VIDEO: Mossy Creek Conversations Episode Featuring Collin Crane
ATHENS, Ga. – Carson-Newman men's basketball alum Collin Crane has been named director of athletic performance for the Georgia Bulldogs' men's basketball program.
"I am not surprised by Collin's achievements since graduating from C-N," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "He was different from day one his freshman year, and I was always confident that he would climb to the highest levels in whatever career he selected."
Crane has spent a decade in the collegiate strength world, which includes stints within the SEC at Mississippi State and Florida. During that period, Crane provided support to teams that averaged 22.8 wins per season. With Crane involved, teams earned postseason bids in seven of nine possible years and averaged 22.8 wins per season.
"CB is a prophet," Crane said. "I was a sophomore at C-N when I had just finished my first real strength and conditioning internship. I was sitting in his office when he told me that one day I was going to be the strength coach at, and then he took a long pause before emphatically saying Georgia. He was just trying to pick a big-name school and that's what he came up with. When I started this process with UGA, I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I had had to call him and remind him of that meeting we had in his office a decade ago. It meant the world to me at the time that at that point I was still a nobody, but CB saw me as the next strength coach at Georgia."
Crane has spent the past five seasons at Mississippi State, helping the Bulldogs earn postseason bids each year. MSU reached the NIT semifinals in 2018, secured a bid for the 2019 NCAA Tournament, finished as the NIT runner-up in 2021 and also appeared in the 2022 NIT.
During Crane's tenure, three Mississippi State players earned sports on NBA rosters during the 2021–22 season – Reggie Perry (Portland Trail Blazers), Quindry Weatherspoon (Golden State Warriors) and Robert Woodard II (San Antonio Spurs).
"I want to thank the University of Georgia administration and Coach White for the opportunity to be included in the men's basketball program," Crane said. "I think Coach White is one of the best leaders in all of college basketball. He has a great vision for the future, and I look forward to helping the program live up to its full potential. I am one of my student-athletes. I will work tirelessly to develop myself mentally and physically as we prepare to compete at the highest level."
Crane was one of the first strength coaches to partner with Mississippi State's Athlete Engineering Program. The multidisciplinary research collaboration between the university's academic and athletic departments explores human performance, processes, and analysis.
Since the initiative's launch, Crane has co-authored several peer-reviewed studies on a variety of topics that include force plate analysis and wearable technology in addition to basketball shoe design and evaluation.
Prior to his stint at Starkville, Crane spent two seasons in the same capacity at Chattanooga from 2015–17. The Mocs compiled 48 wins, including a 29–6 record in 2016, to capture the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
Crane worked with the men's basketball, tennis and golf programs at Missouri State in 2014–15 and also spent two seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in Florida from 2012–14. While in Gainesville, the Gators made runs to the 2013 Elite Eight and 2014 Final Four, and Crane organized NBA draft training arrangements for standouts such as Bradley Beal, Chandler Parsons, Eric Murphy, and Patrick Young.
As a senior, Crane helped Carson-Newman to a 20-8 record, the program's first 20-win campaign in a decade. After the season, Carson-Newman named the program's leadership honor the Colin Crane Leadership Award.
A firm believer in video, strength and diet analysis, Crane is a certified expert by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). In addition, he is fully trained and certified in the Biosignature Modulation Level I Program, an integrated system to track an athlete's body composition and nutritional needs.
Crane earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Carson-Newman in 2013 and a master's degree in food science, nutrition, and health promotion from Mississippi State in 2020.
