Boys basketball preview 2023: Jayden Crutcher latest in long family line of skilled basketball players

If the name Crutcher sounds familiar to area basketball fans, it's no surprise. Nate Crutcher is listed among the top scorers in the history of Elyria West before it closed in 1996. His son Dorian Crutcher won the Mr. Basketball award in Lorain County in 2018 for Elyria Catholic and now it's junior Jayden Crutcher's turn at Elyria High. "That family puts in the time," Elyrias coach Brett Larrick said. "The success Nate had and Dorian had ... and now Jayden wants that same success." The youngest son of Nate and Carrie, the 6-foot-5 Crutcher is coming off a very solid sophomore season for the Pioneers and has his sights set on bigger and better things this year. Crutcher led the Pioneers in scoring a year ago with 438 points and a 17.5 average. "He's the reason I am where I am," said Crutcher when asked about his father's influence. "My brother and I played a lot of one-on-one, shot around, worked out together. We do a lot together. My parents have been there ever since my first basketball game. They have a special place in my heart." Crutcher has his sights on a D-I scholarship and he knows it'll take a lot of work to enhance his game. He was asked what he worked on during the offseason. "Really everything," he said. "I've been working on passing, dribbling — my hands are way better. I know I'll be dribbling the ball more to help the team. The rebounding I've been working on a lot to get a lot of boards and my mid-range game. I want to be longer on defense. That's been my main focus. It's all coming together." "He took a big jump this summer," Larrick said. "I thought we had some good meetings postseason. This is a group that he leads. He came in with a lot of them. A lot of them went to middle school together. They've all grown up together since little kids." Crutcher is 430 points away from becoming the 10th Elyria player to reach 1,000 career points. Lou Tumblin (2002-06) is the all-time career scoring champion for EHS with 1,419 points. "He's got to be the scorer," Larrick said. "He's a natural scorer and one of the better shooters around. Now we're asking him to do a lot, a little bit of everything. Hopefully him doing that will get some others to do that as well." Larrick has seen Crutcher develop from just a pure shooter to an all-around dependable player. As a freshman, Crutcher came back from a preseason broken hand to score 132 points in 15 games. He had 47 rebounds, three blocked shots and eight steals during his freshman season. Last year, those numbers improved. He had 89 rebounds, seven blocks and 28 steals. He also contributed 42 assists. Elyria graduated Ryan Walsh and Steven Furcron last year. Both were quality leaders — both by example and vocally. Both were top-notch students. Larrick also has to replace two-year starter Mateo Medina, who is forgoing his senior season to concentrate on track. Medina won the 200 meter at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championship in Eugene, Oregon. He's also done very well in the 100 and 400 meters leading to numerous D-I scholarship offers. "We have a lot coming back but we're missing a lot," Larrick said. "You take away Steven and Ryan — our leaders from last year — and Mateo, who would have been a three-year starter. We're happy for Mateo — we miss him, but we're happy for him. We've got some guys coming back who played some minutes. We only have one senior (Xavier Church) — good and bad, right? A lot of youth." Crutcher may not be the vocal leader that Walsh — last year's Mr. Basketball — was and he may not bring the burst of energy that Medina supplied, but Larrick feels he can lead by example. Last year, more than once, a thundering dunk from Crutcher enlivened the crowd and gave the Pioneers an instant boost of energy. "I remember getting that dunk against Amherst," Crutcher said with a smile. "You could feel the energy." In Crutcher's mind, there's no reason why Elyria can't be in the thick of the Southwestern Conference race this year. The Pioneers were 18-7 last year and finished third behind champion Avon Lake and runner-up North Ridgeville with a league record of 10-4. "For sure, I feel like we can win it this year," he said. "North Ridgeville, (Berea-Midpark) and Avon are the teams to beat. We're young. We only have one senior but we're looking forward to (the season). I think we're going to be good." Larrick has added 2016 Mr. Basketball Blake "Bo" Furcron to the staff to join an already veteran crew that includes former Wellington head coach Dan Gundert, Keenan Williams, Austin Pinkston and Dr. Jonathan Cooper. Joseph Hunt is back with the freshmen team. Larrick, of course, was himself a Mr. Basketball in 1993. "(Furcron) is doing some mentoring for our guys," Larrick said. "He's played for us and kind of been through the ringer, played in college and knows our expectations and how hard we have to work. He's a younger voice. He's a little closer to them and can explain to them what we're talking about. "We've got a great staff. Dan's back — second year — head coaching experience. Keenan has been with me since high school. It's awesome having him. Austin is a big drill guy, big work-out guy. We've given each coach different guys to focus on. When you have guys you can trust, that helps a ton. Coop obviously has been with me from the beginning, helping me keep everything organized." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.