After taking a year from coaching duties, former Hoosier head coach Tom Crean will once again be on the bench next season.
When Indiana decided to move on from Tom Crean following the 2016-2017 basketball season, college basketball fans all across the country knew that he would eventually find another job somewhere. After spending this past season as an analyst for many outlets, Crean has secured another job. As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported yesterday that he has agreed to become the head coach for Georgia basketball.
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After a disappointing 18-15 finish that had the Bulldogs finishing 11th in the SEC standings, they decided to let go of head coach Mark Fox. In his second season with Georgia, Fox led them to an NCAA Tournament berth. However since that year, the Bulldogs had only made the tournament once in the previous seven years, settling for three NIT invites instead.
There is no guarantee that Tom Crean will be able to lead Georgia to the promised land. But there is one guarantee, and that is that there are no expectations from a proud football school that just so happens to have a teetering basketball program. They have consistently been outplayed, and out-coached in the tough SEC.
Being the head coach of Indiana was tough. No matter how great Crean’s team were, they always under performed according to fans. Maybe that is what got him fired in the end, the program is still looking for ways to reach their previous glory years.
At the end of the day, all Indiana fans should be glad that Tom Crean got another job in the college basketball world, even if it was a giant mistake in firing him. At the very least, he now gets to defeat Kentucky twice a year, we can always take solace in that.