Tom Crean (basketball coach)
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| Date of birth | March 25, 1966 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Mount Pleasant, Michigan |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Title | Head coach |
| Championships won |
2003 Final Four appearance |
Tom Crean (b. March 25, 1966, Mount Pleasant, Michigan) is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University. Crean has been at the helm since the 1999-2000 season and holds a 153-78 record through the first 14 games of the 2006-07 season. In September 2006 ([1]) Crean signed a 10 year extension that will keep him in Milwaukee until the 2016-17 season.
In Crean's first seven seasons at the helm, the Marquette program averaged 20 wins a year, won a conference championship (2003 Conference USA title) and made six postseason appearances, including the 2003 Final Four, the program's third appearance all-time and first since 1977.
The success of the program continued in Marquette's inaugural Big East conference campaign where the surprising Golden Eagles earned a fourth-place finish in conference play on their way to a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament bid in 2006.
Crean is married to the sister of Stanford football coach and former NFL player, Jim Harbaugh.
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[edit] Assistant Coaching Career
[edit] Western Kentucky
Crean served as the associate head coach for Ralph Willard from 1990-1994 for the Hilltoppers. WKU made the NIT in Crean's second year on the staff and then proceeded to earn two straight NCAA berths, including a Sweet 16 finish in 1993.
[edit] Pittsburgh
After leaving Western Kentucky, Crean followed Willard to Pittsburgh as an assistant head coach on the Panthers staff during the 1995 season.
[edit] Michigan State
Crean had two stints in East Lansing. His first coaching position in Division I was part of Jud Heathcote's Spartan Squad in 1989-90 when MSU won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1996, Crean returned to the Spartans staff to work for current head coach, Tom Izzo. The Spartans would go to the NIT in Crean's first two years and then earned berths to two consecutive NCAA tournaments including a Final Four run in 1999. Crean had a large role in bringing in Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson to the club.
[edit] Head Coaching Career
[edit] Marquette University
Tom Crean was hired as the Marquette coach on May 31, 1999 to replace Mike Deane. Crean was Marquette's 15th coach.
In Crean's eight seasons he has never had a losing record despite inheriting a team with a losing record in his inaugural campaign. He has taken MU to the post season in seven of his eight seasons, and his teams have won 20 games or more in four of those seasons.
OVERALL RECORD 163-84 (.663)
- Marquette 2000 15-14 .517 NIT - First Round - Lost to Xavier
- Marquette 2001 15-14 .517 --
- Marquette 2002 26-7 .788 NCAA Tournament - First Round - Lost to Tulsa
- Marquette 2003 27-6 .818 NCAA Tournament - Advanced to Final Four After Beating Holy Cross, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Kentucky - Lost to Kansas - C-USA Regular Season Champions
- Marquette 2004 19-12 .613 NIT - Advanced to Quarter Finals After Beating Toledo and Boise State- Lost to Iowa State
- Marquette 2005 19-12 .613 NIT - First Round - Lost to Western Michigan
- Marquette 2006 20-11 .645 NCAA Tournament - First Round - Lost to Alabama
- Marquette 2007 24-9 .750 NCAA Tournament - First Round- Lost to Michigan State
[edit] Crean's Players in the Pros
Tom Crean has coached many successful basketball players as a head coach and assistant coach at the Division I level. Nine of his players have reached the NBA thus far and many others have played professionally in Europe and other parts of the world.
Crean's NBA players include:
- Steve Smith - Retired in 2005 from the Miami Heat
- Jamie Feick - Retired from the New Jersey Nets
- Vonteego Cummings - Retired from the Cleveland Cavs
- Matt Steigenga - Retired from the Chicago Bulls
[edit] 2003 Final Four
In the 2002-2003 season Marquette, would advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans on the play of Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener, Steve Novak, Scott Merritt, Robert Jackson and others. It was MU's first appearance in the Final Four in 26 years. Marquette began its run by knocking off Holy Cross 72-68 largely on the efforts of sophomore Travis Diener's brilliant shooting. In the second round MU defeated #24-ranked Missouri in an epic battle. MU ultimately won 101-92 in overtime as freshman Steve Novak nailed three 3-pointers in the extra period.
In the Sweet 16 the Golden Eagles would take on the #4-ranked Pitt Panthers, the #2 seed in the region. MU hung on to defeat Ben Howland's club 77-74 to advance to the Elite Eight. The Golden Eagles trounced the #1 team in the country, Kentucky, 83-69 as Dwyane Wade finished with a triple double.[1] It was the first Final Four appearance for Marquette since 1977.
The run ended in the Final Four in New Orleans as the Kansas Jayhawks defeated Marquette 91-64.
[edit] The Big East Conference
On January 3, 2006, Marquette University played #2 UCONN in their first ever Big East conference game. The Golden Eagles took advantage of their inaugural opportunity by not only upsetting the #2 Huskies but blowing them out by double digits. Steve Novak led Marquette to the upset win by turning in the finest individual performance in Big East history, pouring in 41 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Marquette would go on to finish 4th in their first season in the Big East despite the dire predictions of many pundits who penciled the Golden Eagles for 12th place or worse. Marquette received an At-Large berth to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
[edit] Coaching Awards and Highlights
- Two-time recipient of the Ray Meyer Conference-USA Coach of the Year (2001-2002, 2002-2003)
- Two-time honoree as the District 11 Coach of the Year (2001-2002, 2002-2003)
- 2003 Claire Bee Award, given annually to the active Division I men’s basketball coach who has made the most significant positive contribution to his sport during the previous year
- Assistant coach, USA Basketball 2004 World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Tournament, Gold Medal
[edit] The Crean Coaching Tree
Four of Crean's assistant coaches have been promoted to head coaching status in the college ranks throughout the country:
- Tim Buckley - Ball State University (now an assistant coach at the University of Iowa)
- Tod Kowalczyk - University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
- Darrin Horn - Western Kentucky University
- Kyle Green - Lewis University (now an assistant coach at Northern Iowa)
[edit] References
| Preceded by Mike Deane |
Marquette Men's Head Basketball Coach 2000– |
Succeeded by Current Coach |
