BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Tom Crean put Indiana basketball back in the national conversation.

As it turned out, there was too much talk and not enough wins. Not for the Hoosiers.

Nine years after taking over a team mired in turmoil following an NCAA scandal, Crean was fired Thursday after missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in his tenure. The 50-year-old coach had three years remaining on his contract, and the move comes a little more than three months before his buyout would have dropped from $4 million to $1 million.

But with so much angst among the general public, athletic director Fred Glass couldn’t afford to give Crean another chance.

“The expectations for IU basketball are to perennially contend and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep into the NCAA Tournament and win our next national championship and more after that,” Glass said. “We will look to identify and recruit a coach who can help us meet these expectations.”

Glass will immediately begin looking for a successor and will not form a search committee.

Kentucky’s John Calipari called the firing “disappointing.” Louisville’s Rick Pitino called Crean an “outstanding teacher, coach, workaholic.”