doubtful...based on the past where they ignored him as a candidate...
Don't be so dismissive. After the last two guys, who came from "outside the IU family" failed, they may be looking for a guy with Hoosier roots.
This article essentially says just that, with this passage fully capturing the idea...
Crean came to Indiana by way of Marquette, an important distinction to IU’s fan base. He was not a Hoosier, at heart, they said. After Knight’s infamous dismissal, the Hoosiers tabbed Mike Davis to take over the program. He led IU to the Final Four in 2002 but was never embraced due to the fact that he was, well, not Bob Knight. Then came Kelvin Sampson, another “outsider” who eventually brought the program to its knees one illegal text message at a time. After him (and a brief cameo by Dan Dakich) came Crean, yet another “non-Hoosier” trying to restore pride in a once-proud program. IU hadn’t won a national championship since 1987, but you could have sworn a sixth banner didn’t matter if it didn’t come from a life-long Hoosier. They’d rather lose with Steve Alford than win with Crean.
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/03/16/tom-crean-fired-indiana-hoosiers
Plus, Alford has a longer, slightly more sparkly resume than the last two times they were looking. In 2006, Alford still kind of had the stink of that rape scandal at Iowa on him. In 2008, His failure at Iowa was still pretty fresh, and he had just finished his first year at New Mexico. Since then, he's had a successful tenure at UNM and has taken UCLA to 2 Sweet-16's and has them at 29-4 and a 3-seed in the tournament.
Personally, I don't think Alford would be all that good of a hire, but I wouldn't be even slightly surprised if that's the direction they go. Particularly if somebody like Marshall doesn't have much interest.
Incidentally, their boards are a hoot right now. Many of them think they're destined to land a whale like Brad Stevens, Billy Donovon, or Gregg Marshall. I think they Overestimate just how appealing the IU job is nowadays. Crean, IIRC, was pretty universally touted as an outstanding hire. He couldn't get them past the sweet-16 and only made the tourney in 4/9 years. The reality is, since Bobby Knight was shit-canned, they have been, at best, a marginal program. In 17 years, they have ended the year ranked in the AP top-25 just 4 times, made just 7 tourney appearances, advanced past the second round just 3 times, and have a 327-233 (.584) overall record. Hell, even Knight's last six years (dating back to 1994-95), they ended the year ranked just 2/6 seasons, never advancing past the second round with 4 first round exits, and a 123-67 (.647) record.
They haven't won a national title in 30 years, and have made it as far as the regional finals just once in the last 24 years. Their fluky run under Mike Davis in 2002 represents their only Final-4 appearance since 1992...that's one in 25 years. That job ain't what it was twenty years ago.
Funny similarity between IU basketball, and scum football; two supposed blue-blood B1G programs in their respective sports: both of their idols (IU-Knight, scum-Schembechler) are Buckeyes.
