Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean speaks on player infractions

When Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean spoke to a room full of supporters and donors at Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday night as part of the athletic department's "On The Road" series, he broke from the usual boilerplate tenor of the event.

"They will work," Crean said of his players, "to (get to) a place where they understand (their) responsibilities ... or they will not be out on that court. And eventually, they may not be there."

In an address that was brief by his standards, but raw and blunt, Crean addressed head-on the off-the-court problems that have plagued his program the last year and a half, and didn't spare himself in the comments.

"You know what I wish I had done when Hanner (Mosquera-Perea) first got in trouble?" Crean said. "And I love Hanner to death. I love Hanner Perea. I'd go back and remove him from the team.

"The responsibility of their behavior falls on me."

Much of his speech echoed comments made to the media just minutes before, when he said his players must learn "they are playing for Indiana, and not at Indiana. Even some of our Indiana kids have got to understand that."

Crean challenged the lack of leadership, accountability and responsibility he sees in his locker room, especially among his team's most experienced players.

His team again made negative headlines last weekend, when Emmitt Holt and Thomas Bryant were cited for illegal possession of alcohol.

He told the media specific discipline for Holt and Bryant "will be forthcoming," and that as a team, IU is "in the midst of some internal discipline right now." Crean declined to elaborate, though he hinted at early-morning workouts when he said he arrived at work at 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

The overall tone of his comments might have best been described as both exasperated and determined, by a team still in the news for the wrong reasons, but one with a potentially bright immediate future.

For Indiana, the stakes are high. With four starters returning and Bryant, a 2015 McDonald's All American, expected to anchor a bolstered frontcourt, the Hoosiers should be ranked in or around the nation's top 15 in the preseason. In what projects to be a strong Big Ten, IU ought to compete near the top.

But Crean warned that none of that will be possible unless the Hoosiers can correct their behavior.

"Our group has got to understand they are responsible for one another," Crean said. "We may be expecting too much leadership out of some guys. We really might."

Crean dealt with several news items during his press availability, including the confirmation of Rob Judson as IU's third assistant coach and Brett Burman as its new director of basketball operations.

He said the recruitment of Pitt transfer Josh Newkirk — now on campus — was "a whirlwind," and that he is already impressed by Newkirk's demeanor.

Sophomore James Blackmon Jr., recovering from a torn meniscus, is "right on schedule with where we thought he would be."

Thursday marked the release of the 2015-16 Big Ten schedule which, in turn, prompted Indiana to release its full slate.

Asked about the season ahead, Crean said he'd barely looked at what the conference will throw at him this winter, though he called his schedule "tremendous" and "challenging."

"It's one," Crean said, "I'm very thankful we don't have to play starting right now, in all honesty."

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.