Tom Crean went off on Michigan assistant coach Jeff Meyer following Indiana’s 72-71 win in Ann Arbor Sunday that gave the Hoosiers the Big Ten title outright.
Crean, feeling elated following his team’s comeback win, approached Meyer as the Michigan assistant was talking with current Indiana assistant coach Tim Buckley, and scolded him.
“You know what you did,” Crean barked at Meyer while pointing his finger. “You helped wreck our program!”
Meyer and Buckley seemed to be sharing a pleasant conversation following the game, but Crean’s berating of Meyer broke that up quickly. Crean was so animated that Buckley had to pull him away and even tried to block a camera from recording more of the exchange.
When asked after the game about the exchange, Crean was vague.
“It’s a heated game. Go ask him,” he told the media.
Crean later apologized to Meyer for his behavior.
“A professional misunderstanding I had after the game,” Crean said Monday. “On the way to the plane, I talked to him on the telephone … I apologized.”
Michigan coach John Beilein also addressed the incident Monday.
“Michigan’s always going to win with class, and it’s going to lose with class,” Beilein said. “I’m proud of the way Jeff [Meyer] showed great poise.”
Crean’s words to Meyer were a reference to Meyer’s history as a former Indiana assistant coach under Kelvin Sampson from 2006-2008. Multiple recruiting violations by Sampson and his staff led to the Hoosiers being placed on probation for three years. Crean took over the program from Sampson and endured three straight losing seasons. It took until his fourth season at Indiana to produce a winning team.
Finally winning a conference championship five years later — especially by beating Meyer’s team — must have been extraordinarily satisfying for Crean. The big smile on his face after he walked away from Meyer should have told you that. Recall that Indiana went 1-17 in conference in his first season and was an utter mess. He has taken the program from the bottom to the top. I have absolutely no problem with what he did to Meyer and completely understand where he was coming from.
Shoutout to the original Crab Man for the tip
