Cliff Crandall- Basketball

Cliff Crandall was a two-time All-American at Oregon State and led the Beavers to the NCAA Tournament West Region Final in 1949.

Crandall grew up in Astoria, where he helped the Fishermen, coached by former Oregon State standout Wally Palmberg, reach the semifinals of the state tournament 1943, and was voted All-Tournament first team.

At Oregon State, he helped develop the concept of a small forward and was the first player to score 30 points in a game. He eventually set a school record for scoring with 1,250 points. In four seasons, Crandall missed just one of 127 games, establishing a program for games played that wasn’t surpassed until 2010.

The Beavers beat UCLA in a best-of three series in 1947 to win the Pacific Coast Conference title and reach the eight-team NCAA Tournament for the first time. They lost to No. 1 Oklahoma. Two years later, the Beavers won a tournament game for the first time to reach the regional final where they lost to Oklahoma A&M in what would now be the Final Four. That team played a consolation game, a loss to Illinois, which had lost the East Region final to Kentucky.

Crandall was named All-American in 1948 and ’49. He was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers, but did not play professionally.

Crandall was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.