We had an inkling of this early on with his admiration for Sean Miller and now it’s official: Jordan Crawford, the last hope for talent retention on the Hoosiers before he decided to head elsewhere, has landed at Xavier according to Mike Decourcy at the Sporting News.

Nothing much more to report here other than this:

Jordan Crawford is expected to appeal for immediate eligibility at Xavier, citing the unusual circumstances of Indiana’s predicament as cause for lenience.

Can’t say I blame Crawford for trying to play immediately — I surely couldn’t stand having to ride the bench for a year in street clothes — but methinks this might be a difficult move to pull off. Best of luck to Crawford, who seems like a swell young man who should develop into a star under Miller’s tutelage.

Thanks to ITH reader Jeremy for the tip.

In the constant search for any and all information relating to the coaching opening at IU, I just came across some more information on Xavier coach Sean Miller. According to Rick Bozich’s blog on The Louisville Courier-Journal, Sean Miller told Xavier AD Mike Bobinski that he won’t be going to Bloomington:

Just talked to Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski. Asked him if he was worried that he might lose his basketball coach, Sean Miller, to Indiana after Xavier’s marvelous NCAA Tournament run finally ends.

“No,” Bobinski said.

Miller and Indiana have been mentioned as a possibile marriage. But Bobinski said it’s not going to happen. Why?

“Because he (Miller) told me so,” Bobinski said.

Also, Marquette coach Tom Crean didn’t jump at the chance to comment on the IU opening, according to Bozich:

I also asked Marquette coach Tom Crean about the Indiana opening Thursday night before Western Kentucky’s game against UCLA. I’ve know Crean for 15 years, but it’s fair to say he was not a big fan of my question.

This is what Crean said: “I’ve got no idea (who the next coach at Indiana will be). It’s out of my area of jurisdiction.”

I’ve got to be honest: I was really enamored with the possibility of getting Miller to Bloomington, but things aren’t looking good here. As far as Crean is concerned, I’m really indifferent. If we had to settle for him after exhausting several options, I would embrace his hiring and live with it. But he’s definitely not in my top five.

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If you browsed the front page of the World Wide Leader’s Web site today, you might have noticed an article by Dana O’Neil about Xavier and their plans to keep Sean Miller. There was an interesting quote from the Xavier AD, Mike Bobinski and his feelings on Miller being interested in other jobs:

“People mentioning his name don’t have a bleeping idea. He’s on this list at LSU. Oh really? Is there a list? Can I see it? They say his name with teams that I know wouldn’t even cross his lips.”

My first reaction to this quote was that if Bobinski isn’t worried about Miller bolting for greener pastures, then why is he even addressing this? However, the following revelation from Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal from earlier today might be a big part of Bobinksi’s confidence in Xavier’s ability to keep Miller:

Word I’m getting is that the last time Xavier upgraded Miller’s contract the school inserted a hefty buyout clause into the package. Like $2 million. For the next few seasons. Xavier is a private school. Private schools are not bound to release contracts upon Freedom of Information requests. But my source says Xavier is tired of coaching turnover. The school has lost Pete Gillen (Providence), Skip Prosser (Wake Forest) and Thad Matta (Ohio State) to bigger schools. Xavier is not ready to lose Miller, a young, determined coach.

If true, I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who believes IU will ante up that kind of money to free Miller from Xavier. IU is not exactly sitting on a ton of cash in the Athletic Department. I believe Michigan paid big money to buyout John Beilein from West Virginia last year, but the Wolverines have the football revenue to dish out big money. IU has no such luxury.

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Kelvin is out the door and Dan is not our man, so that can only mean one thing: It’s coaching search time! Here’s a look at the candidates that could land in Bloomington. We’ll give you the pros, the cons and the bottom line. This morning: Xavier’s Sean Miller.

