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Thursday / March 28.
  • Tom Crean, Devin Ebanks & Tyshawn Taylor

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    Tom_crean_indianaThe dominoes sure are falling in college hoops these days.

    **Tom Crean was introduced Wednesday as the new coach at Indiana, a school he said was a dream job because he watched as a 10-year-old when Bob Knight led the ’76 team to a national championship.

    “It’s Indiana, it’s Indiana,” Crean, who signed an eight-year, $18.24 million dollar deal, told reporters. “That is the bottom line. I wouldn’t have left [Marquette] if I didn’t feel this was the absolute pinnacle of college basketball.”

    **Crean can probably turn things around at Indiana, which was beset by recruiting violations under former coach Kelvin Sampson, but he may have to do it without Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis, who were kicked off the team by interim head coach Dan Dakich for missing team meetings and failing to accept the disciplinary action. 

    When asked if Bassett and Ellis would be a part of next year’s team Crean said, according to the Big Ten Network, “I’ve paid attention, I’ve read, I’ve listened but I don’t have an answer to that right now.”

    **Crean will also have to address his recruiting situation. The Hoosiers have four commitments for the 2008-2009 season, but Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway have been released from their Letters of Intent.

     

    Devinebanks7_25200_2**The 6-9 Ebanks told Gerry Hamilton of Orangebloods.com that he plans to visit four schools, including Rutgers, which now has two scholarships to use because Ebanks’ former teammate at St.Thomas More, Justin Sofman, says he will transfer.

    “I’m going to visit West Virginia, Texas, Rutgers and Memphis,” Ebanks said. “I’m going to take a visit next weekend to West Virginia. After that, I’ll visit Texas, Rutgers and Memphis. They’ll all be weekend visits, but I don’t have the dates. I’m planning to decide the last week of the spring signing period (in May).”

    Rick_barnesEbanks was visited Tuesday at St. Thomas Moore by Texas head coach Rick Barnes and assistant Ken McDonald and came away impressed by Barnes.

    “Right now, Texas is very high on my list. I just watched them during the season and saw what they did during the NCAA Tournament and was impressed. Coach Barnes and Coach McDonald came by to see me yesterday. We just talked basketball, school and life in general. Coach Barnes is a really down to earth person. I got to know him real well,” Ebanks told Hamilton.

    **Meanwhile, back at Marquette, the Golden Eagles are looking for a coach to replace Crean.

    “We have a great university,” forward Lazar Hayward told The Associated Press. “and I have no worries as to the decision that they’re going to make and I trust them with all my heart.”

    Potential replacements for Crean include Washington State coach Tony Bennett, who has strong ties to the state because of his father, former Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett.

    Other names of interest could include UNLV’s Lon Kruger, Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings, Xavier’s Sean Miller, Butler’s Brad Stevens and Wright State’s Brad Brownell.

    Tyshawntaylor4_30200**As far as Marquette’s recruits, we broke the news here last night that St. Anthony standout Tyshawn Taylor, a first-team All-STate selection, will seek a release from his National LEtter of Intent.

    St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech could be possible destinations for Taylor, an athletic guard who averaged 15 points in two Tournament of Champions games. Virginia TEch was the first school to offer Taylor, and the Hokies are looking at possibly landing him this time around.

    Rutgers recruit Mike Rosario, a McDonald’s All-American, spoke highly of Taylor during a conversation with Todd Rosiak of the MIlwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

    “(Marquette is) going to get a lot of athleticism, leadership, good point-guard vision because he’s going to play the point,” Rosario said. “He’s a big point, too, 6-3 1/2, and he’s so quick and he can jump. They’re going to get a lot out of him next year because he’s a great player and he’s going to build into a great player.”

    (THe AP contributed to this report)

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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