Crane joins Howland’s staff as strength coach
An opportunity to return to the Southeastern Conference was one Collin Crane couldn’t pass up, and on Monday the Knoxville native was selected Mississippi State’s new strength and conditioning coach for men’s basketball.
Crane, 26, joins Ben Howland’s staff after serving the previous two years in the same capacity at Chattanooga. He also served a two-year stint at Florida.
“I can absolutely say I am beyond grateful to coach Howland and the Mississippi State athletic department for this opportunity,” Crane said. “I have tremendous respect for coach Howland, and I strongly believe in his vision for the basketball program. I’m looking forward to the task of helping to build a program that will win on a high level.”
Before joining the Mocs’ program, Crane served as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Missouri State, working with men’s basketball, tennis and golf. Prior to that stop, he was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida.
The Gators posted a 65-11 ledger while he was there, going to the Elite Eight in 2013 and the Final Four the following year. He worked with standouts such as Bradley Beal, Chandler Parsons, Eric Murphy and Patric Young.
“I feel like my time at Florida really prepared me for this level,” he said. “We won at such a high level, and I’m so grateful for my opportunity in Gainesville.”
He is a certified specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and also has professional CPR and first aid certification. In addition, he is also fully trained and certified in the Biosignature Modulation Level I program, an integrated system to track an athlete’s body composition and nutritional needs.
“I’m very, very excited about Collin joining our program,” Howland said. “He’ll be a tremendous asset for our players and our program. He has an excellent background in strength performance training, and the fact he played basketball in college for four years is a plus. It helps when you’ve done it yourself from a strength and conditioning standpoint. He’s very bright and high energy. I’ve talked to many people and they all speak very highly of him. I know he and he is wife (Courtney) are excited about coming to Starkville and being a part of this community. The university community and the Starkville community will really enjoy them.”
Crane played collegiately at Carson-Newman (2010-13) where he was a four-year starter and three-time caption en route to earning a degree in Exercise Science. Upon graduation, the university announced the Collin Crane Leadership Award in his honor.
A standout student-athlete at Karns High School, Crane played both basketball and track and was a two-time all-district performer and team MVP for the Beavers. Sports is definitely a family trait, as his father, Keith, and brother, Cameron, both played at lettered at Maryville (Tenn.) College.