Why Indiana basketball is still a coveted job despite decades of mediocrity
When he left Marquette in 2008 to become the next head coach of an Indiana basketball program saddled with a depleted roster and crippling NCAA sanctions, Tom Crean required only two words to justify his decision.
“It’s Indiana.”
To Crean, Indiana was “the absolute pinnacle of all of college basketball,” a program with “incredible tradition.” There was “absolutely no way,” Crean said during his introductory press conference, that he would have walked away from what he built at Marquette if he didn’t feel that way.
Seventeen years further removed from Indiana’s glory days under Bob Knight, the school’s men’s basketball job is again open. With Indiana (14-10, 5-8) sinking to the bottom half of the Big Ten standings and to the fringes of NCAA tournament contention, Mike Woodson agreed last week to step down at the end of the season.
The lingering question as Indiana searches for Woodson’s replacement is whether coaches still perceive the program the same way that Crean once did. Is Indiana still a top-tier job because of its rare combination of resources, tradition and ambition? Or has the job become less appealing as a former powerhouse has faded from relevance?
To say that Indiana hasn’t performed like one of college basketball’s elite programs for decades is a massive understatement. It has been 38 years since the Hoosiers last raised a national title banner, 23 since they last made the Final Four and 12 since they secured a top-three NCAA tournament seed. Indiana has won the Big Ten three times since 1993. Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State each have more during that span.
Since Indiana decided at last 25 years ago that it could no longer tolerate Knight’s ill-tempered lack of human decency, the Hoosiers have searched in vain to find a long-term successor. Five coaches of all different backgrounds have crashed and burned trying to restore the program to its former greatness.
Emergency interim coach Mike Davis earned a shot at the full-time job after Knight's dismissal by leading Indiana to 21 wins and handling a difficult situation with grace. In his first full-time season, Davis guided the fifth-seeded Hoosiers on an improbable run to the national title game. That turned out to be the high point of an otherwise unremarkable six-year tenure.
Proven winner Kelvin Sampson might have been Indiana’s savior were it not for his habit of running afoul of NCAA rules restricting how often coaches could contact recruits. When the NCAA alleged that Sampson violated the same rule that he did at Oklahoma and then lied to investigators about it, Indiana cut him loose before the end of his second season.
That paved the way for the hiring of Crean, who rebuilt a program in disarray and made the Hoosiers as relevant as they have been since Knight. He won a pair of outright Big Ten titles, reached three Sweet 16s and had a 29-win team that was a real threat to secure Indiana’s sixth national title. Those 2012-13 Hoosiers ran into the March menace that was Jim Boeheim and his dreaded 2-3 zone at Syracuse, a stain on Crean’s résumé from which he never recovered.
Archie Miller came next, an apparent home run hire who didn’t pan out. The rising star who led Dayton to four straight NCAA tournaments did not produce a single winning Big Ten record in four inglorious seasons at Indiana.
Indiana then in 2021 turned to Woodson, a former standout under Knight with two decades of experience coaching in the NBA but none at the college level. The Indiana fan base soured on Woodson during the latter half of his four-year tenure because of his antiquated offense, his apparent disinterest in establishing relationships on the recruiting trail and his underachieving results.
With fans in Assembly Hall already booing Woodson and chanting for his dismissal, Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson could wait no longer to make a move. He convinced Woodson to step aside and go out with dignity, lest the atmosphere get more toxic and Indiana have to outright fire one of its legends.
Why Indiana is still a good job
The knee-jerk reaction from some potential Indiana candidates might be to steer clear of a job with such a bleak recent history. Why risk your career and uproot your family to go somewhere that is about to hire its sixth new coach since the turn of the century?
In reality, Indiana’s decades of mediocrity can also work in a new coach’s favor.
Expectations, while still high, are not as unreasonable as they were just after Knight. The coach who turns Indiana into a regular NCAA tournament participant and occasional title contender will be hailed as a hero. Social media is littered with posts from Indiana fans wistful for Crean’s trio of Sweet 16 appearances during his final six seasons.
Those results are very attainable for the right coach, one with the personality to thrive in the 365-days-a-year spotlight. In Bloomington, Indiana basketball is more than a game — it’s a source of community pride, a century-old civic institution.
The next Indiana coach will take over a program believed to have one of the most robust NIL budgets in college basketball. Last offseason, Indiana had to pay to retain guard Trey Galloway and forwards Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako, three of last year’s four leading scorers. Then the Hoosiers went out and splurged on portal targets Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Luke Goode, each among the nation’s most coveted transfers.
The plethora of in-state high school talent is a major advantage for Indiana’s next coach, as are the school’s facilities and fan support. A crowd of 17,222 attended this past Saturday’s home game against Michigan despite the Hoosiers having dropped six of their past seven games. Most high-major programs would be lucky to attract half that many fans even if they were on their way to an NCAA tournament bid.
Between Indiana’s winning tradition, home-court advantage, NIL war chest and administrative backing, the Indiana job is a massive opportunity for someone. Throw in the recalibrated expectations, and this job seems as appealing as it has in a long time.
Who will be the next coach?
The last time a program as tradition-rich as Indiana sought to land a new coach, Kentucky and Louisville both swung and missed on their top targets last spring. Louisville whiffed on Scott Drew and Dusty May before pivoting to Charleston’s Pat Kelsey. Kentucky struck out pursuing Dan Hurley and Drew before turning to BYU’s Mark Pope.
Who will Indiana target?
Would Dolson go after Drew and make the Indiana native say no to a third blue blood? Would he pursue May and see if the former Indiana student manager could be tempted into leaving Michigan after a single year? Could Dolson try to pry Mick Cronin away from UCLA or TJ Otzelberger away from Iowa State?
Does he have the stomach to take a chance on a promising but unproven mid-major coach like Drake’s Ben McCollum? Or to go after Ole Miss coach Chris Beard despite Beard’s December 2022 arrest on a domestic violence charge?
Whoever Indiana hires, that coach will have the opportunity to hit the ground running the way that Pope has at Kentucky and Kelsey has at Louisville. In this era of college basketball, you don't need three years to rebuild a threadbare roster. You can reload in a matter of weeks.
The right coach can win if he embraces the spotlight, plays modern basketball and takes advantage of the resources available to him to mine the high school ranks and the transfer market.
It’s still Indiana.
Crashing out in four years is a distinct possibility. So is building a team that can play into April.
