Indiana Basketball: the Art of Cleaning House

Indiana basketball has been known for its hundreds of wins, multiple national championships, and its fiery coaches. Well, now their new head coach is making sure his name is known and his program is run the correct way.

Indiana Men's head basketball coach Tom Crean has made clear in the last few weeks that he will not put up with the same, for lack of a better term, crap that former head coach Kelvin Sampson stood for.

In response to NCAA sanctions for Sampson's illegal phone use and more possible violations for not adhering to the NCAA progress report, Crean is cleaning house and setting a new example for the state of basketball in Indiana.

Crean is already faced with the loss of one scholarship.  It was thanks to a self-imposed sanction due to Sampson's "phone gate" earlier this season. 

Since it has been reported that the Hoosiers’ team score on the NCAA progress report was an 899, well below the cut-line of 925, the Hoosiers could actually lose two more scholarships.

With the loss of Eric Gordon due to early entry into the NBA (he is projected to be a top 10 draft pick) and the losses of Big 10 Player of the Year D.J. White and Lance Stemler, Crean already had a tough job in replacing these players. 

With the suspensions of Armon Basset and Jamarcus Ellis upheld and the recent transfer of Eli Holman, Coach Crean will have to replace his entire starting five from last semester.

He will also have to replace the culture that revolved around Indiana basketball last season.

In addition, Indiana's top two recruits, Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway, have asked out of their letters of intent and will not be joining the Crimson and Cream next year.  

Crean has brought in four recruits for the upcoming season, including Nick Williams who originally sign with Crean at Marquette. 

It will be a long and bumpy road for Crean and the Hoosiers.  But it is a welcome change for the face of Indiana basketball that a coach will be willing to sacrifice wins to play basketball the way it should be played.