Tom Crean was on the hot seat even before all the off-the-court incidents occurred within Indiana basketball the past few days. Five players on the current Hoosiers roster have been cited for alcohol or drug violations. Four different players in the past nine months alone. It certainly looks, from an outsider’s point of view that Tom Crean does not have any control over his program at all.
These Indiana Hoosiers, with the season ready to tip off in just 11 days, are showcasing the same tumult as the IU program in the final days of Kelvin Sampson- chaos reigned.
Don’t think Tom Crean is going anywhere though. His lucrative contract, with it’s absurdly high buyout clauses, will keep him in Bloomington for a at least a couple years.
So just slow your roll on the Brad Stevens rumors.
According to the Sporting News, here’s what it would cost Indiana to fire or buy-out Crean’s contract through the rest of his deal:
In 2014: $14 million
In 2015: $12 million
In 2016: $7.5 million
In 2017: $4 million
In the last three years of his current contract (2018-2020), the cost of the buy-out drops to $1 million.
Fred Glass said last night, in the wake of the news: “Tom is absolutely not in trouble. Tom is part of the solution. He’s not part of the problem.”
Glass has said he is in the business of honoring his contracts, so it’s likely that he’ll do the same with Tom Crean. Unless something truly cataclysmic happens.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2