Jason Crafton emerging as an early favorite for MEAC coach of the year

 

Jason Crafton is changing the culture at Maryland-Eastern Shore as his program currently sits atop the MEAC men’s basketball standings

By Ray Rogers

The mark of a great coach includes possessing an innate ability to lead and influence others. The mark of a great leader includes the ability to embrace challenges. Possessing these characteristics in many cases means an individual has to be brutally honest; even when it hurts.

Early on in his coaching days, the late great John Thompson Jr. once referenced not serving as a father figure or a social worker to those that played for him. Thompson would add “I’m not trying to be anything other than what I am”. Coach Thompson was bold and unapologetic in his approach to steering a then struggling Georgetown University Basketball program while transforming it into a national hoops power. 

Like Thompson, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (UMES) head men’s basketball coach Jason Crafton knows something about turning around a struggling program. The program Crafton took over in 2019 reached a place where it was routine to lose to Division III opponents and in a 2020 Sports Illustrated preseason poll UMES ranked 358 which was dead last in the country.  

One Way Culture

Engineering a program rebuild meant a culture change that entailed acknowledging some harsh realities. One of those harsh realities was revealing past as well as present institutional failures and fearlessly discussing these issues publicly. For coach Crafton the intent was not to paint a negative picture of the university and its athletics programs, but to aid the process of rebranding in effort to elevate a school with such historical value.

In order to have such a profound institutional impact, Crafton would first need his players

to buy into what he refers to as “one way culture”. Here’s how Crafton describes this mantra: 

“Ball, the academics, academics, the ball. The family atmosphere with your teammates, being a part of your community, being an HBCU and the dynamics of that. When we say one way it’s like combining our family atmosphere with our tenaciousness which is our edge. That’s our approach in everything that we do whether that's on the floor, the weight room, the classroom, we challenge our guys to be one way in their approach to everything that they do.” 

This message has resonated, and the results of this evolving culture have shown throughout Crafton’s short tenure. In his first season the team broke the school record for blocked shots and by 2021 UMES ranked top 10 in the country in three different defensive categories. During the 2021-22 campaign UMES scored big wins over the likes of Fordham university and Lehigh University in addition to a road victory at North Carolina Central for the first time since 2008.

Major upset and major upside

Fast forward to this current season and the “Fighting Hawks” of UMES presently boast a 14 - 8 record including 6 - 1 in the MEAC as well 9 - 0 on their home floor. On December 20, 2022, UMES recorded arguably the biggest upset in school history by defeating Temple University 86 - 78 in a game which they led by as many as 15 points on the road. The win over Temple placed UMES in basketball discussions nationally and couldn’t be a better way to elevate the growth of the university.  

Coach Crafton has transformed Maryland-Eastern Shore into not just one of the best teams in the MEAC, but also one of the better teams in the nation defensively that currently ranks top 10 in steals per game. 

UMES has won 11 of its last 12 games and are currently riding a 7 game win streak. UMES will have its season resume on Saturday (2/11) in a matchup against the defending MEAC champions and conference bully Norfolk State Spartans. The Spartans handed UMES their only conference loss to date and Coach Crafton knows the tall task at hand this coming Saturday.    

  

For Crafton, he relishes in proving the doubters wrong and is now poised to close this season strong with his sights set on UMES qualifying for its first ever NCAA tournament berth. The road ahead is not expected to be easy, however the exciting journey has captivated a university and its surrounding community. For an institution without a football program, coach Jason Crafton and the fighting Hawks basketball team are giving students, alums, and fans a lot to cheer for. 

One of those people just happens to be me. Go Hawks!