Indiana fires Tom Crean

Indiana fired men's basketball coach Tom Crean, the university announced Thursday.

Crean spent nine seasons on the sideline with the Hoosiers and guided the team to three Sweet 16 appearances. Indiana, however, has missed the NCAA Tournament twice in the last four years, including this season despite being ranked as high as No. 3 at one point.

The Hoosiers' campaign came to an end on Tuesday with a 75-63 setback to Georgia Tech in the first round of the NIT. Indiana finished the season with an 18-16 overall mark and 7-11 in Big Ten play.

'After deliberative thought and evaluation, including multiple meetings with Tom about the future, I have decided to make a change in the leadership of our men's basketball program,' Indiana director of athletics Fred Glass said in a statement.

'Tom Crean brought us through one of the most challenging periods in IU basketball history, led his players to many successes in the classroom and on the court and represented our university with class and integrity.'

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Crean replaced Kelvin Sampson in 2008 with the program in the midst of an NCAA scandal. The 50-year-old Crean turned the Hoosiers' fortunes around in 2011-12 with an NCAA Tournament berth and guided them to a No. 1 seed in 2013 after winning the Big Ten.

Crean's 166 wins rank as the third-most in school history.