Earning His Spot

How Jason Crandall played his way onto the team // By Mason Kelley

By Washington Huskies

January 14^th, 2019

Jason Crandall woke up at 4:55 a.m., grabbed a jacket and started walking. When he arrived at the gym, the manager began to set up for a 6 a.m. workout. Then he joined the Washington men’s basketball team for portions of practice, participating in defensive slide drills.

When practice was over, he finished his other duties. Then he went to class. He would come back to Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in the afternoon for an individual workout with one of the Huskies. And he would stick around to help run other sessions, while still going through the rest of his responsibilities as a manager.

Oh, and he also found the time to get up his own shots.

When Crandall arrived at Washington, he pulled double duty as a player and a manager. He wanted to play for the Huskies. He was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

So he did everything asked of him and more. He woke up early. He worked all day.

“That was a grueling couple of months for me with school and everything, but I just tried to put my head down,” he said. “I had support from friends and family. I really stayed strong with my faith in myself, prayed about it and just powered through."

Crandall’s work earned him a spot on the team.

“It’s a feeling I can’t really describe,” he said. “I shared this with my teammates and coach (Mike) Hopkins. This is a dream come true and I try not to take it for granted in the tough times. I really think about what my 8-year-old, 10-year-old self would think if I knew I would have the chance to do this someday.”

He can be confident that 10-year-old Crandall would be proud of his effort. In fact, he worked so hard before learning his walk-on fate, he was at peace with the idea he had done everything he could.

“It’s probably one of the first times in my life when I gave so much effort and put so much willpower toward it that I was at peace that, if I failed, I’d be OK with the fact I gave it my all,” he said. “Whatever happened, I was going to be fine with it.”

Crandall grew up a Washington fan. His childhood goal was to one day attend the university. Then the goal became a dream.

“It became a little more clear to me – I wanted to play basketball at Washington in any way possible,” he said.

His older brother, John, was a manager for two seasons. And, before Crandall’s senior season at Issaquah High School, he inquired with former coach Lorenzo Romar about working his way onto the program.

“Coach, I want to be a part of the program in any way possible,” Crandall told Romar. “I hope to be a walk-on someday down the road, but if that means being a manager first, I’ll do it.”

Romar created an opportunity and Crandall made the most of his moment.

“I came in and worked as hard as I could, tried to take the chances I could while in drills, trying to prove myself,” he said.

After the coaching change, Crandall wasn’t sure what was in store for his future. But assistant coach Will Conroy made sure Hopkins knew what the Huskies had in Crandall.

“He talked to coach Hopkins and said, ‘Let this guy come train with us,’” Crandall said. “I got to work out with them in the spring and proved my worth, gave it my all and, luckily, coach Hopkins gave me the chance to be a part of the team.”

Crandall proved himself once again.

“This is everything I could have asked for,” he said. “To see the program keep rising and to feel like I’m a part of that, that my contributions are helping, pushing the team and being a part of something greater than myself, it’s a feeling I can’t describe.”

The junior makes the Huskies better. He sets an example every day. He is proof that there is a reward for hard work.

“It’s great to know I can go home every night and know I’m making a difference,” he said. “It’s really bigger than myself and my teammates have shown me a lot of appreciation for that, which is bigger than any accomplishments I can make on the court.”