Crean comfortable with blueprint to return Indiana to top

The first question was a simple question.

How you doing, man?

Tom Crean feels good in Bloomington, despite having his hands full. (Getty Images)

"I'm great," answered new Indiana coach Tom Crean. "I'm doing better than most people think."

So there you have it, Indiana fans.

Your coach is just fine -- relaxed, excited and dealing with adversity without blinking. It's not easy, mind you. Let's not kid ourselves. But your coach knew he was inheriting a mess when he inherited this mess, and though it might be a little messier than he expected it's still something he figures he can clean.

"It's a long-haul job," Crean acknowledged by phone Thursday. "But it's such a great tradition and a great job that we're going to be able to recover."

Crean called Thursday after a morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I was supposed to wave the flag to start the practice round," he said. "But we had too much rain."

In other words, the day didn't go quite as planned. So it was a fitting day in many ways. Or at least consistent with the theme of Crean's first five weeks at Indiana -- five weeks of dismissals and transfers and shakeups in general that will ultimately provide IU basketball with a new foundation on which to build.

You know those people who buy houses and immediately rip up the floor because the carpet is stained and stinks beyond belief? Crean is one of those people. That's what he has done and is still doing at IU. So if you walk into his house right now, yes, it might look rough because the new hardwood floors that will replace the stained carpet aren't yet in place.

This in-depth house cleaning is a necessary component to the rebuilding process, and the only bad part is that it'll likely get worse before it gets better considering there are now only three scholarship players set to return from last season's Indiana team that finished 25-8.

Did you get that?

Just three scholarship players will be back.