Indiana fires Crean after 9 seasons

Tom Crean put Indiana basketball back in the national conversation. As it turned out, there was too much talk and not enough wins for the Hoosiers.

Nine years after taking over a team mired in turmoil following an NCAA scandal, Crean was fired Thursday after missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in his tenure as head coach. Crean, 50, had three years remaining on his contract, and the move comes three months before his buyout would have dropped from $4 million to $1 million. But with so much angst among fans, athletic director Fred Glass couldn’t afford to give Crean another chance.

“The expectations for IU basketball are to perennially contend and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep into the NCAA Tournament and win our next national championship and more after that,” Glass said. “We will look to identify and recruit a coach who can help us meet these expectations.”

Despite going 166-135, winning the two conference titles and last year’s Big Ten Coach of the Year award, his teams did not advance beyond the Sweet 16. The Hoosiers began the season as one of the Big Ten favorites and were ranked as high as No. 3 in November after upsets of Kansas and North Carolina.

But Indiana lost its best defender, OG Anunoby, with a season-ending knee injury and its top scorer, James Blackmon Jr., for three games with a leg injury. They ended up 18-16.

Kansas turmoil: One day before top-seeded Kansas was set to open NCAA Tournament play against UC Davis, court officials released an affidavit that said freshman guard Josh Jackson threatened to “beat” a women’s basketball player during a confrontation in December outside a bar in Lawrence, Kan.

The affidavit was filed by police to justify a court summons Jackson was served March 7; he is charged with misdemeanor criminal damage. However, Kansas head coach Bill Self said Jackson, from Prolific Prep in Napa, would play Friday.

WNIT: St. Mary’s season ended with an 80-68 loss at Colorado State in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Carly Turner scored 19 points and Sydney Raggio had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Gaels (20-12). Elin Gustavsson’s 28 points and seven rebounds led the Rams (24-8).