Head coach Tim Craft has firmly established himself as one of the Big South Conference’s premier basketball minds, winning 171 games through 10 seasons and leading the program to its first NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in 2018-2019. He enters his eleventh season at the helm in 2023-2024.
Craft, 45, became just the fourth head coach in Big South Conference history to win at least 15 games in each of his first four seasons, joining Ron Bradley (Radford), Gregg Marshall (Winthrop) and Nick McDevitt (UNC Asheville) in that exclusive club. On February 2, 2022, he also became the eighth Big South coach and third-ever Gardner-Webb coach to reach 150 wins with a 65-57 road win at High Point.
Gardner-Webb has continued its tradition of slaying college basketball giants under Craft’s guidance. The Runnin’ Bulldogs knocked off Clemson and Purdue during the 2014-2015 season, then took down Nebraska on December 18, 2016. Purdue went on to finish third in the Big Ten in 2015 and Nebraska started out 3-0 in the Big Ten with several notable wins.
Craft also directed wins at Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in December 2018 to give him more Power 5 wins than any Gardner-Webb coach before him. Gardner-Webb went on to finish a strong season with a Division I-record 23 wins in 2018-2019, tying for third during the Big South regular season before capturing the league’s tournament title.On December 29, 2021, Craft’s squad added another Power 5 program, this time an SEC opponent as the Runnin’ Bulldogs cruised to a dominant 77-60 win over Georgia on the road in Athens.
Craft led the Runnin’ Bulldogs to an overall record of 18-15 in his first season at the helm, guiding Gardner-Webb to a 10-6 mark in the Big South Conference, which placed the Runnin’ Bulldogs two games out of a tie with regular season champion High Point. The ‘Dogs were involved in the longest NCAA Division I game of the season on February 5 that season, falling to VMI, 108-104, in a four-overtime marathon in Paul Porter Arena. GWU would close out the regular season in fine form, winning five of their last seven to earn the fifth seed in the Big South Tournament. For his efforts, Craft became the first coach in program history to be named one of the 10 finalists for the Joe B. Hall Award, given to the top first-year head coach in the nation. Sophomore Jerome Hill earned all-conference honors during the 2013-2014 season, as he was named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team. Rookie Tyrell Nelson was recognized on the Big South All-Freshman team and senior Mike Byron garnered the program’s second-ever Scholar Athlete of the Year honors. Hill also earned a spot on the Big South All- Tournament team.
Craft and the Runnin’ Bulldogs continued their climb during the 2014-2015 campaign, posting the program’s second 20-win season in three years and finishing with a 10-8 record in Big South play. The squad would advance to the semifinal round of the Big South Tournament as the seventh seed, upsetting second-seeded High Point, 72-71, in overtime in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual tournament champion Coastal Carolina. Gardner-Webb made its second appearance in a Division I postseason tournament several days later, accepting a bid to the Collegiate Basketball Invitational and taking on the University of Colorado in the first round.
Three Runnin’ Bulldogs earned postseason honors in 2014-2015, as Hill earned a spot on the Big South All-Conference First Team and senior Tyler Strange was named to the Second Team. Nelson was selected to the Big South All-Academic Team, while both he and Hill were named to the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association’s University Division All-State Team.
The 2015-2016 season saw Gardner-Webb post its third-straight winning record under Craft’s guidance – the fourth season in a row overall finishing above the .500 mark. GWU won 17 games and advanced to the Big South Conference semifinals once again.
Nelson was named second-team All-Big South Conference and followed that selection up with a spectacular showing in three league tournament games. He also earned a spot on the Big South’s All-Academic Team for the second year in a row.
Gardner-Webb won 19 games in 2016-2017 and nearly clipped eventual champion and No. 1 seed Winthrop in the league semifinals – losing in overtime on the Eagles’ home court.
During the 2020-2021 season affected by COVID-19, Gardner-Webb played only six non-conference games but still finished with over 10 wins at 11-15 overall. The Runnin’ Bulldogs then bounced back with a strong 2021-2022, posting an 18-13 record while going 11-5 in conference action, tied for their best all-time record in Big South play and good enough for the third seed in the league tournament. The ‘Dogs went on to beat Campbell in a thrilling quarterfinal, 54-53, to advance to the semifinals against Winthrop, which resulted in a 76-67 victory for the Eagles.
Craft has been a part of major success in Boiling Springs before. His first season on the bench in Paul Porter Arena saw Gardner-Webb win its first Division I team title, bolting to the top of the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2004-2005 to win the league’s regular season crown. The Runnin’ Bulldogs advanced to the A-Sun title game in the postseason and finished with an 18-12 record. Gardner-Webb followed that effort with 17 wins in 2005-2006.
Craft earned his Bachelor of Arts in history with a minor in secondary education from the University of Florida in 2000. Craft and his wife, Jessica, have four children – Lola, Macy, Bennett and Christian.
