The 5 Biggest Recruiting Misses of the Tom Crean Era

[AKHoosier 7,392]

Amidst all the posts and threads about rumors of upcoming coaching changes and all, I decided to take a look at the biggest recruiting misses of the Tom Crean era at IU.  These are guys we missed out on, or ended up at IU whose career here never panned out.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and this post is not meant to criticize any coach or player, but if things had turned out differently with these 5 players, I believe Crean would have had much, much different results here.

5. Kyrie Irving

The first big name recruit Crean was in on and had a legit chance at landing, if I recall correctly.  In the class of 2010, he would have signaled IU as being "back" a year before we got Cody Zeller.  He wouldn't have led us to the success that Zeller did once he got here, but you can't help but wonder how that 2010-2011 team would have been with him as the PG.  The team finished 12-20, so it could be argued we could have at least had a .500 season with him.  We made his top 3 and he spoke very highly with us following his visit, but we all should know by now how that went down.

4. Hanner Perea

To me, he was the biggest disappointment of all the players Crean signed at Indiana.  I remember salivating watching his highlight videos dunking everything in sight, and ignoring several people's warnings that he was more raw than most of us thought.  Once he got on campus, his career never seemed to take off due to his suspension (not his fault whatsoever) and lack of commitment to improve.  He showed signs of improving as he got older, but his off-court issues derailed any chance at realizing his full potential.  Crean invested 3 years into him, and never saw much payoff at all.  Since he was a "big" on our team, he would have been instrumental in post-Zeller success, but that clearly was not the case.

3. Jeremy Hollowell

Similar to Hanner, Jeremy's time here was a pretty big disappointment.  I was excited to see him as part of our 2012 class, but he was a case-study on why "The Movement" largely failed.  If he turned into a player that would have had better than 5.7 PPG his sophomore year, we would have gotten much more production out of our frontcourt his sophomore year.  His freshman season he was usually the second guy off the bench, but he never seemed to develop while he had guys like Cody Zeller and Christian Watford to practice against.

2. Kellen Dunham

A few years ago I remember Crean was on Dakich's show, and when asked one of his biggest regrets while at IU, it was not offering Kellen Dunham a scholarship.  We all know why.  He was a scoring machine at Pendleton Heights, leading the state with nearly 30 ppg.  His freshman season he averaged 9.5 ppg, and was instrumental in beating UNC, Gonzaga, and #1 IU.  If he had been included in our 2012 class, we would have had an extra shooter when Jordan Hulls got hurt in the tournament in 2013, and for the next few seasons when the 2013 and 2014 teams could have used an elite outside shooter outside Yogi.  Speaking of that 2012 class, the #1 biggest miss during Crean's era in my opinion was:

1. Gary Harris

No doubt in my mind he was the 1 player that could have been more instrumental in a deeper 2012-2013 NCAA tournament run.  The potential of that 2012-2013 team with a starting lineup of Yogi Ferrell, Gary Harris, Oladipo, Watford, and Zeller with Jordy and Sheehey coming off the bench would have been sky high.  At 6'5", he and Oladipo would have been a nightmare on the perimeter for opposing offenses.  The B1G Freshman of the Year in 2012-2013 averaged 12.9 pts and 1.2 steals per game.  As a sophomore, he was on the All B1G Defensive Team and averaged nearly 17 ppg.  The thought of our 2012 class featuring Yogi Ferrell, Kellen Dunham, and Gary Harris still kind of stings to think about, especially considering how much time Crean put in to recruiting Harris.  He and Dunham probably would have made us a tournament team in 2013-2014 as well with Noah Vonleh, Sheehey, and Yogi.

Any thoughts to this list?  Feel free to rip it apart, add to it, subtract from it, or point out any errors.

[mdn82 25,970]

Not getting Kris Wilkes probably cost him his job due to down year and no top recruits coming in. Theo Pinson, Devin Robinson, Gary Harris, are huge for sure. The lack of PG this year killed after not having Yogi.


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[Hoosier Guy 8,094]

Gary Harris #1 for sure. That team absolutely would've won the national championship. They should've won it to begin with but that's not the point here

[Brass Cannon 25,176]

1 minute ago, Hoosier Guy said:

Gary Harris #1 for sure. That team absolutely would've won the national championship. They should've won it to begin with but that's not the point here

Regardless of talent Crean isn't capable of winning. Give him the dream team in 92 and we get silver at best. 

