Tom Crean To Accept Indiana Job

At the bottom of every sunken ship is a hidden treasure.. or at least that's what Tom Crean hopes. The nine-year Marquette coach is set to become the new Indiana Hoosiers head coach.

The demise of Kelvin Sampson and the team's struggles under Dan Dakich are well documented, and it will be up to Crean to resurrect this once proud program. Unfortunately he'll have to do it without the help of DJ White & Lance Stemler (seniors), Eric Gordon (NBA Draft), and perhaps neither of Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis (dimissal/suspension/who knows). This would leave freshman Jordan Crawford as the major only contributor with more than a 50% likelihood of returning.

Even worse than the aforementioned departures is that top recruits Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway have requested to be let out of their letters of intent. On top of that, the Hoosiers are down one scholarship next year due to Sampson's "mistakes."

All in all, Crean has some work to do.. but his impressive resume at Marquette suggests he can be successful. In nine seasons, Crean went 190-96 including a Final Four appearance in 2003. That great run was largely due to the dominance of Dwyane Wade. Without Wade around, Crean has never advanced beyond the second round.. including this season when Stanford knocked them out of the Big Dance.

While Crean faces a can't win situation next year.. it seems like his Marquette replacement will inherent a can't lose situation. Team leaders Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wes Matthews are all juniors, and barring unlikely NBA Draft campaigns, should return for another go around.