Keegan Crawford joins United as Lead Assistant, Head of Player Development

Melbourne United is excited to announce that Keegan Crawford is set to join the club as Lead Assistant Coach and Head of Player Development & Basketball Innovation.

Crawford joins United after eight seasons in the Perth Wildcats program, where he started as a video intern before working his way up to Assistant Coach and Head of the Wildcats Academy.

Outside the NBL, Crawford has held positions as an assistant with the Perth Lynx, Australian U-19 Women’s program, and Under-18 WA Metro Men, as well as acting as Head Coach of the Under-18 WA Metro Women in 2021 and Rockingham Flames from 2019-2021.

Set for this next step in his coaching journey, Crawford touched on his elation to be working alongside Jacob Chance, David Barlow, Rhys Carter and the rest of United’s coaching staff.

“I'm super excited to be over with Melbourne United this year,” Crawford said.

“I've admired the program from afar, from coaching against them the last number of years, so I’m really excited to get an opportunity to continue to grow as a coach and be in a new environment, build new relationships, and work with a super professional coaching staff that already exists, led by Jacob, who I've had a really close relationship with for a while. 


“When he kind of spoke to me about this opportunity, he's a guy that I trust and I think he's a fantastic coach and really excited to work with him again.”

Having developed a relationship during their time together with the Wildcats, Chance said he believes Crawford is a tremendous addition to United’s staff.

“To bring in someone of his level is huge for us as a club,” Chance explained.

“I think he's at the forefront of player development and innovation across the country, and when you combine that with his work ethic and his day-to-day approach, he’s going to be a massive asset to our program and in particular our players. 


“I think they're going to reap the benefits of a really sharp, driven young Head Coach in the making, and I think the combination of him, Rhys and DB puts us in a fantastic spot to go and support our players in the best way possible.

Crawford has joined United for the start of the club’s pre-season this week, working as the team prepares for their first pre-season game against B.LEAGUE UNITED this Sunday at 2pm.

The game will be streamed live via Facebook and YouTube.