Indiana’s firing of Tom Crean is an all-time newsdump

A year ago at this time, Tom Crean was leading Indiana into the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed. The Hoosiers had just won the Big Ten and were days away from upsetting Kentucky to reach the Sweet 16. After years of criticism from a fanbase with high expectations, it finally seemed like Crean and Indiana were meeting them.

Exactly 12 months later, Crean is out in Bloomington. He didn’t just get fired, he was canned the moment first round action tipped off in the 2017 NCAA tournament. The news was announced just as the entire country was tuned into Notre Dame vs. Princeton.

The timing here isn’t accidental. Indiana knew firing Crean was no easy decision given how he turned the program around from its low point following at the end of the Kelvin Sampson era. The best way to avoid this becoming the biggest story in the sport? Peg it to the start of the sport’s biggest day.

The newsdump is a tried and true tradition in sports when a controversial decision is made. Ray Rice’s initial two-game suspension was announced on a late Friday afternoon in July. Marshawn Lynch’s retirement was announced during the Super Bowl.

Indiana will have fewer reporters trying to dig into the job opening now. The program will also have a little less attention on its coaching search, at least in its opening stages. You can guess the names already at the top of Indiana’s list: Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall, Dayton’s Archie Miller, maybe even UCLA’s Steven Alford. All of those coaches are currently preparing their teams for the tournament action so it will take some time for all that to be sorted out.

Indiana’s season ended in the NIT earlier this week against Georgia Tech. Now the program needs to figure out the next step. Just know this timing was accidental.