EVANSTON, Ill. -- Drew Crawford used to be much more anonymous.
The son of NBA referee Danny Crawford remembers once attending a game in Charlotte. He sat in the stands next to a Bobcats fan who was riding his father throughout the first half.
Halftime arrived and the referee gave a high five to his son as he left the court. Suddenly, it dawned upon this Bobcats season-ticket holder just who was sitting next to him.
"He realized that was my dad, and he was feeling all sorry for me,'' said the son. "He apologized and he took me back to the VIP section and got me a soda and things like that. I even met the owner (Robert Johnson) of the team.''
If you're a basketball fan, you might just know now if you're sitting next to Drew Crawford. He's a leading candidate for Big Ten Freshman of the Year, averaging 11.3 points, including 13.7 in conference play, for Northwestern.
He's trying to help the Wildcats (16-7, 5-6 Big Ten) to their first NCAA appearance ever. After a slow start, which included just 12 points in his first three games, he had 22 in his fourth game against Liberty, and also this season has had 35 points against North Carolina A&T and 25 at Michigan.
He used to be that kid hanging around NBA locker rooms. But one day Drew just might be sharing a locker room with some of the players he has idolized.
NBA scouts aren't allowed to talk on the record about underclassmen. But scouts say privately the 6-foot-5, 195-pound swingman has the athleticism, size and shooting stroke to one day be a pro.
"He's not a one-and-done guy, that's for sure,'' said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. "There's so much he has to work on. He's talented, he's strong, and he can run and jump. But he's got to work on his dribbling. He's got to work on his finishing. But depending on how much works on it, he certainly is capable (of being an NBA player).''
Drew still has plenty of unfinished business at Northwestern. And his father, 56, a 25-year veteran regarded as one of the NBA's top officials, will try to catch as many games as he can.
Danny Crawford said he's seen nearly two-thirds of the Wildcats' games this season. He's never hard to find in the stands as he cheers on his son while dressed practically head to toe in Northwestern garb.
"Those were great Christmas gifts from my family,'' Drew, who played at Naperville Central High School in Chicago's western suburbs and was All-State as a senior, said about all the Northwestern clothes that were piled up under the tree.
For Sunday's home game against Indiana at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Danny Crawford donned a gray Wildcats hoodie and a purple Northwestern hat.
"I actually wear three hats when I'm at the basketball game. I wear the hat of a parent, the hat of a coach. ... The third hat is the referee. I'm always looking on with interest in seeing what the referees are doing."
- NBA ref Danny Crawford on watching son Drew playFiguratively speaking, that wasn't his only hat.
"I actually wear three hats when I'm at the basketball game,'' he said. "I wear the hat of a parent, the hat of a coach. I'm always sitting in the stands saying, 'Drew could do this or do that.' The third hat is the referee. I'm always looking on with interest in seeing what the referees are doing. When you wear three hats at a basketball game, I'm a nervous wreck.''
At Northwestern home games, dad sits halfway up the stands across from the visitor's bench, so his son and all the officials are out of earshot. It's a different story on the road, though, when he sits just a few rows behind the Northwestern bench.
"If I'm closer, I'll even get more involved,'' said Danny Crawford, explaining the only seats made available to Northwestern at road games are usually right behind the bench. "So actually I like to stay higher up.''
It's not that a college referee is going to hear an NBA referee yelling at him for a blown call. Instead, it sounds like an officiating clinic.
"It's more like constructive referee's advice,'' the son said of what his father provides. "He'll be yelling, 'Watch off ball.' He's the fan that's giving technical advice.''
But Danny Crawford won't hesitate to admit when he agrees with a call against Drew. After his son was whistled for an offensive foul in the first half of the 78-61 win over the Hoosiers, he demonstrated to a nearby fan with his shoulder just what Drew had done. Of course, it must be said that, of the five fouls that went against his son against Indiana, dad said three could have gone either way.
Eyes sometimes are rolled when those in the Crawford household are asked what it's like when the referee watches his son play. Claudia, Drew's mother, said for high school games she "never wanted to sit next to my husband'' because he's "so intense'' while always looking at "the spots that could be improved.''
The Crawfords have one other child in daughter Lia, a high school senior called by her mother Drew's "biggest fan.'' She learned long ago not to bother dad when he's watching his son play.