[Hoosier Guy 8,094]

6 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Regardless of talent Crean isn't capable of winning. Give him the dream team in 92 and we get silver at best. 

I thought he was capable before that tournament. The Syracuse debacle is when I knew Crean wasn't the guy. I've wanted him gone ever since. So I've been on the tank train for 4 years lol

[CrossboneIU22 1,461]

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Gary Harris
3. Trey Lyles
4. Theo Pinson
5. The guy from Xavier (can't recall his name off top of my head)

Others: Teague, Wilkes, Guy, Langford


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[Class of '66 Old Fart 88,162]

Losing Luke Fischer.   Homesickness may have been a part of his departure but rumors of how Fischer was treated by teammates without repercussions from CTC surely were a contributing factor.  Fischer's departure left a recruiting void when Cody left early.

[AZ Hoosier 9,678]

The biggest bust of all was 'The Movement'. Yogi turned out to be a stud, but no one else panned out. Hanner and Hollowell referenced above … Patterson was 'creaned' before he arrived on campus and what can one say about Jurkin? Not much positive.

[Yogi's Picnic Basket 5,004]

Bruce Brown, Shake Milton, Devin Robinson and Trevon Blueitt are the main ones for me. I don't see them as misses if we really never had a shot. Kyrie was iffy but I would probably add him to it just because it is Kyrie. Gary Harris showed us some interest but I think he was MSU's to begin with.

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[recker222000 1,010]

Amidst all the posts and threads about rumors of upcoming coaching changes and all, I decided to take a look at the biggest recruiting misses of the Tom Crean era at IU.  These are guys we missed out on, or ended up at IU whose career here never panned out.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and this post is not meant to criticize any coach or player, but if things had turned out differently with these 5 players, I believe Crean would have had much, much different results here.

5. Kyrie Irving

The first big name recruit Crean was in on and had a legit chance at landing, if I recall correctly.  In the class of 2010, he would have signaled IU as being "back" a year before we got Cody Zeller.  He wouldn't have led us to the success that Zeller did once he got here, but you can't help but wonder how that 2010-2011 team would have been with him as the PG.  The team finished 12-20, so it could be argued we could have at least had a .500 season with him.  We made his top 3 and he spoke very highly with us following his visit, but we all should know by now how that went down.

4. Hanner Perea

To me, he was the biggest disappointment of all the players Crean signed at Indiana.  I remember salivating watching his highlight videos dunking everything in sight, and ignoring several people's warnings that he was more raw than most of us thought.  Once he got on campus, his career never seemed to take off due to his suspension (not his fault whatsoever) and lack of commitment to improve.  He showed signs of improving as he got older, but his off-court issues derailed any chance at realizing his full potential.  Crean invested 3 years into him, and never saw much payoff at all.  Since he was a "big" on our team, he would have been instrumental in post-Zeller success, but that clearly was not the case.

3. Jeremy Hollowell

Similar to Hanner, Jeremy's time here was a pretty big disappointment.  I was excited to see him as part of our 2012 class, but he was a case-study on why "The Movement" largely failed.  If he turned into a player that would have had better than 5.7 PPG his sophomore year, we would have gotten much more production out of our frontcourt his sophomore year.  His freshman season he was usually the second guy off the bench, but he never seemed to develop while he had guys like Cody Zeller and Christian Watford to practice against.

2. Kellen Dunham

A few years ago I remember Crean was on Dakich's show, and when asked one of his biggest regrets while at IU, it was not offering Kellen Dunham a scholarship.  We all know why.  He was a scoring machine at Pendleton Heights, leading the state with nearly 30 ppg.  His freshman season he averaged 9.5 ppg, and was instrumental in beating UNC, Gonzaga, and #1 IU.  If he had been included in our 2012 class, we would have had an extra shooter when Jordan Hulls got hurt in the tournament in 2013, and for the next few seasons when the 2013 and 2014 teams could have used an elite outside shooter outside Yogi.  Speaking of that 2012 class, the #1 biggest miss during Crean's era in my opinion was:

1. Gary Harris

No doubt in my mind he was the 1 player that could have been more instrumental in a deeper 2012-2013 NCAA tournament run.  The potential of that 2012-2013 team with a starting lineup of Yogi Ferrell, Gary Harris, Oladipo, Watford, and Zeller with Jordy and Sheehey coming off the bench would have been sky high.  At 6'5", he and Oladipo would have been a nightmare on the perimeter for opposing offenses.  The B1G Freshman of the Year in 2012-2013 averaged 12.9 pts and 1.2 steals per game.  As a sophomore, he was on the All B1G Defensive Team and averaged nearly 17 ppg.  The thought of our 2012 class featuring Yogi Ferrell, Kellen Dunham, and Gary Harris still kind of stings to think about, especially considering how much time Crean put in to recruiting Harris.  He and Dunham probably would have made us a tournament team in 2013-2014 as well with Noah Vonleh, Sheehey, and Yogi.

Any thoughts to this list?  Feel free to rip it apart, add to it, subtract from it, or point out any errors.

I would say the whole movement class was a bust other than yogi. Jurkin should never have been offered at all

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[HoosierAloha 30,100]

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Gary Harris
3. Trey Lyles
4. Theo Pinson
5. The guy from Xavier (can't recall his name off top of my head)

Others: Teague, Wilkes, Guy, Langford


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Remy Abel going to X or Trevon Blueitt?

[Hoosier Guy 8,094]

1 minute ago, HoosierAloha said:

Remy Abel going to X or Trevon Blueitt?

I'm sure he means Trevon Blueitt. That guy is a stud

[akhosrof 1,168]

I think Bryant McIntosh the past couple seasons proved to be a big miss for us. Our season could have been a lot different if we had him at PG this year.

[dtman 1]

Don't forget about Stan Robinson. Total turnover machine and complete disappointment. I was honestly glad he transferred. Just made the team worse.

[GloryDays 6,085]

Bruce Brown was a big one.Kids a stud and I thought he was ours.Shake Milton was another.Cant really call Wilkes a miss because I dont think he was ever coming here.Gary Harris on the other hand was a possibility but having Hollowell and Patterson already committed probably didn't help.That class was a real bust other than Yogi.

[mdn82 25,970]

Bruce Brown, Shake Milton, Devin Robinson and Trevon Blueitt are the main ones for me. I don't see them as misses if we really never had a shot. Kyrie was iffy but I would probably add him to it just because it is Kyrie. Gary Harris showed us some interest but I think he was MSU's to begin with.

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Kyrie had us at 1A until we had an in home.


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[Hovadipo 60,251]

Kyrie had us at 1A until we had an in home.


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Didn't bring a (big enough?) check?


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[Hoosierfan2017 23,932]

42 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Losing Luke Fischer.   Homesickness may have been a part of his departure but rumors of how Fischer was treated by teammates without repercussions from CTC surely were a contributing factor.  Fischer's departure left a recruiting void when Cody left early.

The Fischer rumors made me really dislike a few of our players and lose a lot of respect for Crean. 

Hanner's my #1. Not only was he incredibly underwhelming on the court, but it seemed like he had a hand in most of our off the court issues as well. 

[AKHoosier 7,392]

50 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Losing Luke Fischer.   Homesickness may have been a part of his departure but rumors of how Fischer was treated by teammates without repercussions from CTC surely were a contributing factor.  Fischer's departure left a recruiting void when Cody left early.

I honestly debated putting him on this list too, but I don't think he panned out too well at Marquette.  Certainly an honorable mention at the least, he would have started in place of Hanner and played alongside Vonleh which would have changed the dynamic of the post-Zeller years dramatically.

[Hoosierfan2017 23,932]

4 minutes ago, AKHoosier said:

I honestly debated putting him on this list too, but I don't think he panned out too well at Marquette.  Certainly an honorable mention at the least, he would have started in place of Hanner and played alongside Vonleh which would have changed the dynamic of the post-Zeller years dramatically.

What makes you say he hasn't panned well at Marquette? I haven't watched any of their games so idk what he looks like playing for them, but at least stats wise his numbers look pretty similar to Thomas Bryant's.