Tag: Tom Crean

Tom Crean nailed it with his impassioned rant against teams declining NIT invitations

“Give your players and coaches a chance to keep coaching and playing.”

In an era of college sports defined by movement in the pursuit of money — whether that’s players and coaches changing teams, teams changing conferences or conferences changing tv partners — it’s always nice to have a reminder that some people are still in it for the love of the sport.

It was hard to feel that way Sunday after seeing teams snubbed from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament decide to also opt out of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), thus ending their seasons. Whatever their reasons, it was just another example of the sport itself not being enough reason to play, an idea that’s sadly been normalized so much that I never considered the potential benefits of a tournament that didn’t crown a national champion.

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As far as I had always been concerned, the NIT was nothing more than an acronym for “Not In Tournament,” and the teams involved were playing games that didn’t matter. Then, I heard ESPN analyst and former coach Tom Crean’s impassioned rant against the declined invitations, and he convinced me on one point.

“Give your players and coaches a chance to keep coaching and playing, and don’t short change,” Crean said. “If a guy doesn’t want to play, go sit down. If a coach doesn’t want to coach, go recruit. But there’s gotta be enough people to put five, six, seven people on the floor and go play. Makes absolutely zero sense to me.”

Give your players and coaches a chance to keep coaching and playing. That’s a powerful line, because there will come a time when those players and coaches won’t be able to play and coach again, and all they’ll have is the memories of when they could. That’s especially the case for seniors who maybe went into Selection Sunday hoping for one last game, only for their teams to never show up on the big bracket.

Of course, these declined invitations don’t all happen in a vacuum. Every team’s situation is different, and some may have had valid reasons for opting out. The transfer portal opening Monday complicates things too. And I’m not going to sit here and act like I’ll miss a bunch of teams I wasn’t going to watch anyway. But that shouldn’t be the impetus for teams wanting to play.

The NIT may not carry the same prestige as it once did, but it does provide graduates a final chance to play. It gives underclassmen another development opportunity. It gives players and coaches more exposure. It’s not completely useless. It only seems that way when teams like St. John’s, Pittsburgh and Indiana decide it’s not worth their time. And that’s unfortunate, because for a lot of the student-athletes and coaches, it may be their last time.

Tom Crean’s frowny face in the stands of brother-in-law Jim Harbaugh’s national title game turned into a meme

Hey look, a new Tom Crean meme!

Veteran college basketball coach Tom Crean showed up to support his brother-in-law Jim Harbaugh as his Michigan Wolverines played in Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game.

However, he didn’t look too thrilled to be there.

The ESPN game camera caught a very bored, frowning Crean in the stands watching Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines play the Washington Huskies.

Crean is married to Joani Harbaugh, who he met at Western Kentucky while he was an assistant basketball coach and Jack Harbaugh, Joani’s father, was WKU’s head football coach.

Now, Crean is waiting for his next hoops opportunity while Jim Harbaugh coaches Michigan in the national title and his brother John Harbaugh preps the Baltimore Ravens for a Super Bowl run.

They say a photo tells a thousand words, and this one sure does.

While Crean might just be daydreaming about anything else than the game going on the field, it’s hard not to think he’s got dreams of coaching in a Final Four game sometime soon once he gets back into coaching.

Perhaps the Harbaugh family will turn out in full force for that game. For now, it’ll be Crean in the stands to watch his brother-in-laws succeed.

Naturally, the internet turned this reaction into a meme.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

Tom Crean analyzes Rutgers basketball recruit Asa Newell: Could be one and done

Former Big Ten coach Tom Crean details the potential for five-star recruit Asa Newell.

Five-star forward Asa Newell has NBA potential according to former Big Ten basketball coach Tom Crean.  Rutgers basketball offered Newell this week.

One of the top players in the 2024 recruiting class, the 6-foot-9 Newell has the potential to be a dominant player at the college level. A forward at Florida’s Montverde Academy, Newell is the No. 10 player in the nation in the 247Sports Composite. He recently participated at the 2023 FIBA World Cup as a member of the USA Basketball U19 National Team.

He holds offers from Alabama, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan and Wake Forest among others.
Crean, a former head coach at Indiana, tweeted about Newell this week.