"You'd think he would talk to me,'' she said. "I try to start a conversation, but he's so focused during the game. He doesn't want people to talk to him.''
As for Drew, he admits to not being all ears when his father critiques his play during a game.
"He's yelling,'' Drew said. "I kind of tune him out during the game. I listen to what he says after the game, but during the game it's all about my coaches.''
Drew means no offense, saying "dad and I have always been real tight.'' He said his father, who played point guard at Northeastern Illinois University, provides valuable pointers on "the mental aspects of basketball.'' And who better to get that from than someone with one of the game's most pressure-packed jobs?
Danny Crawford said he's "very proud'' of how is son is doing and admits he's a bit surprised with what has transpired so quickly. He's now contemplating how long he wants to be an NBA referee, with the travel sometimes taking him away from Northwestern games.
"I hope potentially maybe not to be even refereeing before he graduates out of college. I'm thinking more and more my time is coming to where maybe next year or the year after I might not be working in the NBA,'' he said, later adding it would be much more likely walking after, rather than before, next season. "This is the stuff (watching Drew play) that you can't replace. So I want to be probably as much a part of it as I can. It's pretty tough to do when you're working a full schedule in the NBA.
"If I do that, my game plan is actually to work some college basketball because I still have some refereeing in me. But I want to see my son play, and I don't have any control over my schedule right now. So really it would be able to see Drew play and to still be a part of the game by still refereeing. ... You're an independent contractor (in college). Right now, the NBA owns me. They tell me where to go, when to go and how long to go.''
Unfortunately for Danny Crawford, whose brother Eugene Crawford is a Big Ten official who now can't work Northwestern games, he wasn't at Welsh-Ryan the afternoon of Dec. 13. His son shot 12-of-17 from the field, including 8-of-13 from three-point range against North Carolina A&T, to set a school freshman record with 35 points.
"People said he was unconscious,'' said the father. "But I didn't see it, and I know I can't replace that.''
At least dad was on hand Jan. 10 when Drew shot 7-of-9, including 4-of-5 on three-pointers, for 25 points Jan. 10 at Michigan. Once he got hot, he led the Wildcats back from a 17-point first-half deficit to a 68-62 victory.
"It was very special to see,'' he said. "It was pretty impressive.''
Three weeks later against Michigan, Drew was 4-of-5 on three-pointers and scored 17 points. It's no wonder Wolverines coach John Beilein has said he should be Big Ten Freshman of Year.
Learning From the Best
The mild-mannered Drew, who chose Northwestern over Oklahoma State, Wake Forest and DePaul, is actually a late bloomer. He wasn't regarded by many as a major-college prospect until he became more assertive and turned his game up a notch in the summer before his senior year at Naperville Central.
Perhaps some of those pointers finally sunk in that Drew has been getting over the years from basketball's greatest players. He's shot around with LeBron James, and received on-court advice from the likes of Michael Finley and Shawn Marion.
Drew grew up around the game, often attending Finals or All-Star games worked by his father. Living in the Chicago area, he loved going to Bulls games during Michael Jordan's heyday, but said it didn't really hit him until junior high the awesome responsibilities of his dad's job.
"I was just kind of going to the games before I realized the kind of pressure he has, and how big of a deal it was for him to be in that position,'' Drew said.
When Drew was 7, Danny Crawford, who has officiated at least one NBA Finals game each year since 1995, elected not to call Jordan for an offensive foul on Bryon Russell before hitting the jumper in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals that secured Chicago's sixth title. It was only later Drew said he realized, "If he called it, it would have altered basketball history.''
Drew still gets to Bulls games. He and the players have been known to banter.
"I told him that I never have had a good game when his dad is refereeing so I blame it on his dad,'' said Bulls forward Luol Deng. "I was just joking.''
The NBA player Drew always likes to see have a good game is James. His sister said her brother couldn't stop talking about the one time he shot around with James.
"He watches LeBron (often on television),'' said Danny Crawford. "If anything goes against LeBron, to (Drew) it's a bad call.''
Drew said he sometimes critiques his father's refereeing while watching his games. Hey, that's only fair considering all the scrutiny the kid gets.
