Five days after Indiana chose to dismiss him as its head basketball coach, Tom Crean was ready to make his first public comments since the ordeal.
In a story published Tuesday by Sports Illustrated senior writer Pete Thamel, Crean positively opened up about the decision and what he wants to do in the future.
"I love Indiana," Crean said. "I loved it here. That’s not going to change. You can’t go loving something every day for nine years and then suddenly hate it. I hope Indiana wins that national championship. And another one. I really do."
Crean described to Thamel the timeline of how he learned of his dismissal. It began with a text from his agent late Wednesday night, followed by a text from IU athletics director Fred Glass asking to meet the next morning.
"At this point, I knew what was coming," he told Thamel, "and wasn’t going to do that."
Crean declined the meeting and hasn't spoken with Glass since. Crean also declined to share his feelings on the IU administration.
When the decision was made, Crean chose to text each of his 15 players individually rather than sending a mass text to all of them or going through emotional phone calls with all of them, according to the story. Thamel also reported Crean was scheduled to meet with his players today or Wednesday.
"This will probably hit me more," Crean said. "It hit me doing the texting. I don’t have my team anymore. I have my team. I have my family. But it’s different. I want to get back to the court."
Crean told Thamel he wants to return to the sidelines as soon as possible, preferably by next season.
He hasn't looking far enough ahead as to whether spending a year in the media is a realistic option, according to the story. Crean does have some experience in that field after serving as an analyst on The Vertical's live NBA Draft show last summer.
Using the word alignment often in the SI story, Crean's next stop will be more about finding the right fit than taking a job for the sake of finding one quickly.
"You just learn real quick to put your focus on your family and your coaches," he said. "We’re going to get through it. We’re never going to look at failure being a part of this decision."
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