In the recently completed World Cup, Newell averaged 7.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. It was a strong showing from Newell, especially since his teammates and opposition were very often already collegiate players if not professional players.
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Newell was offered by Rutgers this week. The Scarlet Knights currently have the second-highest-ranked recruiting class in the nation which features five-star forward Airious ‘Ace’ Bailey and a pair of four-star players in center Lathan Somerville and forward Bryce Dortch.
In seven seasons at Indiana, Crean led the Hoosiers to the postseason on five occasions. Then won the Big Ten regular season twice and took the Hoosiers to the ‘Sweet 16’ of the NCAA Tournament three times.
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Former UGA basketball coach Tom Crean returns to ESPN

Former Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean is returning to ESPN as a college basketball analyst

Former Georgia Bulldogs basketball coach Tom Crean is returning to serve as a college basketball analyst for ESPN. Crean previously worked for ESPN during the 2017-2018 college basketball season.

Tom Crean will reportedly begin working for ESPN on Dec. 7. Crean served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 2018-2022. The Bulldogs hired former Florida coach Mike White to replace Crean.

Former Georgia coach Tom Crean will serve as a basketball analyst similar for ESPN. Rebecca Wright/Athens Banner-Herald via USA TODAY NETWORK

Tom Crean additionally coached at Indiana from 2008-2017 and at Marquette from 1999-2008. Crean previously worked with ESPN for one season after his tenure ended with Indiana. Perhaps Crean will get back into coaching next season.

Georgia basketball, which is off to a 6-2 start to the 2022-2023 college basketball season, faces Georgia Tech on Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Additionally, Georgia has an upcoming test against Notre Dame on Dec. 18.

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Potential candidates to replace Dwayne Stephens on MSU basketball’s staff

Check out some possible candidates to replace Dwayne Stephens on Tom Izzo’s staff

Tom Izzo’s top assistant, Dwayne Stephens, is leaving the Michigan State program after being hired as the head coach of Western Michigan. Stephens had been by Izzo’s side for the past 19 seasons, but has now decided to make the jump into leading his own program.

Now, Izzo has the opportunity to reinforce his staff with a new hire. The question now becomes, will Izzo bring back a familiar face or will he branch out and bring fresh blood to the program.

We examined some of the possible candidates, both familiar faces and new blood, that could fill the open assistant role on Michigan State’s bench:

Georgia basketball: Head coach Mike White’s salary revealed

Mike White’s salary at UGA…

New Georgia basketball head coach Mike White will earn $300,000 more annually than he did while at Florida.

White’s new salary at Georgia has been revealed at $3.4m per year, up from the $3.1m he was earning at Florida. White’s contract with Georgia is for six years.

White was hired away from Florida after the Bulldogs fired Tom Crean, who was earning $3.2m.

White helped Florida go 19-13 and 9-9 in SEC play during the 2021-2022 season, but the Gators failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Former Georgia head coach Tom Crean and the Bulldogs had a rough 6-26 season, including a 1-17 record in conference play.

White will have an uphill battle to begin his Georgia career with a roster depleted by transfers.

White played college basketball at Ole Miss from 1995 to 1999. He helped Ole Miss make three NCAA Tournaments. He started his coaching career as an assistant with Jacksonville State from 2000 to 2004 and later returned to an assistant coach role with Ole Miss from 2004 to 2011. In 2011 he landed a head coaching job with Louisiana Tech that he held until 2015. White had been Florida’s head coach since 2015.

Tom Crean discusses Tennessee winning NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed

Tom Crean discusses Tennessee winning the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed.

Tom Crean served as Georgia’s men’s basketball head coach from 2018-22.

Crean was relieved of his duties with the Bulldogs on March 10.

Following Selection Sunday and the NCAA Tournament bracket being released, Crean commented on Tennessee being a No. 3 seed.

“Not to mention that Vol hoops could win the March Madness as a three-seed,” Crean said on Twitter.

Tennessee (26-7) will play in the South region as a No. 3 seed against 14th-seeded Longwood (26-6) on Thursday.

Tipoff is slated for 2:45 p.m. EDT between Tennessee and Longwood. CBS will televise the first-round matchup from Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Tennessee-Longwood winner will play the Colorado State-Michigan winner. The Colorado State-Michigan matchup will tip off at 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday. CBS will televise the matchup.

Tennessee defeated Texas A&M (23-12), 65-50, in the SEC Tournament championship game. Tennessee’s 2022 SEC Tournament championship is the program’s first since 1979.

