Indiana AD supports Tom Crean but not because of the buyout

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Indiana athletic director Fred Glass is crooning his support for Tom Crean, and he says that's not just because he'd have to pay the basketball coach $12 million to go away.

Having lost seven of their last 11 games, the Hoosiers are on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year — a far cry from when they were ranked in late January. Crean is at the forefront, and he's come under fire recently for IU's fall from grace.

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"I'm bullish on Tom," Glass said Thursday in an interview with ESPN. "He's done a really good job with these guys. It's ridiculous to say that someone is coaching for his job for one game and that it would be up or down in one game."

Glass denied that Crean's job is in jeopardy. If it were, Indiana would need to spot $12 million to buy out his contract before July 1. The price tag shrinks incrementally after that — from $7.5 million to $4 million in July 2016 and then to $1 million from 2017-20 — provoking speculation that Glass is merely biding his time until firing Crean becomes a little easier on the wallet.

"There is a sense that Tom is only keeping his job because of the buyout," Glass said. "And while that's a big number and a significant amount of money, that's not what is keeping him in the job. I think he needs to be the coach ... I want him to be the coach here."

Crean's tenure at IU has taken hits over the last few years. An erratic season that has included losses to Eastern Washington, Iowa and a season sweep by rival Purdue hasn't helped his case. The Hoosiers are 9-8 in the Big Ten, and fans are creating unflattering verbs in Crean's namesake, referring to his questionable recruiting practices.

But the Hoosiers have several young players with promising futures and have been playing this season without Devin Davis, who was injured in October when he was struck by a car driven by teammate Emmitt Holt. They also have scored quality wins against Ohio State, Illinois and Butler.

In seven seasons under Crean, IU is 120-108 overall and 9-7 in Tournament games with one Big Ten title.

Whether or not that will be enough to save his job heading into next season is left to Glass' interpretation.

"The rise and fortunes of Indiana (athletics) is with Indiana basketball," he said. "Everybody thinks the guy with the clipboard, the next guy, can be better. But starting over is overrated. You can't be willy-nilly about it."

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Brandon Schlager is an assistant managing editor at The Sporting News.