By Liam Reilly
@liampreilly852
Just months into his freshman season at Rainier Beach High School (Wash.), JJ Crawford has already received 12 Division I offers, all of them before Crawford played an official game of high school basketball. The hype is legit, as Crawford can shoot the ball efficiently from any spot on the court. Crawford got his first D-I offer from the University of Montana.
“University of Montana gave me my first offer a couple weeks into seventh grade,” Crawford said. “I was just super excited.”
Crawford developed passion for basketball early on, having been surrounded by the sport since he was born. Crawford’s dad, Jamal Crawford, is a former NBA player who was in the league for 20 years and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year three times in his career. When Jamal was with the Los Angeles Clippers Crawford made the most of it, learning and watching from Jamal’s teammates alongside Chris Paul’s son, Chris Paul II.
Jamal has taken his basketball knowledge to the booth as a lead game analyst for NBC Sports. When not on the mic, Jamal helps out his alma mater Rainier Beach as an assistant coach. Rainier Beach is the reigning champion of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and has won nine state titles under Mike Bethea, who thinks Crawford and this year’s squad could be amongst the best he coached, partially due to their addition of ESPN Class of 2026 No.1 ranked recruit Tyran Stokes.
The Vikings backed up Bethea’s statement at the Panini Hoophall Classic in a 91-85 overtime win over Bishop McNamara. All eyes were on Stokes, but Crawford shined as well on the big stage. The freshman finished with 32 points and showcased his elite shooting, making 65 percent of his shots from the field and 46 percent from three. Crawford attributed his development to Rainier Beach.
“The culture is really good,” Crawford said. “They get me better every day, playing with Tyran Stokes, leading me through the whole path of how to get better and be a great player.”
Electrifying play on national stages will start to reign in more offers for Crawford. Although years away from playing on the collegiate stage, Crawford was most recently offered by the University of Michigan. Jamal once donned the Wolverines’ maize and blue, and shared his excitement on the X app.
“It would be really cool,” Jamal said. “Coach [Dusty] May is doing an unbelievable job. I posted that life’s a trip. When I was in eighth grade I was recruiting Michigan. They didn’t know who I was and I said, ‘I’m gonna go to Michigan.’ I had the opportunity to and for them to offer him is just a blessing.”
Rainier Beach isn’t the only time Crawford has been coached by his father, as he played under him at the Nike EYBL grassroots circuit for the Northwest Rotary Rebels. The most important value Jamal has instilled into Crawford through his coaching is passion.
“To keep his love for the game, and he does,” Jamal said. “He’s obsessed with the game. If you love it like that, it’ll always guide you where you need to go. You always do the ice bath, you always do the massage, you always do the film work and you always go overdrive.”
Crawford’s basketball passion started earlier than others, as he’s been watching films since he was seven years old. Even during games where Crawford didn’t play, the 6’4” combo guard turned his struggles into progress. Being able to see his son embark on his basketball journey has been amazing to see for Jamal, not only as a former NBA player, but as a dad.
“I saw the frustration that led him to the gym,” Jamal said. “Seeing the progression, it’s just a long game and he and I have always played the long game. There’s nothing right now that matters. This is autonomously all extra, you see the work but the long game is what I’m thinking about.”
When it comes to who’d win in a one-on-one game, the statement ‘like father, like son’ couldn’t be any more applicable.
“Don’t ask me that cause you know what I’m going to say and don’t ask him that cause you know what he’s going to say,” Jamal said. “But my days may be numbered so we’ll see.”
Photo Courtesy of Conor Rourke/Springfield Student