Tom Crean (basketball coach)

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Tom Crean (born March 25, 1966 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States) 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 141-76 record through the 2005-06 season. In September of 2006 Crean signed a 10 year extension that will keep him at Marquette until the 2016-17 season.

In Tom Crean's first seven season 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.

Contents

[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 Ralph 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 April 1, 1999 to replace Mike Deane. In Crean's seven 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 six of his seven seasons.

OVERALL RECORD 141-76 (.650)

  • 2000 15-14 .517 NIT
  • 2001 15-14 .517 --
  • 2002 26-7 .788 NCAA Tournament
  • 2003 27-6 .818 NCAA Tournament - Final Four - C-USA Regular Season Champions
  • 2004 19-12 .613 NIT
  • 2005 19-12 .613 NIT
  • 2006 20-11 .645 NCAA Tournament

[edit] Crean's Players in the Pros

Nine of Crean's 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:

[edit] 2003 Final Four

The 2002-03 season would go down as one of the most magical seasons in NCAA history. For the first time in two decades, a non BCS school would advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans on the tremendous play of Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener, Scott Merritt, Robert Jackson and others.

[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 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.

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