The Indiana Hoosiers wanted to make some noise before Final Four weekend in San Antonio. They wasted no time following Tom Crean's team being knocked out of the tournament to ink the Marquette coach to fill its vacancy.
The move closes the six-week nightmare that cast a dark cloud over the school. From the dismisal of Calvin Sampson to the 3-4 mark posted under the interim coach Dan Dakich. An Indiana season that started with so much promise ended nastily for the school.
Crean led Marquette to the Final Four in 2003 and now has the challenge of rebuilding Indiana as a national power while reshaping their tarnished to reputation to become a squeaky clean program. He went 190-96 in nine seasons at Marquette.
Assuming freshman Eric Gordon announces he's going pro during his scheduled Monday press conference, Crean may enter next year having lost all five starters.
Starting forwards D.J. White and Lance Stemler both finished their senior seasons, and it's uncertain whether Bassett and Ellis, two of the starting guards, will return after being punished for missing an appointment last week. When they didn't show up to run laps the next day, Dakich decided to dismiss them from the team.
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