Tom Crean Apologizes For Confrontation, 'It Was A Professional Misunderstanding'

Tom Crean apologized for the confrontation he had with Michigan assistant coach Jeff Meyer.

Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean said in an interview on Monday that he had apologized for a spat he had with the University of Michigan assistant coach Jeff Meyer after the two teams faced off on Sunday.

In the Big Ten coaches teleconference on Monday, Tom Crean started off by saying, "The one thing I want to get out of the way, because I don't want it taking away from the game at all, is the professional misunderstanding I had with coach Jeff Meyer after the game."

He continued to say that he had already apologized to Meyer, "Later that night, on the way to plane, actually, I talked to him on the telephone. We discussed a couple things; I apologized for that. And in retrospect, I wish I would have never addressed anything after the heat of battle in a game. But we move on. That's what I've done in that situation, end of story. And now our focus is completely on helping our team improve."

U-of-M coach, John Beilein also addressed the confrontation in an interview on Monday. He would not comment on the behavior of Tom Crean and would only discuss the actions of his assistant coach and the team as a whole, repeatedly mentioning that Michigan has a lot of class.

Beilein also added, "I'm really proud of the way Jeff showed great poise and handled himself in the aftermath and disappointment of that loss. He's a great coach. He's helped rebuild this program brick-by-brick, side-by-side, so I'm glad he's on our sideline."

Tom Crean also cleared things up about the confrontation in an interview on Monday. He pointed out that it was "the heat of battle" and suggests the situation "should have been handled differently."

But most importantly, Tom Crean wants everyone to know he realizes he was in the wrong. "I apologized to him for it. It was a professional misunderstanding, and it's over and done with. ... I should have never brought it to the handshake line, should have been over."