Brackets: Fill out your NCAA tournament bracket here!

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Georgia basketball hires Florida’s Mike White as head coach

The Georgia Bulldogs did not take long to find a new head men’s basketball coach. Georgia is hiring former Florida Gators coach Mike White.

The Georgia Bulldogs did not take long to find a new head men’s basketball coach. Georgia is hiring former Florida Gators coach Mike White.

Mike White helped Florida go 19-13 and 9-9 in SEC play during the 2021-2022 season, but the Gators final to make the NCAA Tournament. Former Georgia head coach Tom Crean and the Bulldogs had a rough 6-26 season. Georgia went just 1-17 in conference action.

White will have an uphill battle to begin his Georgia career. He will have to try to build the roster with recruits for the long run while adding a few impact transfers.

Mike White played college basketball at Ole Miss from 1995 to 1999. He helped Ole Miss make three NCAA Tournaments.

White started his coaching career as an assistant with Jacksonville State from 2000 to 2004. He later returned to an assistant coach role with Ole Miss from 2004 to 2011. He finally became head coach of Louisiana Tech from 2011 to 2015. White had been Florida’s head coach since 2015.

Former Florida Gators head coach Mike White will have the same role with the Georgia Bulldogs. David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Mike White has a career record of 243-127 as a head coach. He helped Louisiana Tech have three first place finishes in conference play. White made the NCAA Tournament four times with Florida. The Gators were projected to make the canceled 2020 NCAA Tournament. Mike White and Florida made the Elite Eight in 2017. He holds a 6-4 record in the NCAA Tournament.

The University of Georgia announced the move via Twitter:

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Auburn basketball massive favorites over the Georgia Bulldogs

Oddsmakers think that Auburn will win this game BIG.

The Georgia Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team: not akin to their football brethren.

Tom Crean & Co. have have a rough start to the 2021-22 season, thus far having posted a 5-12 record, with an 0-4 mark in conference play.

The defense for the Dawgs of the hardwood is even further from comparison to the stout unit the 2021 National Championship team had. A fun fact about the Bulldogs:

Georgia has played 13 teams ranked 200th or higher in the KenPom rankings.

They held only *one* of those opponents (Wofford) underneath their average PPG. The UGA D bends to the will of its opponent. This does not bode well against a team such as Auburn that will not only be playing at home, but they will be playing at home with a chip on their shoulder after not being ranked No. 1 in the latest AP Poll. Will Georgia bend to the will of Auburn’s offense (averaging 80.6 points per game) on Wednesday night?

The oddsmakers seem to agree that this will be a certain victory for the Tigers. Here are the odds for tomorrow’s matchup.

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook

Line: Auburn (-21.5)

Over/Under: 153.5

Money Line: Auburn (-4000) | Georgia (+1200)

Georgia basketball hires College of Charleston Associate HC

Georgia basketball has hired JD Powell, a longtime College of Charleston assistant coach.

Georgia basketball has hired longtime College of Charleston coach JD Powell to come join Tom Crean’s staff in Athens.

Powell has been on staff at College of Charleston for the last seven years and will replacing Jake Thelan as the director of recruiting and operations. Powell spent the last two seasons as associate head coach in Charleston.

Powell has over two decades of collegiate coaching experience, and will be coaching outside of South Carolina for the first time in his career.

Powell’s coaching history:

Furman (2002-04)

Charleston Southern (2004-10)

The Citadel (2010-14)

College of Charleston (2014-21).

“I am very excited to join Coach Crean and the Georgia Basketball family,” Powell said. “It is a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow in a tremendous program and the nation’s best basketball conference. Our family cannot wait to be a part of the UGA and Athens community.”

While at College of Charleston, Powell helped the Cougars to 92 wins in four years and saw NBA Draft selections in both 2019 and 2020.

Crean on Powell:

“J.D. Powell brings a wealth of experiences and responsibilities into our recruiting and operations director position,” Crean added. “His organizational abilities, coaching and recruiting acumen and passion, energy and work ethic really stood out to me. Again, like Wade Mason, he comes recommended from people I’ve worked with and people I respect. He will bring a vast background into our program and we are excited about it. We also welcome Kerri and their three boys, Jack, Tucker and Hampton, to UGA and the Athens community.”