Three objectives for next Indiana coach

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Indiana fired Tom Crean just as the 2017 NCAA tournament was tipping off Thursday. Crean led Indiana for nine seasons, taking over a program decimated in the wake of Kelvin Sampson’s dismissal and penalties. Crean made four NCAA tournaments in nine years, including three Sweet Sixteens.

To some, the program is known as one of the select few that can be labeled as a blueblood. To others, IU is a top-25 program, but not an elite one that produced multiple national championships during the Bobby Knight era. The Hoosiers have made the Elite Eight just once since 1993.

Whichever side you are on, we lay down the top objectives in line for the new coach at the Big Ten institution.

While Indiana has the abilities to recruit nationally, its first, second and third primary objective is to keep the best kids from the state at home. In past years, this has been a giant issue. Thanks to the talent oozing out of Indianapolis and the influx of talent into the La Lumiere basketball program, a top flight high school located within the state’s borders, there will never be a shortage of four- and five-star prospects.

Sure, the prior staff did a decent job of landing natives of the Hoosier State. However, in the 2017 class, top-50 prospects Jaren Jackson, Brian Bowen, Malik Williams, Paul Scruggs and Kris Wilkes, five seniors that either call the state its home or finished their final year of high school ball within the state, didn’t hesitate to commit to an institution whose mascot was not named the Hoosiers. At the end of the day, dominate your local terrain before heading elsewhere.

The fact that people discuss IU among college basketball's bluebloods proves further the immense pressure that comes with heading the job in Bloomington. While the good ole days of Knight pacing up and down the sidelines and even Mike Davis’ time helping the Hoosiers make their way to the Final Four have past, many within the region believe the program can compete, year in and year out, with the likes of Kentucky, Duke and Kansas.

Whether this is true or not will be a lasting debate but meanwhile, whomever the Indiana administration gives the reigns of the basketball program to, they must accept the gigantic pressure that comes with the job. Just how John Calipari came to love the attention at Kentucky, the new head coach at Indiana must come to flourish in the role as the CEO of IU basketball. If he can do just that and not run away from the spotlight, things might go much smoother from the get-go.

Assembly Hall is quite the spectacle. When the place is rocking, like it typically is for any Hoosier home game, there just isn’t a better place to watch a college basketball game. Built in 1971, the home for the Indiana basketball program a received recent renovation that saw $40 million improvement in infrastructure and inner belly of the facility. College athletics is a giant arms race and the administration in Bloomington has shown that it wants to remain ahead of the curve. However, at the end of the day, Assembly Hall is made special because of the fans within it. That needs to be sold to recruits.

Last year, when Indiana took a nice ride into the Sweet 16, the program settled in seventh nationally in attendance numbers, averaging a bit over 17,000 per game. In 2011, when the Hoosiers finished 12-20 and finished 11th overall within the Big Ten, IU still completed the year 12th overall in attendance numbers, averaging a smidge over 15,000 per game.

Indiana fans are not going anywhere. They may have lofty expectations, but one thing they are not is fair-weather. The loyal fan base seems committed to supporting the program, win or lose, rain or shine.