Insider: Only uncertainty awaits, as Indiana reaches offseason

OMAHA, Neb. -- Even if he had a lengthy, rambling answer, Tom Crean wasn't ready for the question.

Its premise was straightforward: What can Indiana be next season, given its youth and promise?

"It's too early to think about all that," Crean said, before launching into a monologue that covered offense, defense, the practice court and the weight room, before ending with: "Off the top of my head, that's where I'm at."

So begins an offseason of uncertainty – and yet somehow also great potential – for Indiana basketball.

The possibilities for IU's next eight months range from adding a McDonald's All American big man, keeping one of college basketball's best point guards for his senior season and competing for a Big Ten title, to a complete program reset, starting at the top.

What the Hoosiers look like when they pull up to Big Ten media day in October is anyone's guess. The answer begins with Crean's own job security.

Athletic director Fred Glass has publicly supported his embattled coach, but rumors of change persist, and they will continue to, until they are put to rest publicly and firmly.

Crean's isn't the only IU career in question. Three Hoosiers – Yogi Ferrell, James Blackmon Jr. and Troy Williams – all might consider professional futures this spring. All were non-committal when asked about them postgame.

"Right now, I'm just living in the present," Ferrell said. "We're gonna get back to Bloomington, watch a lot more film, see different ways we could've won this game."

Of course, there's the other possibility: Indiana retains its coach and the core of a team with no seniors, lands that coveted big man to bolster itself inside – Thomas Bryant is still seriously considering the Hoosiers – and contends at the top of the Big Ten next year.

"We're gonna try to get one," Ferrell said flatly, when asked about adding a stud post player.

Ferrell can't talk in specifics about players who haven't signed. And Indiana can't talk in specifics about a future that's still so unclear.

"Consistency" was the aim multiple players latched onto in a postgame locker room less heartbroken than it was somber.

"There can't be anymore ups and downs," Ferrell said.

That has to start on defense.

Indiana put together one of the country's most efficient and aesthetically pleasing offenses this winter, setting a program record for made 3-point field goals in a season.

And the Hoosiers were, by some distance, the worst defensive team in the Big Ten.

Their lack cohesiveness and a serious shot-blocking presence proved the Hoosiers' fatal flaw in their season-ending NCAA tournament loss to Wichita State on Friday, but it wasn't anything new – IU is the only Big Ten team ranked outside the top 200 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy.

"The biggest thing right now is putting more multiple stops together, because when we did that, we were a pretty good team," Crean said. "When we didn't, it got a little harder for us."

Simple math demands at least two roster spots be opened up for signees Juwan Morgan and OG Anunoby. Adding another player, like Bryant, would only require further room.

And the undercurrent, lingering question is what changes will be within whose control.

Next season's floor and ceiling are nowhere near one another right now, uncertainty being the only apparent guarantee.

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.