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16_MBB_Crane

Men's Basketball Evan House, Sports Information Assistant

Former EOU Men’s Basketball Standout Continues Professional Career

LA GRANDE, Ore – Former EOU basketball standout and Cascade College Conference (CCC) Defensive Player of the Year Michael Crane will be continuing his professional basketball career – this time in Spain.
 
Last season, the 6-foot-3 guard out of Glenns Ferry, Idaho, played professionally in Lebanon. Though he only played roughly half the season, Crane averaged 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.
 
Although his playing time was limited, Crane felt his time wasn't wasted.
 
"Lebanon was a great experience that got my foot in the door for my professional career," said Crane.
 
For the second time in two years, Crane finds himself not only in a new country, but a new continent as well. This time, Crane finds himself in Cazola, Spain, a small city in the province of Jaén. His new team, CB Cazorla, is coming off its best season in team history, where it reached the quarterfinals of the Spanish EBA league.
 
During his junior season as a Mountaineer, Crane helped the Blue and Gold to a 28-5 record, a conference championship, and a No. 1 NAIA ranking. EOU head men's basketball coach Isaac Williams said Crane was key to the team's success.
 
"Michael was the key to success of that team," said Williams. "As the starting shooting guard, Michael was asked to sacrifice his scoring to concentrate on defending the opposition's best player every night."
 
The former Mountie guard averaged 5.9 points, six rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game during his senior season at EOU.
 
With a new team, a new league, and a new country, Crane knows there may be some challenges.
 
"I face the same challenges that I had in Lebanon, being able to communicate to my teammates and coaches who don't speak English, along with adapting to the different rules in international basketball," said Crane. "Both challenges I've faced before so this go around the transition should be a lot smoother. "
 
Besides adapting to the new rules and communicating with teams and coaches, Crane doesn't feel he will face many other barriers in Spain.
 
"The fans are incredible, and the team takes great care of the players to make sure they're comfortable," said Crane. "I think the biggest thing is just staying focused but also enjoying myself knowing a lot of people don't get the opportunity to travel the world and play basketball."
 
Many involved with the Cazola organization saw Crane's potential to play a vital role in the team's success.
 
"Speaking with the president and coaching staff of Cazorla, I'll be a key player for this coming season," said Crane. "The team had a lot of success this last year and brought me on in order to make a deeper run into the playoffs and to build off of last year."
 
Although Williams only served as Crane's head coach for one season, he couldn't sing better praises.
 
"In almost 20 years of coaching basketball, I could not recommend a player more highly than Michael Crane," said Williams. "He is a champion."
 
Keeping the Mountie faithful updated on his career is important to Crane.
 
"It's important to me because EOU gave me so much while I was there," said Craine. "It's only right to show the school and the basketball program the success that I've gained from that, along with the lifelong friendships that I've created with coaches, players, faculty, and fans."
 
Despite being well over 5,000 miles from EOU, Crane still reflects on his time spent in La Grande.
 
"I reflect on my EOU career all the time," said Crane. "The friends, experiences, and memories I created – I can't ever replace that. EOU has a place in my heart. It kept my basketball dream alive. Isaac Williams took a chance on me when nobody else would, and now I'm playing professional basketball because of that."

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