Jeff Crouse was named in June 2010 as Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at The Rock and will enter his second season as the top aide to first-year head coach
Tanya Longo in 2011-12.
“I am very pleased to be adding a coach of Jeff's caliber who brings a wealth of experience to my staff,” Longo said. “He is a high character individual and will be a great resource and role model for the ladies in this program. He is a very welcome addition to our basketball family.”
In Crouse’s first season at Slippery Rock, SRU went 3-23 as six underclassmen and four newcomers joined just two returning upperclassmen who played more than 15 minutes a game in 2009-10 in learning a new system.
Crouse, a veteran of 30-plus seasons of coaching, had been out of the profession since 2008 before joining The Rock last season. But that hiatus has done little to temper his conviction and determination.
“I strongly believe my experience and skill is an ideal match for the Slippery Rock Women’s Basketball Program,” Crouse said. “I have a passion for helping student-athletes achieve their academic and athletic goals, as well as for teaching the game of basketball.
“My philosophy is that a second-to-none work ethic is essential in achieving excellence. Teams and individuals can make up for a lot of weaknesses if everyone is willing to work hard.”
As an assistant women’s coach at Idaho from 2004-2008, Crouse assisted in the formulation of the daily practice plan and recruitment of student-athletes and was responsible for the team’s budget, NCAA compliance, academic monitoring and travel operations.
While on the Idaho staff, he helped develop and coach six players who earned All-Big West Conference honors and three players who earned All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) honors.
The Rock “got a good man” when they hired Crouse, according to Mike Divilbiss, under whom Crouse served as assistant coach at Idaho.
“Jeff is a warm, friendly person who cares a lot about his family and those around him. That says a lot to me about someone as a person,” said Divilbiss, currently an assistant coach at Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay.
“As a coach, Jeff has a great knowledge of the game and what it takes to get kids to perform to the best of their ability,” Divilbiss continued. “He’s a great teacher. He does a great job evaluating talent and then using that knowledge to put players into a position to perform at the highest possible level. You don’t stay around as a coach for 35 years like he has if that’s not the case.”
Prior to joining the Idaho staff, Crouse served as Head Boys Basketball Coach at Alma (Wisc.) from 1986-2002 and as assistant boys coach at El Paso Franklin (Texas), Winona Senior (Minn.) and Wadena (Minn.) high schools.
He guided Alma to six Dairyland Conference championships, helped lead El Paso Franklin to two district and bi-district titles and assisted in a first-ever Big 9 Conference championship effort at Winona Senior.
As Alma’s head coach, he helped develop two all-state players, 10 first-team all-conference performers and seven players who finished their careers with 1,000 or more points.
While at Alma, Crouse was selected to coach the 1998 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association South All-Star Team.
Crouse owns three degrees from Winona State University in Minnesota, including two Bachelor of Science (social science, 1976 and elementary education, 1986) degrees and a Master of Arts degree in elementary administration (1992). He also earned a Reading Specialist certificate from St. Mary’s University (Texas) in 2010.