Drew sometimes will claim his father missed a call. But Drew said dad then analyzes the call in depth, and the son admits "he's usually right.''
While on the court, the freshman rarely has been known to question a call. His father said he's "very respectful of referees,'' which was quite a contrast from Danny Crawford saying he regularly picked up technicals as a player.
Well, there was one time Drew let the officials get to him. He was playing a high school summer-league game before his sophomore year and became upset by a call. Drew hit a wall so hard in frustration he suffered a fracture in his right (shooting) hand.
"My dad said, 'Don't punch any more walls,''' Drew said. "He basically said, 'You learned your lesson.'''
His shooting hand is fine now. Drew is firing away at a 47.3-percent clip, including 37.9 on three-pointers.
But Drew doesn't seem to care much about statistics other than his team's won-loss record. While his dad said he would run out for the newspaper to read about one of his big games back in the 1970s, he expressed surprise when his son said he hadn't even bothered to read about his exploits at Michigan.
"A buddy of mine told me the perfect word is he's grounded,'' said the referee. "He's such a team-oriented guy. All that individual stuff and reading about himself, he's not interested in that.''
Actually, there is another statistic besides won-loss record that really matters to Drew. He had a 4.2 grade-point average in high school, and is said to be pulling down good grades at a tough academic school that has been dubbed the "Harvard of the Midwest.''
"He was just raised right,'' Carmody said. "He's a hard worker.''
Not surprisingly, there were plenty of rules in the ref's household. Academics always were stressed and Drew and Lia were limited to two half-hour TV shows a day.
Presumably, there were less restrictions when it came to watching basketball. Drew saw enough of his father's games that he knew at a young age he would much prefer to have his profession in basketball be as a player rather than a referee.
"I don't think I could do that. It's just so much pressure,'' said Drew, who has officiated some youth recreational games in Naperville and even finds the pressure in those to be a bit extreme.
With his father taking all the heat, Drew can sit back and relax when attending his games. But what does Drew think when fans are really getting on his dad?
"It's more funny to me,'' he said.
It turns out it didn't bother Drew at all when that fan in Charlotte was riding his father. But he still got a soda out of it.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson
The son of NBA referee Danny Crawford remembers once attending a game in Charlotte. He sat in the stands next to a Bobcats fan who was riding his father throughout the first half.
Halftime arrived and the referee gave a high five to his son as he left the court. Suddenly, it dawned upon this Bobcats season-ticket holder just who was sitting next to him.
"He realized that was my dad, and he was feeling all sorry for me,'' said the son. "He apologized and he took me back to the VIP section and got me a soda and things like that. I even met the owner (Robert Johnson) of the team.''
If you're a basketball fan, you might just know now if you're sitting next to Drew Crawford. He's a leading candidate for Big Ten Freshman of the Year, averaging 11.3 points, including 13.7 in conference play, for Northwestern.
He's trying to help the Wildcats (16-7, 5-6 Big Ten) to their first NCAA appearance ever. After a slow start, which included just 12 points in his first three games, he had 22 in his fourth game against Liberty, and also this season has had 35 points against North Carolina A&T and 25 at Michigan.
He used to be that kid hanging around NBA locker rooms. But one day Drew just might be sharing a locker room with some of the players he has idolized.
NBA scouts aren't allowed to talk on the record about underclassmen. But scouts say privately the 6-foot-5, 195-pound swingman has the athleticism, size and shooting stroke to one day be a pro.
"He's not a one-and-done guy, that's for sure,'' said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody. "There's so much he has to work on. He's talented, he's strong, and he can run and jump. But he's got to work on his dribbling. He's got to work on his finishing. But depending on how much works on it, he certainly is capable (of being an NBA player).''
Drew still has plenty of unfinished business at Northwestern. And his father, 56, a 25-year veteran regarded as one of the NBA's top officials, will try to catch as many games as he can.
Danny Crawford said he's seen nearly two-thirds of the Wildcats' games this season. He's never hard to find in the stands as he cheers on his son while dressed practically head to toe in Northwestern garb.
"Those were great Christmas gifts from my family,'' Drew, who played at Naperville Central High School in Chicago's western suburbs and was All-State as a senior, said about all the Northwestern clothes that were piled up under the tree.
