His Story: Talent and Determination Keeps Dylan Crane’s Pro Basketball Drive Alive In TBL
How many times does a small school college guard try to make his hoop dream come true? For this Pensacola Christian College alum, it’s one more time.
Over the course of the 2023 season in The Basketball League, players, coaches, and Team Market Owners alike will take time to openly share their compelling stories and individual journeys from around the country and overseas to ultimately reach the TBL. In their own words. In their own way. Written only by them.
This is his turn.
This is Dylan Crane’s story.
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York, Pennsylvania – I had a basketball in my hand at the age of three. Since I was little, my desire was to play in the NBA. I never played AAU. I never had a trainer. I just constantly watched film and made it a goal to work harder than everyone else.
In high school at Temple Baptist School in Herndon, Virginia I averaged 36 points per game and had opportunities to play Division I basketball through several preferred walk-on positions, but with the push from my parents as they would help financially, I chose a cheaper route and played NAIA ball in Florida at Pensacola Christian College, where I averaged 12 points per game over three years after being redshirted my first year.
There have been people in most stages of my life who have not believed I could play professionally. I’ve been rejected hundreds of times. It’s been difficult to find someone willing to bet on a guy from a small school without many credentials.
After college I got my first opportunity to play professionally in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) with the Washington Warhawks, where I averaged 28 points per game. Following a successful season in the PBL, I ended up taking an opportunity with John Lucas and the Houston Rockets. While waiting on that experience to produce something greater, I started a training business called 24/7 Basketball. I’m so grateful to say that 24/7 Basketball became instantly successful and I was able up to train over 100 kids within two months.
That’s when I decided to make it my full time job and been training full time now for six years.
At 25 years old, I decided to step away from pursuing professional ball. I was hitting some roadblocks and decided to pursue playing golf because I love a challenge and to master a skill set. I hadn’t played golf before, but was able to claim pro status within two years. During that time, I was also training and becoming more athletic, and was starting to see new gains in my basketball skills. Through talking with some trusted people who had noticed this, I decided to re-pursue basketball. It’s my first love.
I remember going to workout with some of my pro and NBA clients, and after the workout I was encouraged and excited that I still had it, and maybe even better than before. That led me to wanting to attempt to play overseas first, and then take a shot at the NBA G-League, to finally reach the NBA. After hundreds of rejections I found an opportunity in the ECBL and did the best I could; I ended up averaging 11 points per game.
After the season, I connected with several NBA personnel, specifically with the Washington Wizards. The Wizards brought me in for two workouts and asked me to go overseas and create a little resume then come back. This journey has allowed me to make so many great connections and relationships. I went to summer league workouts and connect with countless General Managers and players. After hearing “no” more times than I could count, I went to every open NBA G League tryout I could make with my best effort. I tried out for the Salt Lake City Stars, Windy City Bulls, Sioux Falls Skyforce, and the Greensboro Swarm. I made the top ten players cut for the Sioux Falls workout but unfortunately didn’t get picked for the training camp roster.
After that G League experience, I immediately called every NBA agent I possibly could find before finding one person who helped get me going in the right direction — Kim Davis. From her connections, I was offered to travel to Australia to participate in a tour to play several NBL1 teams in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks to a successful tour (averaging 16 points per game), I received an offer from a Big V d2 basketball team, but furthermore declined it after not seeing how it could help take me to the G League. That’s what led me to begin calling local teams in The Basketball League, while waiting for more overseas offers to come through. It was then that I got a training camp invite from the York Mighty Ants, which later turned into a contract offer for this season.
Now I continue my journey for my wife and daughter, to inspire the next generation, and to continue to better myself everyday to one day play in the NBA G League.
My message: it’s incredible what can happen when you set your mind and heart on something.
If you see potential and are willing to work for it, go for it!
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Wendell Maxey is the author of Around The Basketball League and has written about professional basketball and sports for 20 years. He’s been featured on NBA.com, ESPN.com, USA Today, FOX Sports, and SLAM Magazine among other publications and media outlets. You can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn or read through his archive on Linktree.