Five takeaways on the NSU men’s basketball team’s winning formula

The NSU Sharks are two wins away from becoming the first NCAA Division II men’s basketball team in 24 years to advance to four straight national championship games.

Kentucky Wesleyan made it to five straight national finals from 1998 to 2002, winning twice.

NSU, under coach Jim Crutchfield, is seeking its third national title, having won in 2023 and 2025.

So, as top-ranked NSU (30-1) prepares for its Elite Eight game on Wednesday in Pittsburgh against Lander (28-5), it begs the question:

How are the Sharks doing this?

1. FRENETIC STYLE

The Sharks run on offense, and they press full-court on defense.

In other words, it’s all gas, no breaks. Just ask the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, who have lost seven straight games to NSU, including on Tuesday in the South Region final.

“Crashing the boards and pressing go hand in hand,” UAH coach Mitch Hedgepeth said of NSU’s style. “It’s easier to crash four or five guys when you’re going to be up pressing anyway. Their press is their transition defense.

“It’s rare to play a team that crashes the way (NSU does). Their style is extremely effective.”

Hedgepeth said switching on screens is a problem against NSU.

“Now you’ve got a guard trying to box out a big,” he said. “They get you in rotations. If you put two on the ball, they shoot it, everyone crashes, and now there’s a free rebounder. They put you in difficult situations.”

2. FINDING SHARKS

Jordan Fee, who last week was named head coach of the Division I Lamar Cardinals, was a Crutchfield assistant for eight years, including the 36-0 NSU team that won the 2023 national title.

Fee said Crutchfield is the best talent evaluator he has ever seen. And Fee -- his former lead recruiter -- knows exactly the type of player who fits in this fast-paced system.

“It’s far more about the players and the mentality than it is the scheme,” Fee said. “(Crutchfield) wants guys who are winners on and off the court; somebody who is wound super tight – a positive anxiousness – and someone who is cerebral and can see the game around him.”

Nick Smith, who played for Crutchfield and now serves as his associate head coach, agrees that the Sharks look for smart players.

“They don’t have to be the most talented guy,” Smith said. “We’re looking for a guy who does things that the average IQ player doesn’t do.

“For example, if I’m scouting a game, and I see a player act like he’s going back on defense but – boom – steals the in-bounds pass, he’s a savvy player.

“Personality-wise, we want guys who get just as excited when his teammates score as when he scores.”

3. DEFENSIVE MINDSET

Other traits that fit the Sharks’ system are players who are unselfish and versatile and have great instincts.

Offensively, Crutchfield wants players who can dribble, pass and shoot – that’s a given. But it’s the NSU defensive tenacity that separates.

“I hate to use the word, but (Crutchfield wants) guys who love to ‘terrorize’ people (on the court),” Fee said. “I have a golden retriever (Cavo). When I play with him with a tennis ball, the second I pump fake that thing, he reacts. Then I throw it, and it hits the couch and bounces all over the place, and Cavo doesn’t stop until he gets that ball. And then he wants to go again.

“That’s the same thing that (NSU wing) Ryan Davis would do. The same thing (NSU point guard) Dallas Graziani would do.”

Players like two and others at NSU are attentive, Fee said.

“When they walk in the gym, their shoes are already tied, antennas up,” Fee said. “Their attitude is, ‘Whose (butt) am I going to bust today?’ That’s the special trait.”

4. FREEDOM IS KEY

Smith said Crutchfield directs players without “handcuffing” them.

Added Smith: “He never says, ‘You stand in the corner and wait for the ball.’ He lets players make decisions. It’s fun, free-flowing basketball.

“My favorite thing about playing for him is that I didn’t have to think about a million plays. Instead, it’s, ‘Let’s do what make sense.’ I enjoyed playing for him, and now I enjoy coaching with him because he gives me that same freedom.”

5. SHARK BALL IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY

Fee said countless coaches over the years have called to say they tried to coach their team with NSU’s frantic style … to no avail.

“A hundred coaches have told me, ‘I can’t get my guys to do it,’” Fee said. “They are getting beat 120-100, which is why people don’t do it. You are exposing yourself, putting two people (defending the guy with) the ball. Mathematically, it’s not something that will make sense. But the beauty is that Crutchfield has been doing it for 20 years, going back to West Liberty, and I still have not seen it fully explained. Even Crutchfield couldn’t give you exactly what it is. There is a mystic quality that is almost unexplainable.”

The only way to explain it is in one word:

Winning.