Pick a Coach for Nebraska Basketball: Tim Miles or Tom Crean
On March 16, Indiana tried to pull the year’s best-timed news dump. Condolences from Nebraska basketball fans, Hoosiers, but most of the world still heard that Tom Crean got axed after nine seasons.
Well, you can’t say no one saw this one coming. The boos from Assembly Hall were audible all the way down in Atlanta where Crean coached his last Hoosier squad out of the first round of the NIT. Extreme volatility isn’t the most desired trait from a fan base that’s used to being a perennial championship contender.
That being said, coach Crean’s tenure at Indiana wasn’t without its high points. Three Sweet Sixteens and two Big Ten championships. I know a program in Lincoln that would settle for one damn win in the NCAA Tournament let alone talk about championships of any kind.
Anyone know Mr. Crean’s digits?
However…
Wait, what if? What if Shawn Eichorst hadn’t already promised another year to Tim Miles. Would Crean be a step up from Miles? Even so, would Nebrasketball fans want him?
The Crean Rises to the Top:
Tom Crean is not, I repeat, is NOT a bad coach. He has been successful everywhere he’s been, including under the perpetual microscope that is the Indiana basketball program. His successes would almost certainly buy him plenty more years in any other program. However, at Indiana, national championships are the goal, not NIT berths, especially after nine years.
Crean has the coaching pedigree, the recruiting prowess and the passion to give the Nebrasketball fans what they want.  In 18 years as a head coach, he’s been to nine NCAA tournaments, four Sweet Sixteens and one Final Four.
Miles has yet to record a victory in the postseason in four appearances, two being in the NCAA Tournament.
In just nine years at Indiana, Crean averaged just under two top 100 recruits per year, including 10 future NBA players.
Miles has recruited zero future NBA players in his ten years in Division I.
Could Crean’s passion be a problem? Would his off-court struggles with the criticizing fans and media be too harsh of a transition from peppy Timmy Miles? Could the issues go away with less pressure and less toxicity around the basketball program in the Vault rather than Assembly Hall? Would the casual Husker fan appreciate the number of memes Crean can create in just 40 game minutes?
Jokes aside, I’d say it’s hard to pass up a Sweet Sixteen every three years at this point.
Miles Above the Rest:
Tim Miles hasn’t been perfect by any stretch. He’s shown flashes. He’s brought in some great talent and, for the most part, has developed that talent impressively. The injury bug has bitten a few times. The transfer bug has done the same and Miles has had plenty of opportunities to use these excuses to explain why consistent success has eluded his Nebrasketball program.
That’s not Tim Miles, though. He’s fiery, he’s positive and he believes that his team has a chance to beat anyone, anytime.  To tell the truth, he’s not wrong. In just as many horrible losses, Nebraska has pulled off equally impressive upsets.
That’s what gives a lot of Nebraska basketball fans hope for the future. If a truly snake-bitten team can show up for this guy night in and night out, imagine when he gets all the guys he wants on the floor at the same time.
Next: Reasonable Expectations for Tim Miles in 2017-18
So what do you think, Husker Nation? Give Miles one more chance or be Crean’s opportunity for Big Ten redemption?
As it stands, there’s nothing more to do than trust the decision makers at DONU, but the question will always be an intriguing one: What if Crean had been let go before Eichorst committed to Miles one more year?