Pros: After serving three years as the top assistant to Thad Matta, Miller took control of the reigns at Xavier after Matta bolted for Ohio State and has compiled a 92-38 record in four seasons. The 39-year-old reached the Sweet 16 for the first time as a head coach with Saturday’s 85-78 win over Purdue. In his playing days, Miller was a point guard at Pittsburgh. He preaches defense and his club is allowing just 62.7 ppg this season. He seems to be the popular pick for those in the fanbase (alongside Tony Bennett of Washington State) who crave an “up and coming” coach. After all, Bob Knight was just that when he arrived in Bloomington at the age of 31 in 1971.

Cons: With Miller’s current deal at Xavier running through 2015-2016, would the university be willing to make the financial commitment to not only buy him out of his deal, but also reward him with a lucrative long term deal? That remains to be seen. You can be sure that the farther Xavier advances through March, the higher the price tag becomes for Miller. And other schools besides IU could come calling for his services. There is also a “buzz” that Miller would be more interested in coaching in the Big East given his playing background at Pittsburgh. He’s been described to me on several occasions by various people in the media as a “Big East guy.”

Bottom line: If Indiana wants to go young, Miller is right there with Bennett at the top of the list. Bennett might be slightly more attractive because he’d likely come at a lesser price, but if Miller makes it clear to the “blue ribbon” committee that he’s interested in IU, he’ll be given serious consideration. Most Indiana fans would be thrilled to have Miller at the helm and rightfully so: he can flat out coach.

This afternoon, PostmanE will break down Bruce Pearl of Tennessee.

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Two names that figure to be right at the top of the wish list for the “blue ribbon” search committee as well as Indiana fans will be in action this afternoon in the NCAA Tournament.

Sean Miller will lead the Xavier Musketeers against IU’s biggest rival Purdue in the East Region. Meanwhile, in the West Region, Tony Bennett’s Washington State Cougars will meet Notre Dame.

Xavier and Purdue should be a grind-it-out style game, eerily similar to what Hoosier fans are used to seeing in the Big Ten. As many of you witnessed earlier this season, Miller’s team prides itself on playing defense and doing the little things it takes to win. “I don’t think you can advance in tournament play unless you have a strong identity on defense,” he said.

Bennett’s Washington State team will get the challenge of slowing down Mike Brey’s Fighting Irish and Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody. Notre Dame is averaging over 80 ppg on the season and Washington State is limiting opponents to 41 percent shooting, so something will have to give.

We’ll dig deeper into the coaching search over the next week, but my question for you ITH’ers is this: Where are Miller and Bennett on your wish list? Would you be happy if IU could land one of them or is there someone else out there you feel is a better fit? As always, thoughts are welcome in the comments.

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In an issue that is near and dear to any Hoosier fan’s heart — considering it might be partially responsible for the arrival of IU’s best recruit in about 20 years — the NCAA has almost, almost, closed the door on the text messaging that has so pervaded the college recruiting scene for the last few years.

There are horror stories about poor recruits having to foot $500 phone bills, thanks to incessant “OMG CANT WAIT TIL YOUR A TROJAN!!” night and day. Xavier coach Sean Miller has characterized text messaging as less invasive than a phone call, but that sounds only true from one side of the aisle: coaches can still invade, they just don’t have to bear the shame of being rejected on the telephone. When the textee doesn’t respond, the texter can move on. But the textee still has to delete, and pay for, the 1,291 new messages in his inbox.

Which brings us to the continually shortsighted nature of the NCAA’s ruling. Instead of creating a ban on the number of times a coach may contact a player whether via text, email, phone call, two cans on a line of string, USPS, etc, the NCAA has regulated only one more medium, one that might be obselete in five years. I don’t know about you, but I want to get a smartphone as soon as I can, and most people are like me: what will the NCAA do when email becomes just as pervasive a technology as SMS? Another ban?

In any case, it might not matter, because those appealing the ruling have one more chance to overrule and keep their precious text messages. Let’s just hope America’s coaches never master the art of MMS; things are creepy enough as it is.

Previously: How will text messaging ban change recruiting?