IU INSIDER

IU coach Tom Crean headlines Yahoo draft show

Zach Osterman
zach.osterman@indystar.com
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean gets after his team during practice inside The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 24, 2016.

While former Hoosiers Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams awaited word on their professional futures last night, their coach engaged in the NBA draft from a different direction.

IU coach Tom Crean spent Thursday night on set with Yahoo Sports' NBA-centric coverage team at The Vertical, which hosted a live web show throughout the first round of the draft. The show had several people, including lead reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, on site at the draft itself, while Crean and other analysts manned the studio with host Chris Mannix.

Indiana's eighth-year head coach received generally positive reviews for his performance, which centered largely on analyzing skill sets and potential for drafted players. Crean split his time between the main set and a video board, where he picked through the particulars of players like Oklahoma's Buddy Hield (New Orleans Pelicans) and UNC's Brice Johnson (Los Angeles Clippers).

He also sprinkled in several entertaining or informative moments.

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Like an impromptu interview with former IU recruit Thon Maker, taken in the lottery by Milwaukee. Or the Hoosiers' previously unreported recruitment of eventual lottery pick Georgios Papagiannis, from Greece. Or the revelation that Malachi Richardson once told Crean he was planning on attending IU (Richardson wound up spending one season at Syracuse, before being taken late in the first round by Sacramento).

He was also on set when news broke that former Hoosier Victor Oladipo, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 draft, had been traded from Orlando to Oklahoma City.

"They just grabbed a guy three years in, averaging 16 points per game. It's a big move," Crean said, before adding at the end of the show: "A person I absolutely love, in Victor Oladipo, is going to Oklahoma City right now with a chance to win a championship."

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Crean's presence provided some levity as well.

During his interview with Maker, he prompted the 7-footer to talk about how growing up playing soccer helped him become a better basketball player. And when, after Denzel Valentine joined the show, Crean asked him a question, and the former Michigan State star smiled and said, "Oh, what's up coach Crean?"

Asked about his own potential draftees, Ferrell and Williams, Crean said he expected them to land somewhere in the second round (neither would wind up drafted). Crean said toward the end of the show that he had been working his phone on their behalf during breaks.

These kinds of TV and media appearances have been few and far between for Crean during his eight seasons in Bloomington. On Thursday night, IU's coach acquitted himself well.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

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