Crean Recruitment in the Midwest?

[raorIU 339]

I believe Crean recruits the Midwest too much, actually. The creepo vibe is too well seeded here due to proximity and exposure. The coastal kids only endure his visits a few times and few of their peers have any reference. Here, nobody wants to play for IU because Crean told them and their buddies he was up all night thinking about them.

[323SGrant 1,176]

Recruit IN, the Midwest and the entire country and other countries, e.g.,Dante Exum, if they are good basketball players with good character.

[RBB89 3,497]

"FWIW, I don't give him credit for Will. I liked Will...don't get me wrong. But Will Sheehey plays in almost every conference in Indiana, and there's a clone of his playing right now (maybe he graduated...don't know) at Fishers and another one at Evansville Reitz. Will Sheehey was a great role player on a great team, but on his own as a senior, and WITH an NBA lottery pick, his team missed the post season. There was nothing special about WIll Sheehey that Crean couldn't have found, probably within 30 minutes of Bloomington.

Oladipo worked his A$$ off to become what he did. He played on that team USA group the summer after his freshman season, and found a trainer he liked....and went to work. Crean didn't develop him. Oladipo developed Oladipo. I do give credit to Crean for finding a kid of that character. Williams is a very poor fundamental basketball player. He's a freak athlete who plays basketball. You're talking about a kid who led his team in turnovers, and as freaky athletic as he is, had half as many blocks as Colin Hartman and has very little in the way of a perimeter game. Not to bash him or criticize you... My way of viewing basketball players has less to do with "the simple positives of the kids who said yes" than it does with what we could be if Crean put any real effort into building a team with kids whose abilities make everyone else better and a program that can succeed year in and year out. You cannot do that with Will Sheehey and Troy Williams."

In a sea of dumb posts, this takes the cake. That's some amazingly convoluted logic to not give someone any credit for anything.

[RBB89 3,497]

I also think people need to quit kidding themselves over how amazing basketball in Indiana is. I mean, I live here, I love it, I've seen Hoosiers a million times and all that, but Good Lord. Give it a rest.

[BGleas 8,089]

I always love the "Crean doesn't deserve credit for developing VO" thing. As a coach or a manager, you absolutely need self-motivated people that are willing to put in the work and dedicate themselves, and that goes to the player. In any line of business, you can't force people to work harder than everybody else, you have to motivate them and they need a high level of self-motivation.

Where Crean and his staff come into to play is developing the plan to get a player from point A to point B. Crean and his staff supported a guy like VO, informed him on what he needed to focus on, and developed the plan to get there. It requires a self-motivated and driven person like VO, but also requires the support and expertise of the coach and the team he puts around the player.

It's not a one or the other thing. Most of the time you need both.