Now, had Cal been brought in after Sampson got fired, who's to say he would have been more successful. IU was a program facing an uncertain future with NCAA sanctions. Additionally, IU needed the new coach to server the remainder of Sampson's sentence for reduced recruiting contacts and allowable travel dates, which was going to last for another year after the hire date. Would Cal have been able to pull in recruits under the same circumstances? Would he have even wanted to try, since he was about to add Derrick Rose to his team at Memphis? Or, would he have tried to keep the Sampsonites (Holman, Thomas, Ellis, Bassett, etc) together, and try to reign in the drug and attitude issues, but also slow down his ability to turn the roster over, with the Big Ten oversigning limits. Whatever the route, I can't imagine that any option he would have taken would have been appreciably better, and would have come with more public/media/NCAA scrutiny, given Cal's reputation.

Finally, you ask what's the worst that could possibly happen, note the distinction you make – Cal never gets in trouble, but someone is always left holding the bag, and in both cases with Cal, it's the institution. So, lets say had he been the one to replace Sampson, just for arguments sake. Unless you're also making the switch to root for John Calipari University, that means the next sign of trouble, were he here, IU would be left holding the bag. Now, IU already went through the wringer with the mess Kelvin Sampson left us, and got off without major penalties because we self reported, and had a good past track record. If Cal followed his pattern of “win-big-but-someone-related-to-the-program-gets-in-trouble-and-brings-NCAA-sanctions,” what are the odds that the NCAA would be lenient with us? At that point, we would have hired two coaches whose tenures led to violations.

He looks like someone who can play at the end of games.

+ Would you really take Cal after IU took Kelvin Sampson and his sanctions? Seriously…do you want the program to survive????
+ For your love for Cal, keep in mind Cal, Crean, Myself, and Santa Claus have all won the same amount of national titles.
+ Graduation Rates are important as they could cost you scholarships
+ Cal has proven …the Cal way does not work, all it has produced are wins, sanctions for schools, a few NBA guards, and large contracts for Cal…..
+ Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and Jon Wall ALL would be NBA players if they went to North Carolina Central State….

I would rather be embarrassed by a 20pt loss ( like Knight teams were at times ) than be consistently embarrassed off the court ( like Knights players did at times as well ) . As such my definition of a thug is color blind and economically blind . To me it means a kid with drug possessions ( Marcus Williams, Wiggins UCONN), beating up girlfriends ( Nate Miles UCONN ), stealing ( AJ Price UCONN ), bar fights ( Duquesne ) etc.

You will see by the post below how weak and fragile people get with their standards when winning is involved. We were on that road with Sampson

The truth is Pastner is just an unbelievable recruiter who players identify with. Now he has to show if he can actually coach.

I agree with that part of what you say about Davis. As I've mentioned before I'm an IU grad from outside Indiana so while I don't really care if players are from Indiana I also understand the need to lock down the borders when an impact player is there. I just wasn't clear on exactly how you were looping him in with Sampson.

I also agree that IU couldn't have gotten a top 15 guy, unless they wanted Calipari. Again, my point was not Crean can't build a top 15 team, just that he hasn't consistently done it yet, so none of us know if he will or not. Too many people believe because its Indiana eventually IU will be back, which we both agree is not the case.

Same as we don't know what type of recruiting classes he will consistently bring in. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt at Marquette but he will have to prove it.

As far as building a “brand” I'm not sure what that means. Saying no “thugs” and a high graduation rate is more for the fans than the prospective players. I never really like the term thug because I don't know what it really means? Too often its used as a way of describing inner city kids which I don't think is right. (I'm not saying thats how you are using it, I have no idea which is my point)

As someone mentioned, high graduation rate is a double edge sword because it also means you don't have players good enough to go pro early. I still don't think you can win a championship without at least one NBA player who can take the leap early.

I also agree and thought IU would and will continue over the next couple of years to lose games they shouldn't and maybe pull off a couple they shouldn't.

This team this year will be up and down and up and down….Beat Pitt, Play a half with Ky, lose to Loyola Md. …….Beat a OSU or Michican, get throttled by someone else…..

I can see some defensive brand building….where I have heard Crean talk alot about getting deflections and causing turnovers…which is how we got back into the game the other night. With Oladipo coming and sheehey, those are two rebounding wings and Oladipo is apparently a in your face defender…..but we do have a ways to go…

Also, how can you fault Crean for having his assistants find talent then praise Cal who using World Wide Wes to get much of his talent? NEVER give me a coach that has been erased from history at 2 different schools. I don’t want to get excited about a good run only to have it all erased and the coach leave to do the same at another school.

Moreover I want us to develop a “brand” that carries over from whoever is coach now. My “brand ” candidate is mostly all of what I see Crean doing ie no thugs, high graduation etc. As far as play on the floor I would rather see alot , I mean ALOT more defense in our brand