Tom Crean - Jeff Meyer confrontation follow-up stories

Submitted by bdsisme on

I know there was a thread created about the initial confrontation last night, but late last night one of the reasons for the incident was caught on camera, and there have been a fair number of stories today that touch on it.

After the game, Tom Crean was caught on camera shouting "You wrecked our program!" to Jeff Meyer, who was one of Kelvin Sampson's assistants at Indiana.  Sampson resigned over recruiting violations and Indiana was given 3 years probation, although two of Sampson's assistants -- Meyer and Dan Dakich -- were found to be innocent of major wrongdoing.  Video (volume is really low, may need to adjust your speakers):

A bonus little dramatic acting job for the cameras at the end there, eh?  You can tell that Oladipo is thinking "Coach, you're freaking me out right now!"

Dan Wetzel's article is pretty good, although it puts Crean in a more positive light than we'd like: link

TheWolverine re-published an article from last year on Jeff Meyer, which is a good read: link

If you didn't read all of last night's thread, interesting comment from a maize rage member: link

EDIT: ESPN front page story with higher-quality video and Seth Greenberg's disapproval: link

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:04 AM ^

Not to stray too far from the OP, but here's exhibit #1 as to why Crean is a douche.  

He pulled a kid's scholarship last fall and didn't even have the decency to tell the kid straight.  

Granted, not only had the kid earned a bachelor's degree in four years, he earned his master's in four years.  However, Crean should have been more forthcoming and just told him - you're not getting a fifth year, instead of being vague.  

Roth sounds like a good kid.  You don't treat good people that way.  

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/27/matt-roth-a-victim-of-indianas-scholarship-numbers/

jlvanals

March 11th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^

You do realize we pull fifth years all the time in football, right?  To me, that is a non-story.  The team owes you four years or a degree.  If you wanted a good story about Crean screwing over a kid, the Ron Patterson story from last fall is much fishier.  No one ever proved it was anything less than above-board, but it was a little to convenient for my taste.  Still bothers me as an IU grad.  

Wolverine Devotee

March 11th, 2013 at 8:55 AM ^

Yep, it was all Meyer's fault right? indiana suffered what, 3-4 years?

Michigan suffered for 15 years and had our own arena taken over by opposing fans multiple times a year. Don't talk to our coaches about a program being wrecked, dickhead.

Give me a break. God I hope indiana becomes the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 just to see that shithead's face after the game. 

Pisses me off. I really shouldn't be surprised since he's an izzo stooge. 

lazyfoot10

March 11th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^

"God I hope indiana becomes the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 just to see that shithead's face after the game."  Totally agree.

Nothing would please me more than to see this douche and his precious "program" humiliated like this. 

I cannot stand Tom Crean. Other coaches like Izzo or Bo Ryan are annoying, but I can at least respect them. The little respect I had for Crean before yesterday is gone. Pardon my french, but fuck IU. I hope they lose every game from here on out.

Newbs

March 11th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^

This sounds exactly like what I was yelling at my TV after the game yesterday. Can't agree more. Indiana plays like their coach acts- whiney entitled assholes. Seeing them go out in the first round would be too good.

MH20

March 11th, 2013 at 8:59 AM ^

Tom Crean is mentally unstable.

Also, has he confronted Dan Dakich about "wrecking 'his' program"?  I mean, Dakich was also an assistant under Sampson.

Regarding Meyer, I'm pretty sure Beilein, the head of the Ethics Committee, wouldn't hire someone without being confident the guy was on the up-and-up.

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^

does love Meyer though, and wasn't pleased with how Crean acted. I wish he would have been more professional. I understand there is tension between the two and a backstory, but it's not the time or place to hash that out.

Runaway Jim

March 11th, 2013 at 9:05 AM ^

What a low class idiot. I dont think they're legit enough to make a deep run this year,  so I hope their outed in a extremely humiliating fashion.  Looks to me ever since Crean has had some minor success and got a little national attention that he has taken a turn for the worse. 

matty blue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^

tweet from last night: 

Crean is like a crazy chick on The Bachelor. His peers hate him, he never thinks he's at fault, and he inevitably gets sent home early

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^

Tom Crean, Jim Harbaugh...what is it about that family that causes them to handle post-game handshakes so badly?  

