At the end of the season, there may be as many as six or seven teams from the Big Ten receiving berths in the NCAA tournament this March.
The success and the overall competitiveness of the conference can be thanked by coaches who have not entered the “sophomore slump” as head coaches but have excelled in bringing their programs back from the cellar of the Big Ten.
Both Minnesota’s Tubby Smith and Michigan’s John Beilein have both turned their programs around, not only making the conference more competitive, but also bringing their squads back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in several years. The last time the Wolverines made a tournament appearance was in 1998 and Minnesota has not played in the Big Dance since 2005.
With the sophomore success of both coaches, it leaves big shoes to be filled with Indiana head coach Tom Crean to see if he can rebuild the Hoosiers into the Big Ten powerhouse they once were.
Crean has had a bigger challenge than the previous two coaches that have entered the conference. In both scenarios, it just took a good coach and a few new recruits to help rebuild the programs. In Indiana’s case, it has to deal with NCAA sanctions and rebuilding the program from the ground up.
Going into the season, the Hoosiers’ basketball program was scared when former Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson broke NCAA recruiting rules and caused the program to incur both internal and NCAA punishment, which hurt Crean’s ability to recruit talent and keep the senior leadership he had on the team.
But, despite all of the allegations and the problems his team faced, he had to move on.
“We still have to live with some of the results of the things that have happened,” Crean said during Big Ten media day this fall. “Other than that, it has nothing to do with us.”
When Crean took the job at Indiana after almost a decade coaching at Marquette, he knew what he was getting into. But, having played several Big Ten teams in the past and coaching in the area, he was well-equipped to help his team back to the top of the conference.
“After nine years at Marquette, I think I have a pretty good handle on what it means to be in a major-league conference, what it means to go against major coaches and all the great players we face all the time,” Crean said. “The Big Ten takes a back seat to no one in that respect because of the power that the league has had for so long.”
Before the season even began, Crean lost four scholarship players, leaving him with just three players on scholarship and eight returning in total. Needless to say, having a diminished roster put the Hoosiers in an even deeper hole than they thought.
Despite going just 6-18 so far this season and 1-11 in the conference, Crean has seen some of his players grow into the roles they were forced into. Junior Devan Dumes is averaging 13.8 points per game after transferring from Vincennes junior college last season and starting out at Eastern Michigan his freshman year.
While Crean might not be having a good season this year, he has the experience of building programs into national contenders. At Marquette, he was able to not only get the program to move from Conference USA to the Big East to get more exposure, but also was able to reach the 2003 Final Four on the shoulders of now Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, Steve Novak and Travis Diener. He also was able to bring in their current roster of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Lazar Hayward and Wesley Matthews, who have been able to lead their team to towards the top of the Big East.
When Wisconsin plays Indiana tonight, the Badgers may dominate. But, as Crean is able to add recruits and get some senior leadership (he currently has one senior on his roster), the Hoosiers will surely retake their place in the Big Ten mix.
Ben is a senior majoring in history and journalism. Feel bad for Crean? Think he is going to bring Indiana back? Email him at [email protected].
