Oklahoma basketball coach Lon Kruger finishes his coaching staff

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma head men's basketball coach Lon Kruger announced today the hiring of Chris Crutchfield, a move that completes his assistant coaching staff.  Crutchfield joins assistants Steve Henson and Lew Hill, carryovers from Kruger's UNLV staff who the new OU head coach said two weeks ago will serve in the same capacity for the Sooners.

Crutchfield, 42, spent the last four years as an assistant coach at Oral Roberts University, helping the Golden Eagles to an average of 20 wins per season and postseason appearances in 2008 (NCAA Tournament) and 2011 (CollegeInsider.com Tournament).

Prior to his stint at Oral Roberts, Crutchfield served on TCU's staff for two years.  He was the Horned Frogs' director of basketball for the 2005-06 season before being named assistant coach for the 2006-07 campaign.  He was also an assistant for four seasons at New Mexico State (2001-05).

"Chris has a terrific reputation among coaches, not only on the court but also in recruiting," said Kruger.  "His contacts in Oklahoma and Texas are particularly strong.  He's been very successful and is highly respected by his peers.

"Coach Henson and Coach Hill know him and have a lot of respect for his work ethic.  He works extremely hard, brings a really good family and will fit in extremely well."

Crutchfield also has head coaching experience.  He served two seasons (1999-2001) at Tyler (Texas) Junior College as head coach after spending the previous two years as an Apaches' assistant coach.  He was also an assistant coach for one season each at Texas-San Antonio (1996-97) and Nebraska-Omaha (1995-96).

Crutchfield said he feels honored to coach at OU and to become a member of the Sooner family.

"It's a blessing just to have this opportunity," he said.  "For a guy who played Division II basketball and has been grinding it out as an assistant coach at the mid-major level for 10 or 11 years now, I'm honored to be able to get to this level and work for a guy like Coach Kruger who has had unbelievable success and has won everywhere he's been.

"Having spent time in the state of Texas for a good part of my coaching career, I've been able to build a lot of relationships with high school and AAU people.  And that's what it's all about -- being able to recruit and having a good rapport with people.  And having worked at Oral Roberts for four years, I've also been able to get to know a lot of people in the state of Oklahoma.  That's been a really big plus, as well."

Crutchfield, originally from Hopkinsville, Ky., graduated from Nebraska-Omaha in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice and earned his master's in health, physical education and administration four years later from the same school.  He and his wife Jodi are the parents of three sons: Derrick, Jalen and Josh.

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Henson has a relationship with Kruger that dates back more than 25 years. A member of Kruger's staff the last seven seasons at UNLV, Henson also worked for the new OU head coach while with the Atlanta Hawks and at the University of Illinois, and starred under him at Kansas State University as a player in the late 1980s.

Henson still holds K-State career records for assists (582), assists per game (4.58), free throw percentage (.900), minutes (4,474), minutes played (35.2), starts (118), consecutive games played (127) and consecutive starts (118).

Hill, who was also on UNLV's staff the last seven years, is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference.  He was an assistant coach at Texas A&M for six seasons (1998-2004) under then-head coach Melvin Watkins, serving as the Aggies' associate head coach during his last season in College Station.

Prior to his tenure at Texas A&M, Hill spent four seasons as an assistant coach at East Carolina University (1994-98) and two years as an assistant at Southeast Missouri State University (1992-94).  He starred at Wichita State as a player, helping the Shockers to a 20-10 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance as a senior in 1987-88.

Serving as OU's director of basketball operations is Mike Shepherd, another longtime Kruger associate.  Shepherd served in the same capacity the last seven years at UNLV after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois.  Prior to that, he was a scout under Kruger for the Atlanta Hawks, as well as an assistant coach under Kruger at both Illinois and Florida.  Shepherd also served as an assistant coach for the Tulsa women's team during the 1999-2000 season.