Men's Basketball

Tom Crean

Marquette head coach

Age: 37

Hired by Marquette March 30, 1999

Michigan State University, '95
Tom Crean's Odds
COACHING EXPERIENCE
1999-2003 — Marquette Univ. Head Coach
1995-99 — Michigan State Assistant Coach
1994-95 Pittsburgh Assistant Coach
1990-94 Western Kentucky Assistant Coach
1989-90 Michigan State Assistant Coach

COACHING HONORS
2002-03 Clair Bee Award

EDUCATION
Central Michigan, B.A. Parks and Recreation, Minor in Psycholog, 1989

PERSONAL
Wife: Joani
Children: Megan (7), and Riley, (3)

COACHING HISTORY

1999-2002 Marquette Univ. Head Coach

• 1st Place, American Division, 2003
• 2nd Place, American Division, 2002
• 3rd Place, American Division, 2001
• 4th Place, American Division, 2000

1995-99 Michigan State Assistant Coach

• Final Four appearance, 1999
• NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 1998
• Big Ten Regular-Season Champ, 1998 and 1999
• Big Ten Tournament Champ, 1999
• NIT participant, 1996 and 1997

1994-95 Pittsburgh Assistant Coach

1990-94 Western Kentucky Assistant Coach
• NCAA Tournament participant, 1994
• NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 1993
• Sun Belt Tournament Champ, 1993
• NIT participant, 1992

1989-90 Michigan State Assistant Coach
• NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 1990
• Big Ten Champion, 1990

ASSISTANT COACHING RECORD
Michigan State
1989-90       28-6 (.824)

Western Kentucky
1990-91      14-14 (.500)
1991-92      21-11 (.656)
1992-93      26-6 (.813)
1993-94      20-11 (.645)

Pittsburgh
1994-95      10-18 (.357)

Michigan State
1995-96      16-16 (.500)
1996-97      17-12 (.586)
1997-98      22-8 (.733)
1998-99      33-5 (.868)

HEAD COACHING RECORD

HEAD COACH
Marquette Univ.
1999-2000      15-14 (.517)
2000-2001      15-14 (.517)
2001-2002      26-7 (.788)
2002-2003      27-5 (.844)
4 Years           83-40 (.675)
BIOGRAPHY:

Crean has guided the Golden Eagles to the program's first Final Four since 1977 along with an overall record of 27-5, tying for the second-most wins in school history. Crean directed Marquette to its first C-USA regular-season title finishing with a 14-2 ledger, tying for the second-highest win total in league play. Crean earned his second straight Ray Meyer C-USA Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and was also tabbed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as the District 11 Coach of the Year for the second straight campaign. The Clair Bee Award Selection Panel is comprised of a distinguished panel of voters including Dick Vitale, Dean Smith, Billy Packer, Joe O'Brien, Pete Newell, Bob Knight, Bob Hammel, Dave Gavitt and Jim Delany.

• Lost to KU in the 2003 Final Four.
Earlier Bio info: Head Coach Tom Crean completed his third season at the helm in 2001-02 continuing to build the Marquette program into one that is respected on the national front. Picked at the start of the season to finish third in the American Division of C-USA, Crean directed the Golden Eagles to a number of significant accomplishments including the school's highest national ranking (#9) since February of 1979, the 26th 20-win campaign in school history (the first since 1997-98), the 2001 Great Alaska Shootout championship, the program's first 10-0 start since '97-98, and the most wins by a Marquette squad in Conference USA action (13-3). The team's final record of 26-7 won-lost ledger represented the most wins by MU since the 1975-76 season (27-5) and tied it for the third-most wins by a Marquette squad. MU enjoyed a 12-game winning streak in league action, the school's longest ever, and the team's 78.7 final overall winning percentage was the highest by a Marquette team since 1977-78 (.857). Crean also guided the Golden Eagles to a perfect 16-0 home record this year, the first time since 1995-96 that a Marquette team went through the home portion of the schedule undefeated. The Golden Eagles concluded the year ranked No. 12 by the Associated Press and No. 18 by USA Today/ESPN. After three years, Crean has a school and career record of 56-35 including a 30-18 mark in C-USA outings.
Crean has been recognized for his efforts, earning 2001-02 Conference USA Coach of the Year honors, the first Marquette coach to earn that award, as well as being selected as the District 11 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the District V Coach of the Year by the USBWA. Basketball Times tabbed him as the 2001-02 Mideast Region Coach of the Year, and he was selected as a finalist for ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball Coach of the Year.

Crean's desire to have strong defensive and rebounding teams showed itself this year as the Golden Eagles paced C-USA during the regular season in scoring defense in both overall (58.9 ppg) and conference play (60.1 ppg) with the team's effort in overall contests ranked it among the top 10 teams in the country. The Golden Eagles were No. 3 among league teams in rebound margin in overall (+4.5) and league contests (+2.7), and were tied for the No. 1 spot in field goal percentage in overall (.473) play while holding down the top position in conference play (.468).

Crean led the Golden Eagles to the Final Four with victories over Missouri and No. 1-seeded Kentucky. Of course, that 33-point loss to the Jayhawks in the national semifinals may make KU shy away.
Under Crean's instruction, Marquette players have flourished in their development. Sophomore Dwyane Wade brought home 2001-02 Conference USA First-Team honors, the second straight year a Marquette player earned that distinction, as well as a first-team berth to the NABC All-District 11 and USBWA District V Teams. Wade was also named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press and was selected as the Newcomer of the Year by Basketball Times. Senior Cordell Henry was tabbed to the Conference USA Second Team while Travis Diener was chosen to the league's All-Freshman Team. In 2000-01, Brian Wardle earned Conference USA First-Team honors, MU's first-ever first-team honoree, while Henry garnered a third-team berth. Odartey Blankson rounded out the individual honorees by landing a spot on conference's All-Freshman Team. Wardle also brought home his second straight second-team berth to the NABC/Oldsmobile All-District 11 team.

