With the Missouri job opening up and Indiana head coach Tom Crean rumored to be on the hot seat, multiple reports in recent days from St. Louis-area media have linked the two together.
Crean denied that he was interested in the Missouri job in comments made to Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star on Thursday.
“No, that’s not true,” Crean said to Doyel about the alleged Missouri interest. “I’m doing nothing but coaching this team.”
“Normally, I don’t comment on my job or any other open job, or on any speculation at all — and going forward, this is the only time I will do it, here to you — but I want to put that to rest. I’m coaching my team. I love coaching here.”
Crean’s strong remarks are a bit obvious given the timing. The Hoosiers still have to play Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament second round on Thursday as there is still a small chance Indiana could play themselves into the tournament.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out from Indiana’s perspective. If they decide to move on from Crean, then his comments right now won’t matter if he is looking for a new job. Crean could very well like the Missouri job if he doesn’t have a job of his own come this spring, but that is merely speculation.
For now, Indiana has a season to finish before anything happens with that program.