Former Indiana coach Tom Crean to join ESPN for Final Four weekend

Former Indiana coach Tom Crean will be back at work during the Final Four. Crean was fired from Indiana University after the Big Ten Tournament for not reaching this year’s NCAA Tournament.  He’ll be part of ESPN’s coverage this weekend all the way through to the National Championship Game.

By bringing Crean on board for the weekend, it serves two purposes. One, ESPN gets a well-known name for its Final Four coverage, someone who has coached a team into the event with Marquette in 2003. And two, it allows Crean to hobnob with his fellow coaches and also potentially meet with prospective employers who might have openings for next season.

In any event, Crean will be part of College GameDay, which will be based in Glendale, AZ for the Final Four, SportsCenter, and any other segments that ESPN will require from its college basketball crew.

In addition to having Crean on its TV coverage, ESPN will have two-hour editions of GameDay for the Final Four and the National Championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Rece Davis will host and he’ll be joined by Jay Bilas, Dick Vitale, Dan Dakich, Crean, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Williams.

And for those living outside the U.S., ESPN International will air the Final Four and National Championship with Sean McDonough, Bilas and Vitale on the call.

So ESPN will have a huge presence at the Final Four despite not having U.S. rights to the event, and former Hoosiers coach Tom Crean will be featured on the coverage throughout the weekend.

[ESPN]