Crean is supposed to be a decent human being and he has an eye for under-the-radar talent, but he's an awful in-game coach, he almost never lands the big fish, and he wasn't able to take Indiana beyond the Sweet 16. He failed to win 20 games in 3 of his final 4 years at IU – how would he do in Storrs?
Bottom line is he's a guy who's never had significant success unless he had a generational talent (Wade).
Now, we don't know if Hurley will ever get there. But he started at a nothing high school and built it into a power. Then he got a job at a small D-1 school, and turned that into a regional power (and his successor has kept that going). Then he moved up a level to a mid-major, and has turned them into a power.
Every step is another rung on the ladder, with no skipped steps. No escalators, one might say.
It doesn't mean he's going to be the right guy for this job. But he's a young-ish coach on the come-up, has nearly 2 decades of head coaching experience, and nearly one decade as a college head coach.
Hiring Hurley represents "we want to be really good again." Hiring Crean would be "we don't want to be that bad again."
I know which I'd prefer.
There are about a dozen mid-major HCs I'd rather take a flier on before Crean. Hiring Crean is "we're kind of giving up, we just don't want to be an embarrassment anymore."
If you can't get Indiana to a Final Four you sure as hell can't get UConn there.
