By: Jordan McAlpine, Sports Reporter
OMAHA, Neb. - Chris Crutchfield is no stranger to college basketball. He served as an assistant coach at Oregon this season and has made previous stops at Oklahoma and Arkansas, among others. However, there’s one program that has always had a special place in his heart- Omaha.
A two-sport (basketball and football) athlete at UNO in the early 1990s, Crutchfield also got his coaching career started with the Mavericks as a graduate assistant. The Kentucky native said the Omaha job has always been a dream of his and last Friday, that dream became a reality.
“In a thousand years, I couldn’t imagine coming back to Omaha and being the head basketball coach,” Crutchfield said. “It’s something that I’ve dreamed about a long time and now that it’s true it is so, so surreal.”
Crutchfield brings more than 25 years of coaching experience with him and said it’s surreal to be back leading his alma mater.
The Mavericks’ new head coach was formally introduced Monday afternoon at Baxter Arena. Crutchfield stood at the podium in front of family, friends, media and his newest coaching cohorts in the Omaha athletic department. There were also several of his former coaches and teammates in attendance, which are all part of what made Monday such an exciting and emotional day.
“Any time you get to come back to a place that you love, it just fills my heart with joy,” Crutchfield said.
Crutchfield, who has developed a reputation as a respected recruiter throughout college basketball, reiterated multiple times that he believes he can sell the program and the city of Omaha to recruits. But in the same breath, recruiting to a place he knows so well will mean a little bit more now.
“He wants to see his alma mater do well,” said Omaha Athletic Director Adrian Dowell. “He wants to see the kids do well, he wants to see the city be engaged, because he’s been here. He’s done it, and it means a little bit more to you when it’s a place you went to school.”
Crutchfield becomes the 22nd head coach in Omaha’s program history. He’s also the first hire since Dowell took over as the A.D. earlier this year. It’s a great opportunity from a professional standpoint, as this is Crutchfield’s first head gig at the Division I level. But it’s also a match made in heaven from a personal standpoint.
His wife, Jodi, is from here and there are several other family ties to the city. The two even got married in Omaha. Crutchfield joked maybe she’ll forgive him now for pulling her away all these years, but it’s all come full circle.
“At the end of the day, it’s a win-win for me, my family, and I think I want to be the one to take this program to the NCAA Tournament,” Crutchfield said. “I can’t think of another situation or a program like this and I’m excited for that challenge.”
If he’s able to do so, Crutchfield will become the first coach to do so in the Division I era of the program. The man known as “Crutch” said he’s eager to get started and plans on hitting the recruiting trail right away.
