LamarCheeks

I have to admit, while I thought it was time to make a change in the IU program, I always defended Crean. I thought the criticism of his coaching was fair game, but thought the constant harping on the pacing on the sidelines, the clapping, the gum-chewing, the Diet Coke obsession was -- I don't know -- a little childish. But I just listened to the Seth David podcast -- hadn't heard it before -- and I'm getting a little tired of the dude. I have great respect for what he did in the first three seasons, considering what he was left with, and how he got things rolling after that. But he wanted a reset after Cody and Vic left? C'mon, that's crazy. First of all, as a coach who's been with these kids day in and day out, he should've seen that coming -- that there was the possibility they would leave. Second of all, if you wanna run a blue-blood program, you don't get resets. You keep the ball rolling. I don't think anybody expected to contend for an NCAA title the year after those two left, but you don't expect 17-15, seventh in the B1G and no postseason, either. And back to the Cody-Vic season. He said Hulls got hurt in the Temple game and was severely limited against Syracuse and that really hampered their chances. That's why you don't have just one pure shooter on your roster. He had another -- Matt Roth, who had another year of eligibility -- available, but cut him loose. We weren't gonna beat Syracuse anyway because that game was over before it even started -- Crean was scared to death of that zone. During that game, I kept thinking, "Boy, a guy like Matt Roth might be able to make a difference here." Oh, and if Seth Davis had any chops as an interviewer, he would've pressed Crean when he said there were some Indiana kids he didn't get because money changed hands. But he was more concerned with making it a love-fest. You've GOT to follow that up. ... I felt like Crean handled himself with class during the Dakich interview, but he sure sounded like a whiny fusspot when he spoke with Davis.

Pitino took Providence to a Final Four, then went to the NBA -- where he was the Knicks' HEAD COACH -- before going to Kentucky.

I was a freshman that year and I'm pretty sure it was Darryl Thomas that said: "BUCKET. IT WAS BUCKET!" ... Then Hillman said something like, "I went to the basket to get a rebound or something and IT WENT STRAIGHT THROUGH AND THAT WAS IT!" Forgive me, I've watched that tape a few times!

I was alive for -- and watched -- all three as they happened. But it's really interesting to go back and watch the '76 and '81 games now -- to see how much of a premium there was on getting the ball inside and getting really good shots. All buckets were worth 2 points, so there was really no reason to shoot from more than 15-16 feet out.

March 30 also was a pretty big day in 1940 and 1981. We hung three banners on this day!

Maybe more like Louisville basketball. With two Final Four trips in the 1970s, followed by two NCAA titles in the 1980s, it was at a pretty elite status. But it slipped considerably in the final years under Denny Crum -- albeit with an occasional decent NCAA run thrown in. But Pitino has it back among the elite. Am hoping Archie can do the same at IU. (Without the hookers and strippers, of course!).

Apparently, Dayton is close to hiring Anthony Grant. ... He's a Dayton alum. Did well at VCU; not so well at Alabama.

One thing to keep in mind: Just say that your "Believed to be Staying" and "Remaining Questions" all decide to stay. It's very unlikely (guessing OG doesn't return), but still, if that were to happen -- that means there are no incoming players or potential incoming players or others, because you're at your limit of scholarships. Crean had three players signed (two obviously have backed out), but technically, there were no spots open (with Hartman having remaining eligibility). I have a feeling early on, Crean was banking/planning on JBJ, OG and Bryant not being back -- and that Hartman would move on, too. Man, recruiting is a tricky business and juggling act!

Not sure. I believe last year, it was late May.

I like a draft-eligible player being able to "test the waters," but always thought it put coaches in a very awkward position with trying to juggle who's coming back and who's coming in. I'm guessing coaches and programs have a pretty good idea what each player will do, but unless they changed the rules this year, the deadline for returning to school/entering the draft is awfully late. What if you have a high school kid who wants to commit, but also have a player "testing the waters." Do you sign the kid, then tell your player you don't have a scholarship for him any longer? Or do you tell the recruit "sorry" because the player MIGHT return. But what happens if he doesn't?. Then you've possibly missed out on a potential talent. That happened last year with Williams. I think it was about 99 percent sure he was leaving, but what if during the evaluation camps, he had an epiphany and thought, "Hey, I'm not ready. I want to stay at IU." Crean had already given out his scholarship. Maybe this won't be an issue at IU since Archie said he's likely to keep a scholarship or two open, but still -- it always has the potential to make things very uncomfortable.

