Bio

Serving as a team leader on two incredibly successful Cowley College men’s basketball teams, former All-American Jack Crowder has been selected for induction into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame ceremonies will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2021.

A late bloomer, Crowder did not start playing organized basketball until his freshman season at Southeast High School in Wichita, KS. He went on to be named a two-time, First Team All-City League performer, a McDonald’s All-American, and the Class 6A Player of the Year.

He chose to sign with Cowley College in order to play for then head coach Steve Eck, who knew Crowder from Jack’s playing days in the AAU programs.

“I remember that he played so hard and you can’t pass up on those kind of kids,” Eck said.

Coming off the bench to average 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds as a freshman, Crowder flourished as a starter and team leader in his second year at Cowley. Crowder led the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division in scoring as a sophomore (20.6 points) and  averaged a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game as he helped the Tigers to a record of 29-5. He was named first-team all-conference and all-region and was an NJCAA honorable mention all-American.

“He was very coachable and took on a leadership role for us his sophomore season,” Eck said.

During his two years at the school, Crowder scored 1,026 points and led the Tigers to a record of 60-8 and two Jayhawk East titles.

“Jack was the main reason we did so well and the guys on the team really liked him,” Eck said.

Crowder said Coach Eck and the Impact Program at Cowley had a profound impact on him.

“The teachers really cared about me not just as an athlete,” Crowder said. “The Impact Program is what helped me excel and accomplish my goals while I was a student athlete there. There’s no better way to explain my experience as an athlete other than they were my two favorite years of basketball. If I would not have had the teachers and coaching staff I did, it wouldn’t have been the same. They prepared me for the future.”

Finishing as the eighth all-time leading scorer in Cowley College men’s basketball history at the end of his two years at the school, Crowder signed a letter of intent to continue his playing career at Southern Illinois University in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“I got a lot better with certain aspects of my game that I did not already excel in while at SIU,” Crowder said. “Our success was short-lived because the coaching staff were fighting for jobs at the time. Choosing the right college is extremely important for your future.”

He earned a degree in speech communication with a minor in radio broadcasting. After graduation he moved to Kansas City. He later relocated to Wichita in 2013 where he was employed for five years at a boys home mentoring kids who are less fortunate and mentally challenged. Today, Crowder owns a detail shop in Wichita. 

Coach Eck is looking forward to having his former player join the other greats in the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame.

“He put two years of hard work in at Cowley and is very deserving,” Eck said. “It is a great honor for Jack to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

Crowder looks back on his time at Cowley as the best two years of his life.

“This is such an honor and I never realized that the work I put in would be recognized at the hall of fame level,” Crowder said.