Georgia Basketball: Tom Crean Named one of 100 Most Influential People in College Basketball
Georgia fans knew what they were getting in Tom Crean the moment he was hired - one heck of a basketball coach. After two years in Athens, he's already produced multiple Top-25 victories as well as a future Top-3 pick in the NBA Draft. The good news for Bulldog fans is that those successes are only the beginning for the Georgia Basketball program.
Part of the reason Crean has been able to have some success at Georgia early-on in his tenure was because of his achievements at some of college basketball's finest programs in Marquette and Indiana. For that alone, Crean has been labeled as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in College Basketball".
To make the list, the criteria was to have achieved at least one of the following: "win at a high level, produce top-flight talent, effect movement in the college coaching carousel, and have their fingerprints all over the sport." This means the lists has more than just coaches and their assistants on the list.
Here is what Silver Waves Media had to say about Tom Crean:
"Known as one of the best coaches for development of players, Crean has had more than his fair share of players that have had eye opening progress from point A to point B. The best evidence perhaps lies within two of Crean’s posterboys, Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo, that went from nearly unranked players who didn’t have much of a recruitment to NBA superstars. His success has attracted others like Yogi Ferrell (Sacramento Kings), Cody Zeller (Charlotte Hornets), Noah Vonleh (Denver Nuggets), Thomas Bryant (Utah Jazz), OG Anunoby (Toronto Raptors), Wesley Matthews (Milwaukee Bucks), and just recently Anthony Edwards (Consensus Top-5 projected pick). The success has helped propel Crean to prestigious heights in his coaching career. He led Marquette to a Final Four in 2003, has appeared in four Sweet Sixteens, and gave Indiana two Big Ten Championships after inheriting the program at arguably it’s lowest point in its rich history due in large part to NCAA infractions that had taken place by the previous staff. His success has helped some of his assistants get hired. Steve McClain, Amir Abdur-Rahim, Bennie Seltzer, Tim Buckley, and Brian Barone have all been head coaches at one point during their careers after serving under Crean. Crean will look to continue to spark a Georgia program like he did in his time at Indiana and Marquette. He got his start learning under Jud Heathcote at Michigan State with Tom Izzo while Jim & John Harbaugh remain his brothers-in-law."
The most notable component of the description is Crean's long list of NBA talents, which doesn't include Nicolas Claxton, who was picked 31st overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
It's also worth mentioning that the description lists Steve McClain, who was hired to the staff in May, as one of Crean's noteworthy assistants. McClain will play a huge role for the Bulldogs in not only developing these athletes but also recruiting more blue-chip prospects to Athens.
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