Editor's note: Undeniable — The Oklahoman’s four-part series examining the lack of Black coaches in men’s college basketball — concludes with Part 4 on the path and struggles of Black assistant coaches to become head coaches.
Chris Crutchfield saw no other option but a leap of faith last summer.
For a quarter of a century, he bounced from program to program as an assistant coach at various levels, recruiting future pros and coaching in the Final Four. He even interviewed for open Division I jobs at least a dozen times the past decade, only to be turned away.