Former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean was invited to be a guest on Yahoo! Sports’ 2017 NBA Draft coverage Thursday night.
The show is titled “The Vertical With Woj,” a nickname for Adrian Wojnarowski, and it aired via live web stream on the Yahoo! Sports. Chris Mannix hosted the show.
Crean, who was fired by Indiana in March, stepped in to analyze potential draftees and to break down the respective players after they were selected in the draft. He pointed out what each player does well on the court as well as what they will need to improve upon to be successful at the next level of basketball.
The Vertical’s selection of Crean to be a guest on the show is an interesting one because Crean coached a handful of now-NBA players at both Marquette University and Indiana. He also helped develop three former Hoosiers over the past couple seasons that entered their name in this summer’s draft.
OG Anunoby, Thomas Bryant and James Blackmon Jr. — all former Hoosiers that left Indiana early for the NBA — were recruited and coached by Crean. Anunoby was selected No. 23 overall Thursday night by the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers selected Bryant with the 42nd overall pick. Blackmon Jr. went undrafted, but then immediately agreed to a free-agent deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Throughout most of The Vertical’s draft coverage, Crean seemed to be enjoying himself. Overall, I think he did a great job as a draft analyst because of his coaching and developmental experience, but also because of the relationships he has at the collegiate and NBA levels.
[Photos: @JasonSpells]