Prior to the start of the 2000-01 campaign, the majority of preseason polls and publications had MU slated for the No. 5 spot in the American Division of C-USA. As was the case last year, Crean and his club surpassed expectations, posting a 9-7 league record (14-13 overall), good for third place in the division, and a No. 5 seed in the tourney. The Golden Eagles held down first place for a majority of the season and were still in contention for the No. 1 seed in the tournament up to the final day of the regular season.

During the 200-01 season, Crean guided the program to a number of impressive accomplishments, both in terms of victories and in statistical finishes among C-USA teams, The second-year mentor guided the program to a pair of wins over Cincinnati, DePaul and Saint Louis while the nine wins in conference action represented the most by an MU team since 1997. At the conclusion of the regular season, the Golden Eagles held down the No. 3 spot in scoring defense in overall contests (65.1 ppg) and ranked No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.294). In league games, the Golden Eagles finished second in field goal percentage (.444) and were third and fourth, respectively, in three-point field goal percentage defense (.316) and scoring defense (66.9 ppg). As usual, Crean's desire to be a strong rebounding team was manifested by the squad's No. 2 finish in rebound margin in conference games (+2.1) and No. 4 ranking in overall action (+2.4)

During 1999-2000, Crean completed a memorable first season as head coach, leading the Golden Eagles to an overall record of 15-14 including a berth in the NIT, the school's 13th appearance in that post season affair. Picked by many preseason magazines for sixth place in the American Division of the league, Crean surprised many observers by directing MU to an 8-8 loop mark, good for fourth place in the division, and a No. 5 seed in the C-USA Tourney.

In his initial year, Crean directed MU to wins over a pair of Top 25 opponents while guiding the team to a number of high finishes in league statistical categories. At the conclusion of the regular season, MU ranked second among conference clubs in scoring defense in overall action (61.7 ppg) while finishing No. 2 in league outings (61.6 ppg). In overall games, the Golden Eagles stood No. 2 in rebound margin (+5.9) and held down the third position for league contests (+4.4). Finally, MU paced the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (.279) while the team's mark of 27.3 percent in conference affairs was good for the top spot as well.
Named the 15th head coach in Marquette basketball history on March 30, 1999, the announcement was the culmination of Crean's own "March Madness".

Crean was coming off a season in which he played an critical role in leading Michigan State to its first Final Four appearance in 20 seasons and the Spartans' second consecutive Big Ten championship. Just three days after MSU dropped a 68-62 decision to #1 Duke, Crean and his family came to Milwaukee for his debut as the new mentor of the Golden Eagles.

At the news conference where he was introduced to the media, Marquette basketball fans and the Milwaukee community, Crean commented, "I am very excited about coming to Marquette and beginning a new chapter here. I'm coming with great enthusiasm and a willingness to work as hard as it takes to help the university and the program keep achieving excellence. I can't tell you what it means to have a chance to walk into a program that is synonymous with the success it's had and the tradition it's had. Obviously, we have a lot of great tradition, but without a doubt we're going to put Marquette's tradition and what has been accomplished here in years past against anyone's. We're not going to be afraid to now try to build on tradition and lay our own footprints.

• * Crean concerned about pace (4-05-01)
• * Marquette at a glance: Crean stresses ownership (4-05-01)
• * Marquette, who? (4-05-01)
"I'm a part of Marquette University now and the mission here is great," continued Crean. "It's a mission of excellence; it's a mission of understanding; it's a mission of taking it to another level. That's what I want our program to be about. We are going to embrace the tradition, we're going to embrace the challenges out there. We're going to do it every day and we're going to do together because we are going to understand that we're a part of something bigger than ourselves. That's how you truly win."

"Very early on in this search, we focused in on Tom Crean," said Marquette's president, the Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., "because we realized he possessed everything we were looking for - great recruiting ability, knowledge of the midwest, successful coaching experience, a tremendous work ethic - and he shared our vision for what this program is capable of becoming."

During his four years at Michigan State, the Spartans compiled an 88-41 record and made four consecutive postseason appearances. Crean, who served as associate head coach his last two years in East Lansing, was the staff's recruiting coordinator and was a key figure in bringing in two-time Big Ten Player of Year Mateen Cleaves into the program. Cleaves was named to the 1999 AP All-America Team and was a first-round choice of the Detroit Pistons in the 2000 NBA draft. In addition, he played vital role in the development of the Spartans' Morris Peterson, a 2000 Wooden Award finalist and first-round draftee of the Toronto Raptors.

Prior to his tenure at Michigan State, Crean spent the 1994-95 season at Pittsburgh. Before his stay at Pittsburgh, he was an assistant coach at Western Kentucky from 1990-91 to 1993-94. The Hilltoppers compiled an 81-42 record and participated in the NCAA Tournament twice (1993 and 1994) and in the NIT once (1992).

The Mount Pleasant, Mich., native got his start in coaching at Michigan State on Jud Heathcote's 1989-90 staff. MSU won the Big Ten crown and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament that season that year.

Crean earned a bachelor's degree in parks and recreation with a minor in psychology from Central Michigan in 1989. While he was an undergraduate student, he coached at Alma College and Mount Pleasant High School.

—Courtesy of gomarquette.com