(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) – Marquette University men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart announced Tuesday afternoon that Rodney Crawford has been hired as an assistant coach.
Crawford most recently served three seasons as associate head coach at the University of South Alabama from 2023-26 following two seasons as an assistant coach with the program (2021-23). He played an integral role in the Jaguars securing the 2024–25 Sun Belt Conference regular season title, their first since 2008. In 2025–26, the Jaguars went 21–12 and were invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
Crawford joins former FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard, who was hired in April as an assistant with the Golden Eagles, to round out the 2026-27 Marquette coaching staff under Smart.
“Coach Rock brings incredible passion, toughness and basketball acumen to our program,” Smart said. “Over his career, he’s proven that he can help players elevate their games and consistently impact the defensive end with his presence and grit.”
Crawford’s tenure at South Alabama was marked by exceeding expectations. Picked to finish 11th in the 2024–25 Sun Belt preseason poll, the team surprised the league with a 21–11 record and the program’s best regular-season mark since 2008, including four victories over top-150 NCAA NET teams. The Jaguars were among the nation’s most efficient defensive teams, ranking in the top-20 in multiple categories, including field-goal percentage defense (.384), scoring defense (64.3 ppg), steals (9.3 spg.) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59). The Jaguars also placed in the top-10 in fouls per game, turnover margin and turnovers per game, and led the Sun Belt in each of those categories.
During the 2023–24 season, Crawford briefly led the team during head coach Richie Riley’s absence and helped guide a late-season surge (six wins in eight games) to an eighth seed in the conference tournament, while playing a key role in developing standout Samuel Tabe. His impact also includes helping Kevin Samuel earn Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022–23, along with contributing to a four-win improvement and a 15–3 home record in 2021–22, his first season in Mobile.
Crawford has over 15 years of coaching experience in both head and assistant roles, joining the South Alabama program after serving as director of player personnel at Cincinnati for two seasons (2019-21). In his first year, he helped guide Cincinnati to a 20–10 record and a 13–5 mark in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), earning a share of the regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament, which was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following season, he contributed to a 12–11 campaign that culminated in a run to the AAC Tournament championship game.
Prior to Cincinnati, Crawford spent four seasons at Fordham University (2016-19), including three as associate head coach. In his first season, he helped lead the program to its first postseason appearance since 1992 with a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). During his tenure, the Rams consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in steals and turnovers forced, establishing a strong defensive identity.
Crawford also served as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2012–15, where the team won a program-record 70 games over three seasons, including 25 victories in his first year. The Colonels followed with a 24-win season, capturing the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Tournament title and earning an NCAA Tournament berth, while consistently ranking among the nation’s best in steals and turnover margin. He began his coaching career in 2004–05 as head coach at Harmony (Ohio) Community School, where he developed more than 20 future Division I players in four years (2004-08), before accepting the head coach coaching position at Mountain State (W.Va.) for one season (2009-10).
A two-year letterwinner at Cincinnati from 2000–02, Crawford played on teams that went a combined 56–14 while advancing to the NCAA Tournament each season. Most notably, he helped the Bearcats go 31–4 while climbing as high as fifth in the Associated Press poll his senior year.
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