The making of ‘‘Crutchfield: A Basketball Documentary’’

By Bella Giaquinto •

Benjamin Jennette, an NSU alumnus, turned his short film independent study project into “Crutchfield: A Basketball Documentary,” highlighting the mind behind NSU’s men’s basketball team’s first national title in 2023.

“It has been by far the most challenging project I have ever tackled,” Jennette said. “It gave me a new perspective on my own capabilities and creative stamina.”

Graduating from NSU with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and minor in digital media production in May 2024, Jennette dedicated his last semester to learning the story of men’s basketball coach Jim Crutchfield, who orchestrated the Sharks improbable 36-0 National Championship victory.

“For my last semester, one of the required courses for my minor was a +new short film independent study course with Alex Bordino and I thought, what better story to tell then the championship that happened last year with the basketball team,” Jennette said.

Jennette produced the film within five months, spending more than 100 hours editing.

“I had a little bit of help with the cameras during the interviews but all of the planning, production, and editing were just me,” Jennette said. “The number of hours put into it, especially in the editing process, was super challenging but also very rewarding.”

While Jennette gained valuable editing and film production skills, he found the most joy in connecting with Crutchfield, fellow coaches and student-athletes.

“The most enjoyable part was the interviews,” Jennette said. “After every interview it was really nice to know that I got such great responses from everybody. Crutchfield’s super cool to talk to, really all the coaches and players are.”

Jennette started the project in January 2024. He was committed to releasing the documentary when he graduated in May. Jennette just made his deadline, airing it on his YouTube channel on May 2. Within two weeks of posting, the documentary gained more than 3,000 views.

“Seeing it come together during that last month was really cool,” Jennette said. “If I had the opportunity to do another project like this, I would definitely jump on it, hopefully with a crew next time.”

After only a few weeks of premiering the documentary, Jennette has received positive feedback.

“It was awesome,” said Mike Chalas, former director of player development for the basketball team. “It took me back to those moments that were described and gave me more of an appreciation of being a part of such a unique team,” Chalas said.

Crutchfield said the documentary showed him a side of the players that he never saw before.

“There’s a video of RJ Sunahara and Kobe Rodgers as they walked the whole way onto the court with their arms around each other during the national championship game,” Crutchfield said. “I didn’t see that because I was still in the locker room, but it shows the guys as a team, in brotherhood, doing things together and it touched me a little bit so that was my favorite part.”

Jennette said that he is grateful to those who helped with his film.

“I owe a huge thanks to Jon Leatherman, Joe Hausman and Professor Alex Bordino for the filming equipment, archive NSU basketball footage and photos, and access to Crutchfield and the assistant coaches for interviews,” Jennette said. “I also would love to thank everyone who shared the documentary once it was released. Without them, it would never have received the exposure that it has, and hopefully it’s not over yet.”