Tag: tom crean indiana

This Tom Crean story from a student manager is absolutely wild

Georgia men’s basketball coach Tom Crean is catching heat from former players, student managers, members of the media and more in Athens

Tom Crean, the Georgia men’s basketball head coach who previously led the Marquette and Indiana programs, has been to talk of the town lately in Athens.

Entering his fourth season as coach of the Bulldogs, Crean has slightly improved the team’s overall record each year, but failed to meet the most basic expectations.

Crean still has not reached a postseason and likely would have missed the NIT and NCAA’s in 2019 with No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Edwards.

Mar 4, 2020; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Anthony Edwards (5) controls the ball against the Florida Gators during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Now, the longtime basketball coach is struggling to find even three or four-star recruits to join him in Athens, as several players exit the program.

At this point, who could blame them? Just Monday, UGA Wire reported on the text Crean sent Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell when he picked Louisville over Crean’s Hoosiers.

In addition, Crean has had his fair share of outbursts while at Georgia.

Now, UGA Wire has learned that Crean reportedly cussed out a student manager in practice for not opening the diet Coke brought to him on the court.

Another student manager called Crean “the worst person you could ever work for” …

With all the stories that have been uncovered on Crean over the years, it makes perfect sense why no basketball recruit would want to come to Georgia right now.

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have hurt the Dawgs in being able to show recruits the campus of Georgia and in the transfer portal. It is a chaotic time in college basketball, but even with all the excuses Crean has in his book, Georgia can do better.

Feb 27, 2019; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Tom Crean reacts during the second half against the Auburn Tigers at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Just last week, Crean stated the reason for Sahvir Wheeler leaving the program stemmed from his desire to play closer to home.

Wheeler announced his ‘Top 10’ on Monday, with the vast majority of his schools being twice as far from home as Athens was.

Tom Crean is running this program into the ground faster than a Mecole Hardman kickoff return. If Georgia wants to have any hope of competing in men’s basketball ever again, the time is now to end this atrocious era.

To make matters worse, it appears every former star in the program cannot stand the guy.

This is just embarrassing for Georgia at this point.

Report: Tom Crean once told Utah Jazz star he wasn’t good enough for NBA

Report: Tom Crean once told Utah Jazz star he wasn’t good enough for NBA, let alone Power 5 basketball

Tom Crean, the Georgia men’s basketball coach who previously worked at Indiana and Marquette, is having a rough tenure in Athens.

Crean has slightly improved his record through three seasons at Georgia, but just recently had the bottom fall out in recruiting.

Despite having former five-star and No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Edwards on the roster last season and a more experienced lineup this year, Crean has failed to even sniff a postseason berth.

Now, the longtime head coach has lost the majority of his starting lineup from last season in Sahvir Wheeler, Toumani Camara and Tye Fagan.

Georgia head coach Tom Crean works with guard Sahvir Wheeler (2) during the first half of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament game against Missouri at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 11, 2021.

Mo Ga Sec 031121 An 01

This leaves Crean with an empty roster headed into the final weeks of 2021 recruiting and the offseason.

To make matters worse, Crean was recruiting 13th out of 14 in the conference just last week.

Now, it appears there is legitimate traction to the rumors that Crean’s coaching style and attitude are affecting the program.

UGA Wire has discovered that Crean reportedly sent a disturbing text to former Louisville star Donovan Mitchell while at Indiana.

Mitchell, one of the key front-runners for MVP in the NBA this season, chose Louisville over Crean’s Hoosiers and a few other top-ranked programs during his recruitment.

UGA Wire has learned that Crean reportedly sent Mitchell a text multiple paragraphs long, telling the point-guard he just wasn’t good enough for the NBA, after the former Brewster Academy product committed to Louisville.

To Crean’s credit, Mitchell was slightly underrated by most scouts coming out of high school, but it’s still perplexing to think a former blue-blood coach would text a high school kid something like that.

I mean, really? Who does that?

This isn’t the first time Crean has been under fire for bashing players either …

Back in Crean’s first season, the coach had a meltdown following a home loss to Ole Miss, which left several members of the team upset in the locker room. Crean had to apologize for the language he used towards the team and already lost a lot of fans in year one.

