Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Thursday the hiring of Camryn Crocker as assistant coach. A former Ivy League player at Penn, Crocker brings a decade of coaching experience to the Fighting Illini staff, most recently as an assistant at Colgate.
“Camryn Crocker is a dynamic coach who will fit perfectly into the Illinois family,” Underwood said. “He has experience from coast to coast, growing up in California, playing in the Ivy League, working the prep school ranks in the Northeast, and having Division I experience at Stanford and Colgate; he has clearly achieved a lot in his young career. Camryn has an outstanding defensive mind, a great understanding on that side of the ball. He also is known as an elite on-court teacher. And his biggest strength is that he builds tremendous relationships and is a connector. He is very smart, someone who really understands the modern game, and will bring fresh and innovative ideas to our program.”
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to join the Fighting Illini family and continue to build on the momentum that has already been established here,” Crocker said. “I am excited to learn, grow, and make an impact at the highest level of college basketball and for a program as storied and successful as Illinois. “It is time to embark on a new challenge, and I look forward to building relationships with the players, coaches, recruits, and throughout the campus and community. I’m eager to get to work and help the individuals and group achieve its maximum potential.”
Crocker has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate under head coach Matt Langel. During Crocker’s tenure, the Raiders won back-to-back Patriot League championships in 2023 and 2024, earning automatic trips to the NCAA Tournament. Colgate set a school record with 26 wins during his first season and won 25 games in year two. The Raiders also had two Patriot League Players of the Year and five first-team All-Patriot League selections during his tenure.
Prior to Colgate, Crocker joined the college ranks at Stanford, serving three seasons as director of player development under then-head coach Jerod Haase. Stanford won 20 games and had the No. 7-ranked defense by kenpom during his first season in 2019-20. The Cardinal also produced four future NBA players from his time on staff.
Before Stanford, Crocker was an assistant coach for three years at Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), a prep school in Gill, Massachusetts. The program had a combined 93-18 record during his stint, advancing to three-straight New England AAA championships and twice appearing in the National Prep Championships in 2017 and 2018.
Crocker’s coaching career started in Los Angeles, as an assistant coach for one season at Verbum Dei High School. That is also when he began coaching in the Nike EYBL circuit, which he continued throughout his time at NMH.
Crocker played four years of college basketball at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as team captain during his senior season of 2014-15 and earned two degrees from Penn, a Bachelor of Arts in 2015 and a Master of Science in Education in 2018.
Crocker is a native of Cypress, California, and has a wife, Taylor.
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