When the head coaching job at Indiana University opened up, the rumor mill was bound to begin churning. Basketball analysts and Marquette hoops junkies wondered whether Tom Crean would be the Hoosiers' next coach.

Then Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson signed at Indiana, but that didn't stop the whispers. Crean to Oklahoma, now? His name has been mentioned every off-season since 2003.

There's a reason Crean will salute the student section for an eighth season,though: Marquette basketball is as prominent as ever.

When he brought in Dwyane Wade, Crean added immediate prestige to his job title. Wade led the Golden Eagles to the Final Four, and that magical run landed Marquette in the Big East.

That affords Coach Crean the kind of job security he wouldn't get at Indiana, Oklahoma or Michigan State should Tom Izzo ever leave. Some say he'd get better talent with another program. But a glance at his recruiting record would change their minds.

Beyond Wade, a talent who comes along once a generation, Crean has demonstrated a keen eye for talent. Travis Diener, Steve Novak and Dominic James are three players who could have started for any program. Crean has elevated the program to the point where the best players Wisconsin, Chicago and Indiana have to offer now consider Marquette, instead of automatically choosing among Big 10 schools.

Now, the Big East provides the avenue to tap into New York City, an avenue Al McGuire took to get past greats Dean Meminger, Butch Lee and Bernard Toone in the late '60s and '70s.

Marquette is in a better position to recruit than it was even after 2003. You can bet the first place that high schoolers want to check out is the McGuire Center, another by-product of the Final Four.

In 2005-'06, Crean brought in his best class yet. With James, you have a bona fide scorer, a guy guaranteed to be one of the top point guards in the country. In Jerel McNeal, a shooter's nightmare with the rare ability to take over a game defensively. In Wes Matthews, a combination of size and quickness that makes scouts salivate.

It's all set up for Crean. He's one productive big man away from a return to national prominence.

Even if an enticing offer were there, even if he wanted to leave, he couldn't. Not now. Not with three returning sophomores named James, McNeal, and Matthews.