LSU, via a third party, has contacted Tom Crean to gauge his possible interest in coaching the Tigers, a source told CBS Sports on Sunday.
The school fired Johnny Jones earlier this month.
Crean, 50, just completed his ninth season at Indiana -- where he won two of the past five outright Big Ten titles and made the Sweet 16 in 2012, 2013 and 2016. No other Big Ten coach besides Crean won two outright league titles in the previous nine years. But the 2016 Big Ten Coach of the Year was still fired last week after finishing 7-11 in the league and missing the NCAA Tournament. That he lost two starters (OG Anunoby, Colin Hartman) to season-ending injuries wasn’t enough to generate patience from either IU’s big boosters or athletic director Fred Glass.
LSU has also had discussions with VCU’s Will Wade, a source told CBS Sports. Wade has led the Rams to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. His career record -- from two years at Chattanooga and two years at VCU -- is 91-45 overall, 55-15 in league games. If he were to leave VCU for LSU or any other big job, he’d be the fourth straight Rams coach to win and bolt for a Power-5 job -- joining Jeff Capel (Oklahoma), Anthony Grant (Alabama) and Shaka Smart (Texas).
