Marquette’s Crean will coach Indiana

Indiana is turning to Tom Crean to bring respectability back to the Hoosiers.

After a tumultuous season and turbulent coaching search, the Hoosiers hired Crean on Tuesday as what they hope will be a long-term replacement for Kelvin Sampson. Sampson resigned in February amid a phone-call scandal that included five major allegations from the NCAA.

Sampson’s resignation led to the promotion of interim coach Dan Dakich, a threatened players boycott, and the ultimate indignity of Indiana losing four of its last seven games, including a first-round NCAA tournament game to Arkansas. The Hoosiers finished 25-8. Losses were only part of the problem.

Dakich gave guard Jamarcus Ellis a one-game suspension for disciplinary reasons, and on Tuesday dismissed Ellis and Armon Bassett, another starting guard, after they missed a scheduled appointment last week and then failed to run extra laps as their punishment the next day.

Crean went 190-96 in nine seasons at Marquette, including a trip to the 2003 Final Four.

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A testy Lute Olson, in his first news conference since returning from a season-long leave of absence, sparred with reporters and provided few specifics for the leave.

Olson also said assistant coach Kevin O’Neill, who served as interim coach last season and was even named Olson’s eventual permanent successor, will not remain on his staff.

“Frankly, even though I realize I’m a public figure, I don’t think I need to go into every nuance of my private life,” the 73-year-old Olson said. “There were things going on in my life that did create some health issues that I needed time to address. But it was not a health scare.”

Olson’s situation has been shrouded in mystery since Nov. 4, when he announced he was taking a leave of absence.

During his leave, Olson filed for divorce from his wife, Christine.

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Ohio State defeated Mississippi, 81-69, in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament in New York. The Buckeyes (23-13) will play Massachusetts in the championship Thursday night. The Minutemen (25-10) defeated Florida, 78-66.

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San Diego Coach Bill Grier, who led the Toreros to the NCAA tournament in his first season, said he interviewed for the vacant Oregon State job but hasn’t accepted it.

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Portland State guard Jeremiah Dominguez, the Big Sky Conference’s player of the year, and center Scott Morrison were detained in Mexico after an altercation in Cabo San Lucas, the university said.

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Sean Sutton resigned under pressure as Oklahoma State’s coach after a 17-16 season.

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Kent State assistant Geno Ford is expected to replace Jim Christian, who resigned last week after six seasons to take over at Texas Christian.

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Duke players Gerald Henderson and Lance Thomas have had hand surgery at a school hospital.