(University of Arkansas Athletics Photo)
Hopkinsville native Chris Crutchfield has been named one of the 50 impactful high major assistant college basketball coaches in the nation by Silver Waves Media.
Crutchfield was named the associate head coach at Arkansas in 2019 under Coach Eric Musselman after spending eight seasons at Oklahoma.
“He’s one of the best recruiters and coaches in the country as proven by the Sooners being a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament. He has worked for an all-time great coach in Lon Kruger,” Musselman said when Crutchfield was hired.
Last November, theAthletic.com named Crutchfield to its list of 30 up-and-coming coaches to keep an eye on.
“Crutchfield has become a hot name over the past 5-10 years. Known as one of the “good guys” in college basketball, Crutchfield has been instrumental in both recruiting and the creation of a winning culture at his different stops throughout his career,” Silver Waves Media said in including Crutchfield in its list of 50 coaches. “Before helping turn in a 20-12 season as a part of a brand new staff at Arkansas, Crutchfield spent eight seasons at Oklahoma. While there, the Sooners compiled a 160-105 (.604) overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the past seven seasons, including a Final Four berth in 2016. That year, the Sooners racked up 29 victories, which tied for sixth-most in program history. He was a fixture in the recruitment of two All-Americans and current NBA players, Buddy Hield and Trae Young. Crutchfield also spent four seasons at Oral Roberts placing first in the league once, second in the league twice, and third in the once with two postseason appearances.”
Prior to Oklahoma, Crutchfield was an assistant coach at Oral Roberts, Texas Christian, and New Mexico State.
Crutchfield was a sophomore on Hopkinsville High School’s 1985 state championship basketball team. He graduated from Nebraska-Omaha in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice and earned his master’s in health, physical education and administration four years later. He played both basketball and football at the school.
Silver Waves Media is a sports media organization that focuses on providing exposure for college athletes on the West Coast. Other coaches on the list were Kentucky’s Joel Justus and Kenny Payne, Louisville’s Luke Murray, and UCLA’s Darren Savino, who worked under Mick Cronin at Murray State. Crutchfield’s former college roommate, Tony Stubblefield of Oregon, was also named to the list.
