Nova Southeastern nears an NCAA Division II record as home winning streak stands at 72 games
This is the interview Jim Crutchfield didn’t want.
Crutchfield, the men’s basketball coach at Nova Southeastern University, is superstitious.
For example, he doesn’t like writers hyping up his team for fear of something akin to the famed “Sports Illustrated jinx.”
As for good luck, before every game, he touches a palm tree — a tradition he started when his daughters, Caroline and Allie, were little.
Crutchfield also wears the same tie pin he has had for years, despite the protestations of his wife, Diana.
“Deep down,” Crutchfield said, “I know it doesn’t change the course of things.”
Even so, Crutchfield carries on with his good-luck rituals, and it seems to be working.
His Sharks, who had a losing record when he arrived at NSU in March of 2017, won the NCAA Division II national title in 2023. They also went to the Elite Eight in 2022 and the national final in 2024.
The Sharks were ranked No. 1 in the nation this season … until a New York Times reporter wrote a front-page story on NSU.
As (bad) luck would have it, the Sharks lost their next game, 87-84, on Jan. 8 at Palm Beach Atlantic.
Fast forward to present day, and the Sharks are 15-1 and ranked third in the nation. They have also won 72 consecutive home games, which is eight victories short of the all-time Division II record set by Philadelphia-based Jefferson University from 1991 to 1995.
When this reporter called about the 72-game home streak, Crutchfield, at least half-seriously, said: “You’re going to put something in the newspaper, and that will be the curse that breaks it.”
Nobody knows if that’s true, of course.
But what we do know is that this streak has lasted a really long time.
How long?
Well, the last time the Sharks lost a home game, COVID wasn’t yet a thing.
The last time they lost, NSU assistant coaches Nick Smith and RJ Sunahara were players on the Sharks roster.
“How crazy is that?” Smith said. “Our broadcaster [Mark Schoenster] mentioned recently that our home streak has lasted for 1,798 days.”
NSU has not lost at home since Florida Southern beat the Sharks, 102-96, on Feb. 15, 2020.
If the Sharks keep winning, they will break the record on March 9 in the Sunshine State Conference championship game.
NSU’s next home game is Wednesday against Embry-Riddle. A big matchup to circle prior to the SSC final is a visit by Palm Beach Atlantic on Feb. 12. The Sharks will surely have revenge on their minds in that game.
Crutchfield would be the first to say the reason the streak lives on is due in large part to the talented players the Sharks have had during the past several years, a list that includes former stars such as Smith and Sunahara as well as Sekou Sylla, Mark Matthews, Shane Hunter, Kobe Rodgers, Will Yoakum and Jonathan Pierre.
Dallas Graziani — who arrived on campus in 2020 and then left for one season at Samford and is now back — has been at NSU for a lot of those wins.
Other current standouts include MJ Iraldi, Ryker Cisarik, Ross Reeves and Tyler Eberhart.
“The more we play together, the better we get,” Crutchfield said. “This team is still evolving. I don’t think we’ve peaked yet.”
Crutchfield also acknowledged that the fan support at NSU home games has improved.
In fact, NSU broke its single-game attendance record at this season’s home opener as 2,309 fans attended the Sharks’ win against Walsh. Of that crowd, 1,410 of them were students, which is another NSU record.
The Sharks have also set a program record with 71 season-ticket holders, up from 47 the previous year. And, the Sharks lead the Sunshine State Conference in average attendance per game (700).
“South Florida is different than West Virginia, Indiana or Ohio — there’s more to do here,” Crutchfield said of the struggle to get more fans in the seats. “But our student body has become more supportive, and it helps.
“I always say that playing at home is worth four or five points. You are playing on the court you’re most familiar with, the fans are rooting for you, and you don’t have to travel.”
Part of the support the Sharks are getting at home is thanks to a student-run club called “Finatics,” which is a play on the Sharks nickname.
Finatics was around in the earlier days of NSU sports, but it “fizzled out” about 10 years ago, according to Kacie John, who oversees the Sharks’ marketing department.
This past fall, Finatics was brought back to life, thanks to the efforts of students such as Sydni Smaller and Maria Spano.
In total, there are about 60 active Finatics members.
“We’re happy to bring back Finatics Part 2,” said Spano, a 19-year-old marketing and management major from Chicago. “Ideally, we want fans to come to the games shirtless and with ‘SHARKS” written on their chests or with a Fins hat on their heads.
“This season, there has been this uproar from students going to the games and wanting to buy exclusive merch. The atmosphere is so different this season.”
Smaller, a 20-year-old sports management major from Massachusetts, said a “couple hundred” students have shown interest in joining Finatics.
“We want to create a rowdy and loud atmosphere like they do in Division I,” Smaller said. “We want students wearing fun outfits, coming up with chants and starting traditions.”
Smith said that when he arrived at NSU as a freshman in 2017, Sharks games would typically draw just 20 or so fans.
“Now we have a DJ at our games,” Smith said. “Now it’s an event. We’re selling courtside seats.
“It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come in a short amount of time.”
Added Smith: “We play a [fast-break and pressing] style that is taxing on the bodies of our players. But when we have a thousand fans, and they’re loud, it makes us press our opponent that much harder.”
As for Crutchfield, he is focusing on the game-by-game grind of the season.
In fact, he wasn’t even aware the Sharks had a long home streak until recently.
“I was oblivious to it until I walked off the court one night and I heard the announcer [Luis Perez] say we had won 68 straight home games,” Crutchfield said.
“It’s almost beyond belief.”
As good as the Sharks are, this streak will likely continue a while longer.
Unless, of course, the writer’s jinx overcomes the tie pin and the palm trees.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The NCAA Division III record for a home win streak is held by Chicago-based North Park, which won 62 consecutive games from Feb. 8, 1984 to Feb. 3, 1988.
▪ The NCAA Division I record is an incredible 129 games, set by Kentucky from 1943 to 1955. Kentucky won three national titles during that span, and they dominated home games with an average margin of victory of 31 points.
The streak ended on Jan. 8, 1955, as Georgia Tech pulled off a 59-58 upset.