Harbaugh has had problems going back to his days at Stanford.  Crean has had several problems this year with post-game handshakes.  

WTF?   Show some class.  

1. Whether you win or lose, swallow your pride.  

2. Look your opponent in the eyes.  

3. Give them a firm handshake.  

4. Say "good game", or don't say it.  That's fine.  If you can't say it, keep your mouth shut.  

5. Return to your team and proceed with your day/evening.  

 

Spontaneous Co…

March 11th, 2013 at 9:12 AM ^

Think about the mentality he must have.  It's disgusting.  They just clinched a B1G title and likely one seed and have a great team and his focus is on isolating out the opposing team's assistant and berating him for things that (a) he probably had little or nothing to do with and (b) happened when Crean had nothing to do with IU.  How about having a positive attitude and celebrating your team's accomplishments? 

What a fucking loser.

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^

If Crean had a bone to pick with Meyer over this issue, why didn't he do it before yesterday?  

I'm sure they've seen each other at various coaching and/or B1G conferences in the past 5 years.  

Hell, he could have done it after any game in the past five years.  Meyer has been at Michigan since 2008.  Crean has been at IU since 2008.  (4 or 5 years, depending on when they were hired in 2008.  I'm not sure)

Why pick now to jump in Meyer's shit over this?  

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:12 AM ^

This board had an extensive thread on the Roth thing when it happened. Kid was at IU 5 years, got 2 degrees, and could've done the Brandon Wood thing to play right away. Most agreed it was nothing big and IU/Crean had fulfilled his obligation to the kid.

 

I didn't read the article you posted, but if i remember correctly, it's probably the one where he said Crean said keep his options open but that he hadn't heard from him on what to expect since. Never mind the fact that Roth went on the record later that same week to say he has taken out of context and has no hard feelings towards Crean. The same Roth who has been back to IU for several games this year. The same Roth who says he loves Crean and praises his former coach for the connections he has helped him towards in his professional life.

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^

It's Michigan sources that are saying Meyer told Crean to go F himself, which prompted Crean to act like an idiot. Neither was right, but it's not all on one guy.

 

No one cares about a hand shake until their guy gets brushed off. No Big Ten coaches like each other, except ones from the same coaching tree. Maybe there's a mutual respect, but they all want to beat the crud out of each other.

Runaway Jim

March 11th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^

Ok well a video shows me that Crean is walking way out his way to say something to him, so im not sure how you figured that one up. Also your right im sure all the coaches dont care for each other at times, but it seems like theres eleven other coaches who can hold it in long enough to get a handshake out of the way and handle their business in private. Its called professionalism. Crean gets paid alot of money to not act like a asshole.

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:41 AM ^

Meyer told him to F off in the handshake line.

 

Crean responded by acting like a child, telling Meyer that he helped wreck IU's program and that he knew what he did.

 

Both were wrong, but Crean, as always, made a bigger show of it. As a fan of both schools, I don't lke what either did, but Crean will obviously make the headline as the head coach and bigger name.

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^

Cherry pick?  Bullshit.  I acknowledged the kid had earned two degrees in four years.  It was only a fifth (optional) year that was in question.

There's nothing wrong with not giving the kid a fifth year.  That happens all the time.  It was a matter of how Crean handled it.  

You can do what Crean did and let the kid "read between the lines", or you can be straight-forward with the kid and tell him he's not getting a fifth year.  

So what if the kid says his words were taken out of context.  There's nothing to gain by burning that bridge.  By burning a bridge with Crean, he's potentially burning bridges with alumni that support Crean.  No proof here, but just an understanding of how things work.  

 

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:34 AM ^

where Roth says he was misquoted and had no issue with Crean, how he handled it, or IU. Crean could've been more forthright, certainly, but no one knows exactly what was said or not said.

