Snow College men’s basketball head coach Andrew May has announced the retaining of assistant coach Ben Cruickshank.
“Having interacted with Ben the last few years as I recruited Snow players, his passion for coaching and his belief in the special nature of Snow College was obvious,” May said, “His experience in assisting Snow College to unprecedented heights, as well as his thoughtful, humble, and hardworking approach has helped him develop as a coach and has greatly impacted our players and our community. I am excited to have him back on our team!”
Cruickshank is entering his sixth season as an assistant coach at Snow College. In his first five seasons at Snow, he has helped lead the men’s team to a 100-56 record including a 26-7 season in 2019 that culminated in a SWAC Championship and a Region 18 Championship and 26-8 season in 2022 that culminated in an at-large berth to the NJCAA D1 national tournament and a run to the sweet 16.
Cruickshank has also helped place 22 former players at either NCAA division I or division II schools.
“I am very excited to be staying at Snow College,” Cruickshank said. “It’s an incredible place! I know Coach May has a vision for the program that will continue to take the program to new heights!”
A native of Nebraska, Cruickshank has had several college coaching stops before arriving at Snow. He spent one year at Doane University where he helped lead the team to a 21-win season.
After Doane, Cruickshank moved on to Peru State College. In his three years there, the team won 56 percent of their games, including a 22-11 season that resulted in a conference championship and a trip to the 2016 NAIA Division-I National Tournament.
Prior to coaching, Cruickshank played two seasons at Southeast Community College where he helped lead the team to the 2008 NJCAA National Tournament. After SCC, he transferred to the University of Mary an NCAA D-II school in the Northern Sun Conference where he helped lead the Marauders to a 5th place finish in the NSIC and a postseason berth.
Cruickshank earned his bachelor degree in Liberal Arts from Doane University in 2014 and his master degree in Organization Management from Peru State College in 2018.
