Crean delivers with student address

In 31 games as the IU men’s basketball coach, Tom Crean has just six wins to his name. What his 6-25 record doesn’t capture is the number of fans and the amount of support he has won in the process off the court.

Outside of his coaching duties and the hours he spends recruiting, Crean has been a fixture in front of the microphone, speaking to various groups at different events.

Name any region of Indiana, and he’s ‘been there, done that.’ He was in Indianapolis on Tuesday speaking to the Rotary Club. He’ll man the microphone in Lexington, Ky., on Friday for another event.

But from Evansville to Ft. Wayne, New Albany to Merrillville and everything in between and beyond state boundaries, that only matters so much at this point. Crean already has the commitment from those people.

The IU fans who have made it through the “Mike Davis Era,” weathered the storm that was, and still is, Hurricane Kelvin and are still supporting the team after year one of the rebuilding process are still believers.

Believers in the Hoosiers. Believers in Crean.

And while there is certainly support from the students, it isn’t what it used to be, at least when you look at it from a ticket sales perspective.

That’s just the nature of where things stand right now with IU basketball.

So, as Crean stood behind the lectern Wednesday night, it was arguably bigger and more important than any of his other speaking engagements this year.

But he didn’t need to stand up there and tell students to buy tickets. In fact, he didn’t do that at all.

Crean spent more time delivering life lessons to the students in attendance than he did actually talking about filling the stands, but he was very clear about the significance of students packing Assembly Hall.

“People are energized by what the students do,” he said. “They might not admit it, but the fans get energized by what the students do.”

Though last year’s attendance figures were certainly down, students previously were responsible for 45 percent of the total attendance at Assembly Hall, Crean said.

That 45 percent will be reached when students fully believe in the job Crean is doing.

Sophomore Brice Willey is one student who already does, and by the end of night he developed an even greater respect for Crean.

“I feel even more confident after going to that, that we have the right man for the job,” Willey said. “He’s passionate, his work ethic is obviously out of this world, and that’s what we need in this situation. I got a lot out of what I just went to.”

Freshman Cory Snider said he believes in Crean “100 percent.”

“He’s just an awesome guy,” Snider said. “It’s awesome to listen to him. He’s so inspirational.”

Though the team is coming off its worst season in school history, Snider didn’t stop to think about buying student tickets this year. But he knows that there will be others who won’t.

“It’s definitely a mistake,” he said. “Coming to watch IU basketball is going to be fun this year. This team’s starting to get better ... Hopefully, no one has second thoughts about getting tickets.”

The second-year coach won’t win the hearts of the entire student body, and student support might still be a bit down this year, but for those who ever doubted Crean, it would be hard to walk away from last night’s address not wanting to believe in the Hoosiers.

Crean can speak all he wants – around the state and around the country – but there’s no question last night’s event was the biggest for Crean, and the biggest for the program, as they move ahead toward rebuilding IU basketball.

Though there’s still a zero in the wins column for this season, at least Wednesday, he delivered.