 

and you're putting words in Roth's mouth by implying you knew what he was doing by retracting based on "knowing how things work." truth is we don't know, and maybe he was being genuine that he was misrepresented in the article.

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^

This is from the article:

 

Roth said he and Crean spoke briefly at camp, but he didn’t want to pull Crean away from coaching the young players at the camp. Roth said even though Crean didn’t directly address his status, he did tell Roth to use him as a reference for any job applications. He said he appreciated that, but it also allowed him to read between the lines.

“You kind of put one and one together there,” Roth said.

He's quoted as saying "You kind of put one and one together there.", which is my point.  He didn't directly tell him - you're done.  

If you don't understand that burning a bridge with your coach at a major university will negatively impact your job opportunities, then I can't talk to you.  

Will you still have some opportunities?  Sure.  Will you have far fewer because of what may or may not have happened?  Yes.  

I've also noticed that your account was created on the same day that this Matt Roth scholarship story broke, Auguest 27, 2012.  That's interesting.  

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 9:49 AM ^

I honestly didn't remember signing up then, but it makes sense.

 

I am a fan of both schools. Sounds bandwagon, but I live and die by U of M football and IU basketball. Born in Ft. Wayne, raised in Novi. My family has season tix to the Big House through my dad's company. Grew up seeing games in the mid 80's to late 90's. But all my family is in Indiana, I went to IU, and live and coach hs and AAU (eric gordon all stars) basketball in Indy.

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 9:56 AM ^

Why haven't you posted a link to an article or tweet, or anything that Meyer told Crean to F-off?

Share the link.  Otherwise, I'll assume you read it on an IU board and it's total bullshit, IU fans trying to rationalize their coach being an asshole.  

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^

but since it wasn't captured on video like Crean's, I doubt anthing will suffice as enough evidence for you.

 

Chronic Hoosier @ChronicHoosier

Earlier in the handshake line.... RT : Crean went to shake Meyer's hand, Meyer told him to go f-himself 

 

Jeff Rabjohns @JeffRabjohns

Reports - unconfirmed so far - of what former Sampson ast Jeff Meyer did to kickstart Sunday's dustup with Crean.  

 

 

APBlue

March 11th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^

Sure there are two sides, but you copied & pasted tweets from two IU supporters, one with a link to an IU fan message board.  You're taking hearsay from IU boards and referencing it here as though it were fact.  

That makes you as big an asshat as Crean is.  

Nothsa

March 11th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^

Roth says in fact they'd been in contact about the scholarship situation all summer. However, the final numbers weren't clear until after the semester started.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/matt-roth-defends-tom-crean-decision-not-renew-143015529--ncaab.html

Money quote:

"Obviously, the scholarship situation didn't work out in my favor. Prior to the end of the school year and our meetings, they were very positive. They wanted me to keep building my game and train, even if it was on my own. At the same time, they wanted to help me in any way possible, whether that was play somewhere else or play overseas in a certain league here or there. They did make those options available and offered a lot of support."

 

Believe what you want to believe, but do note that Mo Creek is on his fourth scholarship year even after devastating knee injuries (he has played some this season), and that Matt Roth has come to IU games this season. So there's evidence that Crean is not kicking IU underperformers off the bus.

OmarDontScare

March 11th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

Fan of IU Basketball and UM Football? That's convenient.

How are the Yankees looking this year? Do they have someone in the Farm system to replace Mariano?

You think Romo's gonna get a huge contract now that Flacco got his? Will Dez Bryant ever become elite?

piston honda

March 11th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^

IU in all sports, even football, except when they play Michigan.

 

Growing up in Novi, I'm also a huge fan of the Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons. Still have my Alan Trammell jersey, my Chet Lemon autographs from the times he visited little league at Bosco Fields, my Wheaties box with Isiah, Joe D., Laimbeer, and others on it after 89. Hope that suffices for my Michigan fanhood. Lots of people have two teams that are dear to them for various reasons. I've seen multiple posters on here with 2 alliegances, like the Michigan and UVA guy.