Report: LSU “not a landing spot” for Indiana’s Tom Crean

Johnny Jones was fired from LSU today, after five seasons in Baton Rouge and a 90-71 record. Despite having the #1 overall draft pick in Ben Simmons at the school last year, Jones could not guide the team to the NCAA Tourney, which he made only once in his LSU tenure. And his team cratered this season, finishing 10-20 and only 2-16 in the SEC.

The job will draw national interest and should intrigue several coaching candidates. But according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Tom Crean won’t be one of them.

The LSU job is an intriguing one - the Tigers are only 11 years removed from their last Final Four berth, they’re in a conference that is wide-open after UK and Florida, they’re near some recruiting hotbeds, and with names like Pete Maravich and Shaq, they have some history going for them too. But if Tom Crean ends up making a move, it sounds like LSU wouldn’t be his preference, and that Tigers AD Joe Alleva will go in a different direction.

Goodman later reiterated what we’ve been hearing - that the embattled Indiana head coach might have more interest in a different open SEC job.

Alas, don’t expect Tom Crean to be sharing plates of gumbo with Ed Orgeron any time soon.