nd half.

Secondly, I'd be very surprised if Bruce Pearl is coming to Marquette. He turned down consideration for the Indiana job which is higher profile than Marquette. It just seems like he's been wandering for so long and doesn't want to leave a Tennessee program that he has built into the class of the SEC.

Third, no way would I hire Kevin O'Neal. He had a nice 1st run at Marquette, but has just been terrible since. His job of coaching Arizona this past year was lifeless at best.

It'll be interesting to see the direction Marquette goes here. Despite his flaws, Crean really was a good fit for Marquette because he brought in players. Guys like Mark Few and Sean Miller are superior coaches. But can they bring the talent to Marquette? I'd think Few could, given that he's brought pretty good talent to Spokane. That would be my preference. Of course, he may not want to go.

Crean recently signed an extension with the Golden Eagles until 2016---now, he's off to Indiana. Maybe Marquette can wallpaper over a bare spot with that contract.

It seems no one saw this coming. Local news talked to his now "former" players---these guys are shell-shocked.

Crean reneges on an eight-year extension and doesn't bother to tell anyone at Marquette, including his players. Classy.

quote:

Originally posted by Oldtimer:
Crean recently signed an extension with the Golden Eagles until 2016---now, he's off to Indiana. Maybe Marquette can wallpaper over a bare spot with that contract.

It seems no one saw this coming. Local news talked to his now "former" players---these guys are shell-shocked.

Crean reneges on an eight-year extension and doesn't bother to tell anyone at Marquette, including his players. Classy.

Sports is business instead of just sports, unfortunately. Things happen fast, folks move around, big money gets bigger. Very little in the way of 'considerations' for the losing program when a sought-after coach (or player for that matter) decides to move on.

As for Crean, I appreciate what he did for the program but got the impression the last few years that he is someone who was never going to get the 'Warriors' up those next very difficult notches. As Chronic said, "His inability to recruit any blue chip post players" was a little mind boggling.

I'd love to have Pearl take the job but that seems about as unlikely as me winning the lottery.

I've spent hours on the MU message board and they seem to like the following names:

1. Sean Miller from Xavier (I don't think this is likely)
2. Tony Bennett from Wash St. (Will his style play well at MU?)
3. Buzz Williams (was asst coach at MU, highly regarded recruiter)
4. Lon Kruger from UNLV (big program experience)
5. Brad Brownell from Wright State (was rumored to be choice for IU job)
6. Anthony Grant from Virginia Commonwealth (was Florida's top recruiter)
7. Mike Anderson from Missouri (runs pressing style)

I would love to see Sean Miller, but it ain't happening. Tony Bennett has proven himself as a coach and Buzz Williams has strong ties to the current recruiting class. My guess would be either Buzz Williams or someone like Mike Anderson would be the choice, assuming they're interested.

quote:

Originally posted by Oldtimer:...Crean reneges on an eight-year extension and doesn't bother to tell anyone at Marquette, including his players. Classy.

According to today's JSOnline, Crean had all the players bused to his suburban Thiensville home last night and told them in a meeting that lasted 45 minutes. It was the last minute, but he did inform them face-to-face. I assume the brass at Marquettee was aware of it.

Correction: Several Marquettee players found out first about Crean's leaving through the media. He didn't meet with them until after the word was out. Oldtimer had it right, "classy" move by Crean. My bad.

Pat Forde mentions Weber from Illinois may be a candidate. I guess he is feeling the heat and has the UW-Milwaukee connection.

Bennett would be nice but why would he turn down Indiana and take the MU job?

Crean is enthusiastic about his new gig. In his presser at Indiana he claimed as a kid growing up in Michigan, Indiana was his favorite team. He said he liked Marquette, but Indiana is the pinnacle of college basketball, he couldn't turn it down.

Imagine what the buyout will be on the eight year extension on his contract. At Marquettee he was believed to be one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball.

pacfan, I read this morning the buyout was 500k. Not sure if that's accurate.

Lot of fan reaction: http://www.jsonline.com/content/forum/crean_leaves_mu.asp

quote:

Originally posted by Diggr14:
Rob Jeter is far and away the best guy for that job.

He wouldnt cost a lot, he has great recruiting ties in state, and he is a Bo Ryan guy.

Far and away the best hire for MU... but, they just aren't that smart. I'd laugh if they re-hired Kevin O'neil.


Majerus could be on the radar for some.. i doubt it though..

Dwayne Wade seems to not be able to finish a season anymore, maybe coaching is in his future?

I know that you just love Bo Ryan, but having watched most of UWM games over the last few years it is clear to me that Rob Jeter is just one of those guys who looks like he's best suited to be an assistant coach. UWM has regressed under his watch and many of his prized recruits have been kicked out of the program so there's little hope on the horizon. So there's no way MU should even consider them if they are serious about winning.

I guess the one thing about all of this is whether or not Tom Crean is the best guy for the Indiana job. Let's face it, UWM has been past the first round of the NCAA tournament as many times as Marquette has in the time Crean has been there.

Crean can recruit, but having watched a lot of Marquette the one thing that struck me was that MU could look like the best team in the country one night and horrible the next night. That's either coaching or perhaps an inability to recruit guys who came to play night in and night out.

they have guards... they have athletic guards...

Their guards are too streaky of shooters, or just not very good shooters. Toughness wise, they are not very tough in the middle. They are also not skilled at all at the 4/5 spots.

It's not like MU can't win in the tournament... they just aren't built to win really. You need guards that can shoot... and bigs that can get you some easy baskets.

Pretty simple. MU just doesnt have that. They'll probably go to the sweet 16 or beyond next year... and everyone will give Tan Cream the credit. The fact is... this super class of James/Matthews/McNeal hasnt been beyond round 1. Pretty sad for the talent that has been playing there for 3 years.

Give Bo Ryan this team.. probably an elite 8 or two.

I respectfully disagree with you RL on Rob Jeter. I have too been to some games. The UWM team is seriously a below average team talent-wise. He led them to a decent season this year despite the lack of talent/and loss of talent due to suspensions/kicked out players. They overachieved.

The Bonus to all of this:

Bo Owns Crean twice a year

Bo Owns Izzo twice a year


God this is going to be fun.

If MU could get Tony Bennett.. He would be an immediate upgrade on Tan Cream from the get-go. He could probably lead that talent there past the sweet 16 in year 1. They wouldnt be playing huck a chuck a bad shot like they did all season.

Scary, but very true.

I dont see them being able to get TB from WSU, which is very sad for MU. Hopefully they can, the Bennetts should be in Wisconsin.