Since Crean’s texts to Mitchell, the point guard has gone on to drop 25 on Crean’s former team for Louisville and become the face of the Utah Jazz franchise.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – DECEMBER 31: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Louisville Cardinals shoots the ball during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers in the Countdown Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 31, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Oh by the way, he is about to sign a $195 million contract extension too …

Add this to the list of things Tom Crean has done to hurt his reputation and persona in the college basketball world.

I mean, my goodness. Who would want to play for this guy?

Just look at some of these Crean outbursts at former players over the years …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WGEtObvpgk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQW0epDCfhs

And there’s always this gem of an article:

It would be one thing if Crean was recruiting like expected and improving this program from the Mark Fox era at Georgia. However, he’s done the complete opposite.

What an embarrassment for the University of Georgia, the men’s basketball program, the players who have to put up with Crean and the long-suffering fans.

End this disaster …

It’s time to end the Tom Crean experiment

The Tom Crean experiment needs to be over in Athens

Just last week, Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean lost point-guard Sahvir Wheeler to the transfer portal after leading the SEC in several key stat categories.

The rising junior was expected to lead a more experienced Georgia team onto the floor next season with fans hoping to see Crean develop his roster into an NCAA Tournament caliber ball club.

However, the Dawgs have lost practically their entire starting roster to the transfer portal, with KD Johnson and Jaxon Etter being the lone role players returning.

Couple that with the fact Crean was recruiting 13th out of 14 teams in the SEC and you already had a massive problem on hand in Athens.

Then comes Sahvir Wheeler’s ‘Top 10’ announcement on Monday. Wheeler was rumored to be looking into playing closer to home, but it is now clear the point guard just wanted a new environment.

Wheeler’s comments here add even more concern for fans of the Bulldogs, who were already pulling hair out from Crean’s efforts leading the program.

The general consensus amongst much of the Bulldog faithful is that Crean will get one more year due to his massive buyout at $7.2 this season. If Georgia elects to fire Crean without cause next year, that figure drops down to $3.1 million.

However, it is well past time to let Crean go.

The program is in complete disarray, worse than where it was when Crean found it just three years ago.

Georgia has nothing left to lose by firing Crean, as the current recruiting class is still in the basement of the conference and expectations for 2021-2022 are at an all-time low.

It’s understandable that Georgia is a football-first school in terms of financial spending, given the sheer size of the fanbase and the revenue football brings in.

However, if Sanford Stadium can receive 436 upgrades over a few years and 257 other football-related buildings can be built, then Crean can be let go and Foley Field improved for students on campus.

Make the decision, Georgia. Either get rid of Crean and go hire Jonas Hayes or simply state you are too cheap to fire Crean and waiving the white flag on your men’s basketball program.

And remember, I’m not saying the Dawgs have to compete with the likes of Duke, Kentucky, UNC, UCLA and Kansas here.

I’m simply stating that Georgia can do better in basketball without Tom Crean.

Go get Hayes, hire a few former players like JJ Frazier as assistant coaches and make a run at the NIT’s and NCAA’s.

Firing Mark Fox was supposed to be a move towards relevancy in men’s basketball. Instead, it has turned this program completely on its side.

The only excuse one can make for Crean at this point is his $7.2 million buyout. Auburn football paid Gus Malzahn over $21 million to go away. Malzahn was still finishing above .500 every year with two SEC West Division titles and a trio of wins over Alabama.

What has Crean done for Georgia basketball other than landing the homegrown Anthony Edwards, who was already projected No. 1 in the NBA Draft before playing for Crean.

If you can’t shore up the money to get Crean out of Athens, then maybe there shouldn’t be a men’s basketball program on campus.

Right now, this program is the equivalent of Vanderbilt football or Missouri baseball to the conference. Being a Top 5 academic school in the SEC, with the recruiting hotbed of the Atlanta metro and the financial strength UGA has, there is no excuse to be this bad year-to-year in men’s basketball.

Get rid of Tom Crean or go give the basketball funding to Scott Stricklin and the baseball program to make consistent runs at SEC Championships and Omaha.

Heck, Joni Taylor and the women’s basketball team could use that funding too.

Make the move, Georgia. We’re bound to read a tweet from Crean on building DWade or Victor Oladipo here shortly. Maybe some of his former Georgia players can eventually make that wall of his instead of receiving a cardboard cut-out…

Geesh.