IUPUI’s all-time assist leader and Hall of Fame member enters his eleventh season on IUPUI’s coaching staff and seventh year as Associate Head Coach. The former standout point guard was named an assistant coach prior to the 2006-07 year.
Crenshaw is known for his strong ability to connect and recruit student-athletes at any level. His innate ability to relate with them and their families, coupled with his tireless work on the recruiting trail, has proved to contribute significantly to the building of the IUPUI men's basketball program. In addition, he prides himself on player and skill development. His x's and o's philosophy continues to be sharpened with his increasing knowledge and experience on the court. Defensively, he is one of only a few who understands and can teach the match-up zone, taught by his former coach and mentor, Ron Hunter. The match-up zone was instrumental in Hunter's success at IUPUI and now in his current role at Georgia State in the Sun Belt Conference.
Crenshaw's tenure has paid immediate dividends as the Jaguars have been primarily led by their backcourt play since his arrival. In 2006-07, the Jags ranked among the nation’s leaders in field goal, free throw and three-point shooting and guards George Hill, Austin Montgomery and Gary Patterson all earned postseason awards.
Thanks in part to Crenshaw’s individual instruction; Hill upped his scoring, rebounding and assists totals his junior year on his way to Summit League Player of the Year honors. He later became the second-ever Summit League player to be chosen in the first round of the NBA Draft. Patterson also made a jump statistically which led him to be ranked among the national leaders in three-point percentage and threes made per game.
In 2009-10, Crenshaw helped IUPUI to a 25-win season, falling just one victory shy of a school record. In addition, the Jaguars picked up their first-ever postseason win at the Division I level with an opening round win at Hofstra in the College Basketball Invitational. Alex Young and Robert Glenn both racked up postseason honors in being named First Team All-Summit League. Both earned Mid-Major All-America honors from various publications after the season.
Most recently, he was instrumental in developing the perimeter games of Young and Leroy Nobles, who were both First Team All-Summit League picks in 2011. Nobles went from being a dependable sharpshooter to an all-around offensive weapon under Crenshaw’s tutelage, while Young improved dramatically as a defender under Crenshaw’s eye. Young later went on to play in the NBA Summer League and currently plays professionally in Italy.
Crenshaw has also been active on the recruiting trail, helping the Jaguars land in-state recruits like Young, Greg Rice, Larry Stone, P.J. Hubert, Justus Stanback, Josh James, D.J. McCall and Aaron Brennan. Standout Indiana-native transfers under Crenshaw include John Hart (Purdue), P.J. Boutte (Detroit Mercy), Dav'Ron Williams (N.C. Central), and Mason Archie (Davidson). He has also scoured the Midwest, helping ink Louisville-standout Donovan Gibbs prior to the 2010 season, Lexington’s Marcellus Barksdale in 2011 and a quartet of other Kentucky preps during his tenure.
As a player, Crenshaw gained national acclaim in March 2003 when his last second jumper sent IUPUI to a thrilling win over Valparaiso in the Mid-Continent Conference championship game and the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
The Charlottesville, Va.-native capped his collegiate career with an outstanding senior season, earning Mid-Con Defensive Player of the Year honors and Honorable Mention All Mid-Con honors. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 11.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game as IUPUI went 21-11 overall. He shot an incredible 57.3 percent from the floor from his guard spot, while playing 36.3 minutes per game. He was a Preseason All Mid-Con selection prior to his senior season.
He finished his career ranked sixth in school history with 157 steals and led the Mid-Con as a junior and senior in assist-to-turnover ratio. He played in 123 career games, making 98 starts during his four-years, totaling 923 points and 422 rebounds to accompany his school record 510 assists.
After graduating from the university in 2004, Crenshaw spent two years playing professionally both in the U.S. and overseas. He has played professionally in the ABA, Slovakia and Poland. While in Slovakia, he helped his squad to the Slovakian National Championship, while earning Playoff MVP honors. He was pegged by Eurobasket.com as the All-Slovakian League Import Player of the Year and First Team All-League. After returning home from his overseas stint, Crenshaw lent his talents to the ABA, playing and then coaching for the Kentucky Colonels during the 2005-2006 season.
In May of 2013, Crenshaw was selected from a competitive field of talented assistant coaches and invited to participate in the NCAA’s A.C.E (Achieving Coaching Excellence) Program. A.C.E. is a professional development seminar for current NCAA collegiate men’s and women’s basketball assistant and associate head coaches, providing an opportunity to focus on training and education in the areas of leadership, communication, campus relations, media, community involvement and program management. Coach Crenshaw recently taught “Coaching of Basketball at IUPUI” during the 2010-11 school year, giving students an opportunity to earn college credit while learning terminology and ideology, fundamentals, and strategies of management in the field of collegiate men’s basketball.
In 2012 Crenshaw became PFL (Prime For Life) Certified which provides motivational intervention in group settings to prevent alcohol and drug abuse and early intervention. The program has been used for college students, middle and high school students and parents, military personnel and court-referred driving offenders.
Crenshaw prides himself on his outstanding record as it relates to student performance. Since June 2010, he has been the academic liaison for the program boasting, an over 90 percent graduation rate for four year student-athletes attending IUPUI. Overall, 32 student-athletes have been named Academic All-Summit League since Crenshaw joined the men’s basketball staff in 2006. In addition, the program’s APR improved drastically from a score of 883 in 2007 to 968 in 2013. Additionally, five Jaguars have been chosen to the NABC Honors Court, including a pair of two-time honorees in Nick Kitcoff and P.J. Hubert.
Crenshaw spent more than six years in the Navy following his high school graduation, also earning national publicity during IUPUI’s NCAA Tournament berth with the war in Iraq pending. He was featured on nearly every national outlet including ESPN’s Dan Patrick Show and The Best Damn Sports Show Period. He also graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and Athlon Basketball Magazine following his junior season. While serving, Crenshaw was a three-time All-Navy and All-Armed Forces selection.
His philanthropic efforts include Komen’s Race for the Cure, Samaritans Feet, On the Line Prostate Cancer Awareness, Habitat for Humanity, Center for Leadership Development, United Way, Riley Children’s Hospital and Forest Manor Community Center. Crenshaw is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and his volunteer efforts include a host of additional non-profit endeavors.
Crenshaw is the proud father of 16-year old high school juniors Michael and Mikayla.
