Crisp clawing his way to becoming a Bulldog
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (BVM) — The world of junior college basketball is a bitter fight. There are Division I talents who never made it because of poor grades, trying to work on their academics. There are slept on high school recruits, taking a chance on themselves, trying to show that they belong. There are players who fell from the Division I graces, now with a chip on their shoulder. All of these different demographics are working hard to make it out, but only the best advance.
Only some will ever get to make it to the next stage, and with everyone pushing for the same thing, it takes exceeding amounts of sacrifice, hard work and determination. Preston Crisp of East Georgia State College is one of the fortunate, as he has recently committed to play basketball at South Carolina State University.
Out of high school, Crisp had an abundance of offers from DII, DIII and NAIA schools, but he sought more for himself. East Georgia State offered him the chance to develop his game and earn the opportunity he was seeking. He quickly learned that everyone else there had the same goals, though, and amped his gym habits up to the next level.
“At first when I got to East Georgia, there were some doubts,” Crisp said. “I’m confident in my ability but you see another man playing the same position as you doing the same things you can do, you’re not used to that. For me, I looked at it as ‘OK, I’m going to outwork you.’ At the end of the day they are all my brothers, but I’m trying to go to the next level, trying to make sure I can take care of my family one day.”
In his sophomore season, the hard work paid off as the 6-foot-5 guard went on to average 15.8 points and 5.2 rebounds. From long range, Crisp proved to be one of the most lethal in the country, shooting 42.8 percent. Heads got to turning and eventually, Crisp found SC State to be the best fit.
“I chose SC State because of the background of Coach Madlock,” Crisp said. “He puts his players in positions to go to the next level after this. He has a great background and previous experience with high-major D1 programs and he coached under Penny Hardaway, so it was a no-brainer for me.”
The aforementioned Tony Madlock has 25 years of college coaching experience with stints at UTEP, Arkansas State, Ole Miss and most recently his alma mater, Memphis. When at Memphis, Madlock played alongside Penny Hardaway, helping lead the Tigers to the Elite 8. His basketball knowledge is plentiful, and that’s something Crisp values.
But Crisp also knows he’ll have an immediate role upon joining the Bulldogs. Madlock has told Crisp he is “automatically the best shooter on the team” and Crisp doesn’t doubt it for a second. All of those long days and nights in the JUCO gym have led to this moment.
“I’m not going to sell myself short, the sky’s the limit with me,” Crisp said. “Everybody in the world needs shooting and I feel like I can shoot with the best of them … I feel like I can do anything on that court that coach asks me to do.”
Despite being underrecruited in high school, or facing adversity in the form of talented teammates, Crisp rightfully earned what he came for: that highly-coveted DI scholarship that so many others dream of. It didn’t happen by accident, but by persistence.
“I know my journey is different and it’s still going to be different from everybody else,” Crisp said. “But I know it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
