Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame
Michael D. Crnkovich, your early high school career gave exactly no indication as to what type of collegiate athlete you might become. Skinny and barely six feet tall, you suddenly grew six inches and put on 30 pounds as a senior, by which point Coach Mac Petty was thrilled to recruit you from Highland High School. But you were no stranger to Wabash, having watched big brother Nick play four years of football as a tight end and punter.
You found individual glory on the hardwood, becoming an absolutely dominant force in the paint, and by the time you graduated you were third in all-time scoring and had the second best single season scoring average. As a junior you gained weight and blossomed into the best big man in the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference. Twice that season you were named ICAC Player of the Week. You averaged 17.3 points and 7.9 rebounds to earn First Team All-Conference honors and Wabash MVP accolades. Your senior year was literally one for the record books.
Your 25.4 points-per-game scoring average was an ICAC record. Four times you won Player of the Week honors. You scored 30 or more points seven times, and poor Franklin was thrilled to see you graduate after a 44-point outing against the Grizzlies. In the first ICAC tournament, you were absolutely dominant, helping Wabash defeat regular-season champion DePauw in Greencastle, while scoring 95 points with 22 rebounds in three tournament games. Your season-long efforts were rewarded with Wabash and ICAC Most Valuable Player honors. Those honors alone make you worthy of the Hall of Fame; that you took Nick’s advice and played football for two years as well, is icing on the cake. As a tight end, you earned two letters as a tight end and long-snapper, and helped Wabash win back-to-back ICAC Football Championships in 1991 and 1992. Since graduation, you’ve never strayed far from sports, working in and around sports promotion, marketing and sales. And along the way, you’ve hooped it up with the likes of Michael Jordan, Scott Pippen, and Karl Malone.
For exceeding your potential and leading Wabash to fame in two sports, the National Association of Wabash Men is proud to induct you, Michael D. Crnkovich, in the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame.