Not doubting your source about Crean, but I would've bet a paycheck that Kent Sterling would be anti-Crean on this. Tom Crean could cure cancer and Sterling would say he did it just to get attention.

Listened to the Crean interview. He's a classy guy. I always thought if you want to criticize him, criticize the turnovers, criticize the at-times porous defense, criticize the fact that the best Indiana kids seemed to get away from IU, criticize the way he handled the off-court problems a couple years back. That's all fair game, as far as I was concerned. But I always annoyed by the criticism of his pacing up and down the sidelines, the clapping, the gum chewing, the Diet Coke obsession, the tan. I always thought that was kinda sophomoric. And for the record, I did think it was time for a change, so I'm not a Crean apologist. But I think sometimes we lose sight of the big picture here.

Doesn't bother me that Crean didn't meet with Glass. His agent called him the night before and essentially told him he was gonna be fired. Crean and family were headed to Florida for a vacation that next morning when Glass texted him, asking him to come to the office. Crean took a pass. I don't get the vitriol toward him in this regard. Like him or not, it seems to me that so far, he's handled things in a pretty classy matter.

He also could be one of the top candidates to replace Archie at Dayton.

I've always been curious about something. When Crean signed Cody, Patterson, Hollowell, Yogi, Devin Davis, Hanner -- he had a decent run of getting Indiana kids. (Of course, except for Cody and Yogi, none of those worked out.) Still, I wonder: How did he develop such a disconnect with the state? I grew up in Indiana, attended IU and now live in Virginia. When I watch Kyle Guy, I think, "Damn! He should be a Hoosier." ... I have faith that Archie can get things back on the right track, but still, I wonder: What the hell happened?

Perhaps my favorite quote from the presser: "I don't think you come to Indiana if you don't want to live in the neighborhood."

Here's a thought: Maybe he did call Boston and said "Any chance you're interested?" And Stevens says: "Thanks, but no thanks." ... That way, you gauge his interest without technically making an offer. ... How uncomfortable would it have been for him -- and Archie -- to stand up there and say, "Yeah, baby! We got our No. 2 guy! And here he is!"

The irony is that just a few years after Davis was hired, IU made the same mistake with the football program. Bill Lynch took over after Coach Hep passed, and we went to a bowl. But that was largely because of the pieces Hep had put into place. Lynch was virtually the same guy as Davis -- a nice, good, decent man who just wasn't equipped to handle running a Big Ten program.

It annoys me that Kitchel is so dismissive of the Pierre Pierce incident. "That happened, what, 15 years ago?" ... It doesn't matter if it happened five, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. Alford tried to bully the victim and in the end, helped enable Pierce to attack another women. That's pretty despicable. It doesn't matter that Alford was hired twice after that. He only tried to fully apologize for it after UCLA hired him, when the school finally got a full understanding of the sleaziness of what went on. And only then because the AD forced him to. Let's say Alford did get the IU job, Kitchel should've then been disappointed for the SAME EXACT reasons he was when Sampson was hired: "That guy is absolutely what we don't want at IU."

His name actually has been thrown out there as a possible replacement for Archie at UD.

Fred Glass: I couldn't get Donovan. I couldn't get Stevens. Didn't want anything to do with Alford. I was lukewarm about Bennett. Guess I'm gonna have to take a Flyer on this one.

My bad. I didn't read it close enough.

Looks like he hasn't signed, so no. And if he has signed, he would need Dayton to release him from his LOI if he wanted to come to IU.

I've seen a couple people say that Dayton fans are pissed they're losing their coach -- which is a good sign. I've also seen comments from Ohio State fans who are pissed because they were hoping to get him in Columbus once Matta called it quits.