Kenya Crandell, who spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Montana State and has 19 years of college coaching experience, joined the UTRGV men’s basketball program as an assistant coach on April 28, 2016.
Crandell was ranked
tied for the No. 5 spot among assistant coaches in the WAC by Stadium's Jeff Goodman entering the 2020-21 season.
Crandell works primarily with the guards. In 2019-20, he helped UTRGV rank sixth in the NCAA in turnover margin (4.9), eighth in turnovers forced (17.50), 20
th in steals per game (8.4), 31
st in assists per game (15.0), 37
th in total steals (251), 48
th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.20) and 80
th in total assists (451), leading the WAC in each category.
In 2018-19, he helped UTRGV rank third in the NCAA in steals per game (9.30), fourth in total steals (345), fourth in turnovers forced (17.70) and fifth in turnover margin (+4.9). UTRGV also ranked 59
th in total assists (503).
In 2017-18, he helped UTRGV rank 76
th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in assists per game (15.1) and 90
th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in total assists (499).
In 2016-17, he helped UTRGV rank 68
th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in assists per game (15.1) and 92
nd in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC in total assists (484).
While at Montana State, Crandell helped the Bobcats engineer a seven-win improvement from 2014-15 to 2015-16, including a five-win improvement in Big Sky play.
He spent the previous two seasons as the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations at Oregon, where he helped the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a berth in the Sweet 16 in 2012-13.
Crandell began his coaching career at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK), from 1997-99 as a graduate assistant, before being promoted to full-time assistant for the 1999-00 season. After spending the following season at Northern Colorado, Crandell began a six-year stay at Nebraska-Omaha, serving as associate head coach in 2006-07. He then spent the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach at Sacramento State before serving in the same capacity at Southern Utah for four years.
A Hall of Fame point guard at UNK, the four-year starter set a school record for assists (525) which still stands, and his 1,119 career points was 19
th in program history upon his graduation. He was the team MVP as a senior, leading the Lopers to an NCAA Tournament berth.
Crandell starred at Omaha Benson High School as well, leading the Bunnies to the 1992 Nebraska State Class A Championship.
Crandell earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications Sales from Nebraska-Kearney in 1996 and his Master’s in Physical Education – Sports Administration from Nebraska-Kearney in 1999.
