Tom Crean lands his first solid verbal

[tornado]

http://www.hoopsindiana.com/capobianco.html

[mportsch]

Sounds like a solid but not spectacular player (3-star on Rivals, outside of the Top 100). Crean will really need to hit a home run with his 2009 class if he hopes to bring IU back quickly. They do already have a 4-star SF committed in Derek Elston (#96 in the Top 100).

It will be interesting to see what happens with Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis. I'm beginning to get the feeling that they will ultimately be back next season for IU. That's just a hunch, so don't read anything into it.

[scout4126]

It will be interesting to see what happens with Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis. I'm beginning to get the feeling that they will ultimately be back next season for IU. That's just a hunch, so don't read anything into it.

Don't count on it...from my understanding, it wasn't just the coach's decision to let the kids go, it was the athletic director's as well. They've both had their share of troubles off the court while at IU and I know that Tone (Ellis) has had problems since he was a freshman in high school. These kids think that the "thug life" is so cool but they don't understand how much it messes them up...I'm glad Sherron has gotten on track.

[Da Coach]

I agree with scout. Tom Crean will not be under any pressure to win next season. They may even have sanctions that will prevent postseason play. Even if they don't, Crean will want to build the program back up the right way. There is nobody in coaching who works harder and is more of a demanding person that Crean. I would be surprised to see Ellis back. Bassett might have a slim chance.

[mportsch]

You might both be right, but it just seems strange to me that Crean is putting off the decision on those two players. It's almost like he's waiting to see what kind of recruits he can get for those scholarships before he agrees to let those guys back. If the decision was already made by the AD, I would think that Crean would announce that they are not welcome back on the team and let the kids figure out where they're going. As I said, this is all just conjecture on my part, and you guys could very well end up correct.

[tornado]

Wow, Tom Crean is already causing a stir with his hiring of assistant coaches who have ties to Kelvin Sampson.

One of his hires is Bennie Seltzer, who was an assistant on Kelvin Sampson's staff at Oklahoma for nine years while Sampson's coaching staff was cited for and penalized for hundreds of NCAA violations with impermissible phone calls.

http://thescore.ibj.com/content/?p=181