Penn State Brandywine first-year Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ben Kay added two experienced coaches to his staff on Tuesday, naming Naim Crenshaw and Jesse Rappaport as assistant coaches.
Crenshaw brings an impressive coaching and playing resume to the program, spanning over two decades of experience on both the collegiate and professional levels.
Crenshaw began his basketball career at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia where he excelled as a two-time all-Public League and all-City selection. During his senior year in 1997, Crenshaw, ranked as one of the top-100 high school basketball players in the country and led the city of Philadelphia in scoring (26.3 ppg), while receiving McDonald’s All-America honorable mention and First Team All-State honors.
Following a standout high school career, Crenshaw signed with St Joseph’s University where he played for Head Coach Phil Martelli from 1998-2002. A double-figure scorer all four seasons with the Hawks, Crenshaw helped St. Joseph’s reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2000-2001, alongside future NBA stars Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, and was named Atlantic 10 Conference Sixth Man of the Year. Crenshaw scored 1,325 points during his career and is still known as one of the most prolific three-point threats in St. Joseph’s history.
Crenshaw earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Joseph’s in 2002.
After his collegiate career, Crenshaw participated in tryouts and workouts for several professional teams and played professionally overseas in Israel and Lebanon.
Crenshaw began his coaching career during the 2006-2007 season as an assistant boys basketball coach at Harriton High School.
A mentor to many young men in the community, Crenshaw believes his community service is his most important goal and ambition in life. He has served as a counselor for over 10 years at St. Gabriel Hall in Audubon, Pa. Throughout the years, Crenshaw has spoken at schools, community organizations, and basketball camps, using his connection between basketball and teaching of life-long goals and character traits as his platform.
Crenshaw is a native of Philadelphia and currently resides in the city with his wife, Kori, and their son, Naim II.
An experienced coach, Rappaport joins the Lions’ staff after 19 seasons on the high school level, the last 10 of which he spent as the head boys basketball coach at Harriton High School. Under Rappaport’s guidance, the Rams qualified for the PIAA playoffs eight times, including seven consecutive seasons, after taking over a program that had won three games in the season prior to his arrival.
During his second season, the Rams entered the Central League, and the 16th-seeded Rams reached the district semifinals before falling to district champion, Holy Ghost. After moving up in classification to AAAA in 2013, the Rams, the No. 25 seed, were able to reach the district quarterfinals, including a victory ranked as the “Philadelphia Inquirer Buzzer Beater of the Year.” The following year, the Rams were the top scoring team in the conference, reached the Central League semifinals, and upset perennial power Coatesville High School during another PIAA Cinderella run.
At Harriton, Rappaport cofounded the “Jesse Rappaport Running Rams Basketball Program”, that included clinics and camps in the Main Line area.
Rappaport served two seasons as general manager of the Philadelphia Force, a summer professional basketball team in the National Rookie League. Responsible for player personnel and the business operations, Rappaport lead the Force to back-to-back regular season championships.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Rappaport played two seasons of professional basketball for Hapoel Nahariya in Israel. While in Israel, he started the Jesse Rappaport All-Stars, a youth program that worked with the young people of Israel on and off the court.
Rappaport played four years of college basketball at NCAA Division III Hobart College in Geneva N.Y. In 1995, he was named the Ford-Butler Most Improved Player, and won the Shot of the Decade Award for his buzzer-beater against nationally-ranked RIT. In 1996, Rappaport was named a Statesmen Scholar as he owned the highest GPA among Hobart’s varsity athletes.
Rappaport play prep basketball at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn. He was the Truman Johnson Award winner for the 1992 league championship team.
