Former Ankeny Centennial basketball standout Jaron Crews has found a new home.
Crews, a guard, announced on Friday that he has committed to play for Ashland University, an NCAA Division II program. The school is located in Ashland, Ohio, which sits about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.
“I built a good relationship with the coaching staff and the team,” said Crews, who spent last season at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls. “The community is very invested and comes to support sports. They’re able to surround me with a lot of pieces to be successful. Their style of play matches mine, and they’d set me loose as far as what I like to do on offense and defense. All of those (things) matched with their academics, facilities, and culture they’ve built made my decision a lot easier.”
Crews was a two-time Class 4A all-state second-team pick at Centennial. As a senior in the 2020-21 season, he averaged a team-high 15.9 points and 5.3 assists per game while leading the Jaguars to a 14-5 record.
Crews then delayed the start of his collegiate career by spending a year at Don Bosco Prep in Crown Point, Ind. He then played one season at DMACC (Boone) before transferring to Ellsworth.
Crews started 33 of the 34 games last season. He averaged 12.1 points and 4.3 assists per game.
Crews said he talked regularly with about 10-15 Division I schools and 10 D II programs throughout the season.
“It’s been a super long process,” he said. “I originally planned to commit to Drexel University. I went there, had a great visit and got to play with the team and everything was leaning toward them, but things just didn’t work out for me. Then I took visits to SIU-Edwardsville, Bemidji State and then Ashland. I then had a visit to St. Peters lined up next. But as soon as I left Ashland, I kind of already knew that was the place for me and decided to be done with the recruiting process.”
The Eagles posted a 17-11 record last season, including an 11-9 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.