Jim Crutchfield

Jim Crutchfield is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Nova Southeastern Sharks men's basketball team.

Early life

Crutchfield grew up in Clarksburg, West Virginia and attended Roosevelt-Wilson High School, where he played basketball. He graduated from West Virginia University in 1978.

Crutchfield had originally planned to attend West Virginia University College of Law after spending a year trying to find a high school coaching position. He disenrolled shortly before the start of classes after being hired as the head basketball coach at Cameron High School. Crutchfield coached at Cameron for ten years and also taught mathematics.
Crutchfield was originally hired as the head men's and women's tennis coach and as an assistant men's basketball coach for the West Liberty Hilltoppers in 1989. As a tennis coach, he won a combined 11 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and was named the WVIAC Coach of the Year eight times. He was hired as the head men's basketball coach at West Liberty in 2004. In 13 seasons as head coach, the Hilltoppers went 359–61 with six Elite Eight appearances and four Final Four appearances.
Crutchfield was hired as the head coach at Nova Southeastern on March 21, 2017. During the 2022–23 season, he coached the Sharks to a 36–0 record as the team won the 2023 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. The following season, Nova Southeastern went 32–3 and returned to the national championship game where they lost to Minnesota State 88–85. During the 2024–25 season, Crutchfield coached the Sharks to a 36–1 record and a third straight national championship game appearance. They would win their second national championship in three years after defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills 74–73.