This is Why NSU Basketball is Getting Interest from NBA Coaches
Last month, over the Labor Day holiday, Nova Southeastern University men’s basketball coach Jim Crutchfield found himself in Boston as a guest speaker invited by Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
Earlier this year, Crutchfield got a spring-time call from another NBA coach, the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra, who came to the NSU campus to talk hoops. Yes, it’s been quite a summer for the NSU Sharks.
But that’s what happens when you reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in program history, and you do it in just the second year under Crutchfield.
NSU, which finished 6-20 the season before Crutchfield arrived, went 29-4 in 2018-2019, and that attracted NBA attention.
“Those [NBA] guys will talk to anyone they think they can learn from,” said Dave Halberstam, who was the Heat radio voice for six years and also called about 20 NSU games last season. “That ‘Spo’ would visit [Crutchfield] speaks volumes. I’m sure ‘Spo’ was seeking to talk basketball with a coach whose kids play hard-nosed defense.”
Crutchfield said he didn’t know Stevens before he was offered the invitation to Boston. Crutchfield also didn’t know Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, son of Miami Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga.