Jackie Crawford was a two-year starter for the Indian Hills basketball team when the program was just starting to gain national attention. His freshman season he averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game for a team that finished with 26 wins, by far the most in program history to that point. The next year Crawford led the Warriors in scoring with his 19.3 average and also contributed 8.5 assists and 2.6 steals while being named a second-team All-American, the second IHCC player ever to earn All-American honors. Crawford then had two successful seasons at Southwest Missouri State where he led the team in scoring, assists and free throw percentage as a junior on an NCAA tournament team, and was first in assists and free throw percentage his senior season when they played in the NIT. He averaged 11.9 points in 57 games at SMSU.