Drew Crawford
Andrew Crawford | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 18, 1990 United States |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Known for | Basketball career in college and international leagues |
Andrew Eugene Crawford (born October 18, 1990) is a professional American basketball athlete currently competing for Maccabi Ramat Gan in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played collegiate basketball with the Northwestern Wildcats. During his college career, Crawford was honored as the 2009–10 Big Ten Freshman of the Year by media outlets, achieved Academic All-American status twice, and was selected for the third-team All-Big Ten. In 2014, he received third-team All-Big Ten recognition from media and an honorable mention from coaches. Crawford was awarded the Italian League MVP title in 2019 after steering Vanoli Cremona to the Italian League Semifinals.
Early life
Born on October 18, 1990, Crawford is the son of Claudia and National Basketball Association official Dan Crawford, who is of Lithuanian heritage.
By the time he reached sixth grade, Crawford dedicated himself solely to basketball. Throughout high school, he secured a starting position by his sophomore year and earned DuPage Valley Conference Player of the Year honors consecutively as a junior and senior. Growing up with an NBA referee father provided him early access to high-level basketball experiences, including practice sessions with LeBron James before his professional debut and early interactions with Reggie Miller. Nationally, scouting services ranked him as the 40th best shooting guard by Scout.com and 72nd by ESPN.com in the class of 2009. Academically, he maintained an A+ average throughout high school.
College career
On December 13, 2009, Crawford tallied 35 points against North Carolina A&T, which led to his recognition as Big Ten Conference player of the week the following day. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by media on March 9, 2010, also earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors and unanimous All-Freshman team selection. His freshman season concluded with double-double performances in postseason contests against Purdue and Rhode Island.
On February 3, 2011, Crawford was listed among forty Academic All-District honorees and became a finalist for the Academic All-American team. He notched his third career double-double during the 2011 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament on March 11.
Crawford secured Big Ten player of the week honors on November 21, 2011, and scored 34 points in a December 22 game against Creighton. On February 23, 2012, he was named to the Academic All-American second team and earned third-team All-Big Ten distinctions from both coaches and media.
During his senior year, he was a preseason candidate for the men's basketball Senior CLASS Award but was sidelined for the rest of the season following labrum surgery announced on December 14, 2012.
After returning as a redshirt senior for the 2013–14 season, Crawford began as the active career scoring leader in the Big Ten. He started strong with a double-double versus Eastern Illinois and scored 30 points to lead Northwestern over #14-ranked Wisconsin on January 29. On January 31, he received Academic All-District recognition again and was named Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Week on February 3. The next day brought him the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week award. On February 20, Crawford earned first-team Academic All-America honors.
By Senior day on March 6, he held Northwestern records for both games played and games started. His postseason accolades included third-team All-Big Ten by media, honorable mention by coaches, selection to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I All-District 7 second team, and his fourth Academic All-Big Ten honor in 2014.
Professional career
After not being selected in the 2014 NBA draft, Crawford participated with the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2014 NBA Summer League. He secured a contract with the Orlando Magic on September 29, 2014, but was released on October 25. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Erie BayHawks, an affiliate team in the NBA Development League, making an impressive debut by scoring 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
In July 2015, Crawford once again took part in the Orlando Magic's squad for the 2015 NBA Summer League. By August 7, 2015, he had signed with Bnei Herzliya competing in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Although he briefly committed to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association in June 2016, he opted to withdraw to explore further NBA opportunities.
Crawford joined the Toronto Raptors for the 2016 NBA Summer League in July 2016 and later signed with them in August; however, after participating in seven preseason games, he was waived in October. The following month, he inked a deal with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg competing in Germany's Bundesliga.
On August 7, 2017, Crawford agreed to a one-year contract with Israeli club Maccabi Rishon LeZion. During November that year, he demonstrated his scoring prowess by recording a season-best 32 points.
Crawford moved to Italy on July 27, 2018, signing with Vanoli Cremona for the 2018–19 season. He achieved a personal playoff scoring record of 33 points and played a pivotal role in guiding Cremona to the Italian League Semifinals, averaging 17.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists over 34 contests. His outstanding contributions earned him the prestigious Italian League MVP distinction in May 2019.
On July 20, 2019, Crawford entered into a one-year agreement with Gaziantep of the Turkish Basketball Super League, where he averaged 12.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists across 29 appearances.
In January 2020, he returned to Italy to join Olimpia Milano for the remainder of the EuroLeague season.
Crawford committed to a two-year deal with Basket Brescia Leonessa of Italy's top-tier league (Lega Basket Serie A) on July 5, 2020.
On July 19, 2021, he transitioned to Spain's premier competition (Liga ACB) by signing with MoraBanc Andorra.
He made his way back to Italy on August 29, 2022, signing with Dolomiti Energia Trento competing in the LBA.
Most recently, on August 13, 2023, Crawford joined Israeli side Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.