In what should be viewed as a breath of fresh air for the Indiana basketball program, Tom Crean will address the student body on October 6th and then participate in a Q & A session. Here is an excerpt from the release sent out earlier today by IU media relations:

Bloomington, IN – On Wednesday, the Indiana Memorial Union Board announced that Coach Tom Crean will give his first public address to the Indiana University student body on Monday, October 6 at 7 pm at the IU Auditorium. The lecture will be free to the public and will conclude with an extended question and answer session.

“For years, Union Board invited the men’s basketball coach to speak to students and preview the upcoming season,” Andrew Dahlen, Union Board Lectures Director, said. “Union Board is proud to revive this tradition as Coach Crean begins a new era in IU Men’s Basketball. The lecture will give Coach Crean the opportunity to address the team’s most passionate fan base. Students will get direct answers about where he wants to take the program and how he plans to rebuild it.”

In his remarks, Crean will discuss his vision for the IU Men’s Basketball program, recruiting highlights, his expectations for the upcoming season, and transitioning into his new position. He will also give his thoughts on leadership and what it means to be a Hoosier. At the end of his prepared remarks, Crean will take questions from students in attendance.

So rather than a tyrant who regularly berated the media or a man who refused to answer tough questions posed by student reporters (I’m pointing at you, Kelvin), Tom Crean is diving into his opportunity as basketball coach at Indiana and spreading positive energy around the program at every chance he gets.

Two of my favorite IU scribes, The Indiana Daily Student‘s Matt Dollinger and The Herald Times’ Chris Korman, were in attendance and taking diligent notes for Tom Crean’s press conference on Wednesday. I would suggest checking out both links, but here are a few of the more interesting points:

From Dollinger:

I asked Crean if he was trying to teach the Hoosiers his offensive system or if he was adapting his own system to IU’s players. Here’s what he had to say:

“I think coaches go one of two ways, you can recruit and plug guys into your system and that’s the system you’re going to run, or you can try and build a system around the talent you have. That’s what we’re trying to do this year. I don’t think there is anyway around that. Now, recruiting forward and moving forward… we tried to focus on some skill, versatility, length…we know what we want [the team] to look like down the road. Right now, did anybody think we’d have this small of a team? No. We’ve got to get ready to play more of a four-guard line-up.”

From Korman:

Crean says that he is still recruiting to the 2009 class. “It sounds cliche,” he said, “but you just have to do what’s best for the future of your program.”

Matt Roth has an injured shoulder and is not in workouts this week.

Crean would like to add two more walk ons through open tryouts.

The team had a 3.34 GPA for the summer. That pleases Crean.

Crean has a plan for Hoosier Hysteria (Midnight Madness). He wants to bring back as many former players as possible.

Crean’s been given a chance to look at Indiana’s response to the “failure to monitor” charge. He added a few things but thought, overall, that it was strong. He tried to pound home the same message he has since the middle of summer: the self-sanctions were extreme, and hurt the program severely as they were intended to do.

He said that the possibility of further NCAA sanctions is constantly brought up by competitors on the recruiting trail. He’s having to fight that with players and their parents.

In case you didn’t notice, the NFL started up yesterday, and a hot topic around these parts, given our readership — Bears vs. Colts — went about as well as I could have possibly imagined. It doesn’t much make up for that Colts Super Bowl win, but it feels good all the same.

But before you accuse me of trying to intentionally divide our readership between the Chicagoans and the Hoosiers, let’s re-unify: Tom Crean was on hand at Lucas Oil Stadium last night Friday as part of an announcement about the Lucas Oil Showcase. Or something. I sort of zoned out reading that press release. Fortunately, the intrepid fellas at the Indiana Daily Student sports desk were on hand, and got some great stuff from Crean for their troubles. From the Basketblog’s Zach Osterman:

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Now that the ink has dried on Tom Crean’s 10-year deal, we’ve taken a closer look at the document and have a Cliff’s Notes version for those of you that didn’t feel inclined to dig through all 22 pages:

– The compliance language is plentiful. Crean is responsible for the coaching staff, players and all other individuals under his direct or indirect supervision. In the event that Crean becomes aware of a compliance issue, he’s required to report it in writing to the Athletic Director.

– Section 2.02 deals with rules violations and the consequences if a violation occurs. Essentially, the language reads that if Crean, an assistant coach, a player or a staff member is involved in a NCAA rules violation, IU reserves the right to suspend him without pay or terminate his employment.

– IU agreed to pay up to $650,000 of his buyout to Marquette.

– Crean’s base salary is $600,000 annually. He’ll be paid monthly.

– Crean’s wife and children will be able to travel on the university dime to all away games, including tournaments.

– Crean will receive two “late model” automobiles for his use.

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