For Sunday's home game against Indiana at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Danny Crawford donned a gray Wildcats hoodie and a purple Northwestern hat.
"I actually wear three hats when I'm at the basketball game. I wear the hat of a parent, the hat of a coach. ... The third hat is the referee. I'm always looking on with interest in seeing what the referees are doing."
- NBA ref Danny Crawford on watching son Drew playFiguratively speaking, that wasn't his only hat.
"I actually wear three hats when I'm at the basketball game,'' he said. "I wear the hat of a parent, the hat of a coach. I'm always sitting in the stands saying, 'Drew could do this or do that.' The third hat is the referee. I'm always looking on with interest in seeing what the referees are doing. When you wear three hats at a basketball game, I'm a nervous wreck.''
At Northwestern home games, dad sits halfway up the stands across from the visitor's bench, so his son and all the officials are out of earshot. It's a different story on the road, though, when he sits just a few rows behind the Northwestern bench.
"If I'm closer, I'll even get more involved,'' said Danny Crawford, explaining the only seats made available to Northwestern at road games are usually right behind the bench. "So actually I like to stay higher up.''
It's not that a college referee is going to hear an NBA referee yelling at him for a blown call. Instead, it sounds like an officiating clinic.
"It's more like constructive referee's advice,'' the son said of what his father provides. "He'll be yelling, 'Watch off ball.' He's the fan that's giving technical advice.''
But Danny Crawford won't hesitate to admit when he agrees with a call against Drew. After his son was whistled for an offensive foul in the first half of the 78-61 win over the Hoosiers, he demonstrated to a nearby fan with his shoulder just what Drew had done. Of course, it must be said that, of the five fouls that went against his son against Indiana, dad said three could have gone either way.
Eyes sometimes are rolled when those in the Crawford household are asked what it's like when the referee watches his son play. Claudia, Drew's mother, said for high school games she "never wanted to sit next to my husband'' because he's "so intense'' while always looking at "the spots that could be improved.''
The Crawfords have one other child in daughter Lia, a high school senior called by her mother Drew's "biggest fan.'' She learned long ago not to bother dad when he's watching his son play.
"You'd think he would talk to me,'' she said. "I try to start a conversation, but he's so focused during the game. He doesn't want people to talk to him.''
As for Drew, he admits to not being all ears when his father critiques his play during a game.
"He's yelling,'' Drew said. "I kind of tune him out during the game. I listen to what he says after the game, but during the game it's all about my coaches.''
Drew means no offense, saying "dad and I have always been real tight.'' He said his father, who played point guard at Northeastern Illinois University, provides valuable pointers on "the mental aspects of basketball.'' And who better to get that from than someone with one of the game's most pressure-packed jobs?
Danny Crawford said he's "very proud'' of how is son is doing and admits he's a bit surprised with what has transpired so quickly. He's now contemplating how long he wants to be an NBA referee, with the travel sometimes taking him away from Northwestern games."I hope potentially maybe not to be even refereeing before he graduates out of college. I'm thinking more and more my time is coming to where maybe next year or the year after I might not be working in the NBA,'' he said, later adding it would be much more likely walking after, rather than before, next season. "This is the stuff (watching Drew play) that you can't replace. So I want to be probably as much a part of it as I can. It's pretty tough to do when you're working a full schedule in the NBA.
"If I do that, my game plan is actually to work some college basketball because I still have some refereeing in me. But I want to see my son play, and I don't have any control over my schedule right now. So really it would be able to see Drew play and to still be a part of the game by still refereeing. ... You're an independent contractor (in college). Right now, the NBA owns me. They tell me where to go, when to go and how long to go.''
Unfortunately for Danny Crawford, whose brother Eugene Crawford is a Big Ten official who now can't work Northwestern games, he wasn't at Welsh-Ryan the afternoon of Dec. 13. His son shot 12-of-17 from the field, including 8-of-13 from three-point range against North Carolina A&T, to set a school freshman record with 35 points.
"People said he was unconscious,'' said the father. "But I didn't see it, and I know I can't replace that.''
At least dad was on hand Jan. 10 when Drew shot 7-of-9, including 4-of-5 on three-pointers, for 25 points Jan. 10 at Michigan. Once he got hot, he led the Wildcats back from a 17-point first-half deficit to a 68-62 victory.
"It was very special to see,'' he said. "It was pretty impressive.''
Three weeks later against Michigan, Drew was 4-of-5 on three-pointers and scored 17 points. It's no wonder Wolverines coach John Beilein has said he should be Big Ten Freshman of Year.
Learning From the Best
The mild-mannered Drew, who chose Northwestern over Oklahoma State, Wake Forest and DePaul, is actually a late bloomer. He wasn't regarded by many as a major-college prospect until he became more assertive and turned his game up a notch in the summer before his senior year at Naperville Central.
Perhaps some of those pointers finally sunk in that Drew has been getting over the years from basketball's greatest players. He's shot around with LeBron James, and received on-court advice from the likes of Michael Finley and Shawn Marion.
Drew grew up around the game, often attending Finals or All-Star games worked by his father. Living in the Chicago area, he loved going to Bulls games during Michael Jordan's heyday, but said it didn't really hit him until junior high the awesome responsibilities of his dad's job.
"I was just kind of going to the games before I realized the kind of pressure he has, and how big of a deal it was for him to be in that position,'' Drew said.
When Drew was 7, Danny Crawford, who has officiated at least one NBA Finals game each year since 1995, elected not to call Jordan for an offensive foul on Bryon Russell before hitting the jumper in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals that secured Chicago's sixth title. It was only later Drew said he realized, "If he called it, it would have altered basketball history.''
Drew still gets to Bulls games. He and the players have been known to banter.
"I told him that I never have had a good game when his dad is refereeing so I blame it on his dad,'' said Bulls forward Luol Deng. "I was just joking.''
The NBA player Drew always likes to see have a good game is James. His sister said her brother couldn't stop talking about the one time he shot around with James.
"He watches LeBron (often on television),'' said Danny Crawford. "If anything goes against LeBron, to (Drew) it's a bad call.''
Drew said he sometimes critiques his father's refereeing while watching his games. Hey, that's only fair considering all the scrutiny the kid gets.
Drew sometimes will claim his father missed a call. But Drew said dad then analyzes the call in depth, and the son admits "he's usually right.''
While on the court, the freshman rarely has been known to question a call. His father said he's "very respectful of referees,'' which was quite a contrast from Danny Crawford saying he regularly picked up technicals as a player.
Well, there was one time Drew let the officials get to him. He was playing a high school summer-league game before his sophomore year and became upset by a call. Drew hit a wall so hard in frustration he suffered a fracture in his right (shooting) hand.
"My dad said, 'Don't punch any more walls,''' Drew said. "He basically said, 'You learned your lesson.'''
His shooting hand is fine now. Drew is firing away at a 47.3-percent clip, including 37.9 on three-pointers.
But Drew doesn't seem to care much about statistics other than his team's won-loss record. While his dad said he would run out for the newspaper to read about one of his big games back in the 1970s, he expressed surprise when his son said he hadn't even bothered to read about his exploits at Michigan.
"A buddy of mine told me the perfect word is he's grounded,'' said the referee. "He's such a team-oriented guy. All that individual stuff and reading about himself, he's not interested in that.''
Actually, there is another statistic besides won-loss record that really matters to Drew. He had a 4.2 grade-point average in high school, and is said to be pulling down good grades at a tough academic school that has been dubbed the "Harvard of the Midwest.''
"He was just raised right,'' Carmody said. "He's a hard worker.''
Not surprisingly, there were plenty of rules in the ref's household. Academics always were stressed and Drew and Lia were limited to two half-hour TV shows a day.
Presumably, there were less restrictions when it came to watching basketball. Drew saw enough of his father's games that he knew at a young age he would much prefer to have his profession in basketball be as a player rather than a referee.
"I don't think I could do that. It's just so much pressure,'' said Drew, who has officiated some youth recreational games in Naperville and even finds the pressure in those to be a bit extreme.
With his father taking all the heat, Drew can sit back and relax when attending his games. But what does Drew think when fans are really getting on his dad?
"It's more funny to me,'' he said.
It turns out it didn't bother Drew at all when that fan in Charlotte was riding his father. But he still got a soda out of it.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson
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