JCSU’s Quavaris Crouch took a long route to redemption

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Quavaris Crouch, North Carolina's top-rated high school football player as a senior at Harding University High School, leaned on his faith after his athletic and academic careers derailed. After stops at the University of Tennessee and Michigan State University, Crouch is resurrecting both at Johnson C. Smith University, where he enrolled last week.

Quavaris Crouch rediscovered his faith when there was no hope.

A five-star football player at Harding University High School, Crouch found himself sleeping in the loft above a friend’s garage in Lansing, Michigan after leaving Michigan State University in 2022. He was adrift and depressed without football, but held out for better days ahead.

“I just had to keep my faith in God,” Crouch said. “My mental state wasn’t the greatest, but I knew God wouldn’t let me down and I could trust things would work out for the best if I continued to trust in him.”

Crouch led Harding to the 2017 North Carolina 4A state title with a 30-22 win against Scotland County after trailing 14-0. It was the Rams’ first championship since 1953 when Harding was an all-white school due to state-sanctioned racial segregation.

“I would describe that season as nothing short of a miracle,” said Crouch, who played running back and linebacker. “God has his hand on our team the whole time. We had players go down, some players played both [offense and defense]. God really just had his hand in the whole situation.”

Harding lacked depth, but with Crouch dominating at running back and linebacker, the Rams went 14-1 and rolled through the playoffs. The Rams’ rise from one of Charlotte’s worst teams to state champion in three years was meteoric. They have managed just one winning season since.

“It definitely was divine intervention,” said West Charlotte High head coach Sam Greiner, Harding’s coach in 2017. “It is hard to explain. You really had to be a part of it to understand it truly. We had some major injuries down the stretch and had just enough to get by and win that state championship. The guys were truly like a brotherhood. It’s one thing to play for yourself, but to play for one another, there is a whole different type of effort that goes into that.”

Crouch, who averaged 132.8 yards rushing per game as a junior, was the No. 1 running back in North Carolina and ranked the 42nd-best player in the ESPN 300 as a senior. At 6-foot-2 and 237 pounds, he drew interest from schools across the country.

“Growing up, I didn’t have everything … my mom, my family, just knowing I got to take care of them," Crouch told The Sporting News in 2017. … “God gave me the gift and talent to do it, so I just got to work hard each and every day.”

Said Greiner: “To this day, I’ve still never seen someone strike fear in an opponent the way he would. To us, he was family, but to opponents, you had to make business decisions if you wanted to try and tackle him. When opponents watched him warm up, it was like watching a living monster across the way, and they were terrified before even having played.”

Rocky Top Tennessee

Although slowed by injury as a senior, Crouch was pursued by college programs at the sport’s highest level. He visited Clemson, Michigan, and Florida State before signing with the University of Tennessee.

“I really just had the best relationship with coach [Jeremy] Pruitt,” Crouch said. “It is just about relationships. I am a big relationships guy. If I can trust you, I will play my hardest for you.”

Crouch played two years with the Volunteers – but not primarily at running back. When he got to campus, through prayer and discussion with coaches, moved to linebacker, although he would line up at tailback in short-yardage situations.

“My dream has always been to play in the NFL,” he said. “I asked coach Pruitt what it would take for me to get to the NFL. He told me that whatever position I picked, to just put the work in, and I could achieve my goals. So, I ended up playing linebacker because at the time I had a lot of people in my ear saying there was a better chance from a longevity standpoint to play linebacker.”

Crouch played in all 13 games as a freshman. As a sophomore in 2020 – during the COVID-19 pandemic – he started all 10 games and finished the season with 57 tackles, third best on the team. He forced two fumbles and had his best game against fifth-ranked Texas A&M, recording a career-high 11 tackles.

“Playing linebacker was great and all,” Crouch said. “But, for me, I like to be able to run the ball. I had a lot of fun running the ball back in high school and I think God made me a running back and that is why I loved it so much.”
At season’s end, Crouch felt it was in his best interest to transfer when Pruitt was fired.

“When coach Pruitt left it made me feel like I wanted to leave as well,” Crouch said. “Coach Pruitt was a guy that really made you feel like he cared about you. He is someone that really cared about what you were doing and what you may have been going through.”

A new school and trouble, too

After transferring to Michigan State University in April 2021, Crouch earned All-Big Ten honorable mention and tied for 10th in tackles per game with 7.5. He chose to move on, which prompted a downward spiral.

Leaving Michigan State meant sitting out a year before playing at another school, per NCAA rules on two-time transfers. In the meantime, Crouch took classes at Lansing Community College.

His goal didn’t change. He still wanted to play college ball and make it to the NFL but felt his opportunity was slipping away. At his lowest, Crouch resorted to drinking and ran afoul of the law.

“I was drinking because I was sad,” he said. “I was depressed. I was getting in my car and my buddy was talking to this girl. I was too drunk to drive. … When I backed up, I tapped the wall behind me, so I got out of the car. I let my buddy get in the car, and while he was taking me home, the police got behind us and ended up taking me to jail that night.”

More than a commodity

Crouch turned to the only thing that never let him down – his faith. He was attending Trinity Church in Lansing where he connected with a ministry group that changed his life.

“I got a job at Streets 517,” Crouch said. “The people with that ministry helped me out a lot. When I stopped the drinking and stuff, they helped show me the truth and get me back to following my faith in God that I always had.”
Streets 517 Ministries executive director Patrick Sauer met Crouch through a mutual friend, Emmanuel Boateng, Trinity Church’s college-age pastor. Sauer found Crouch’s personality infectious.

“Our relationship really started just by me kind of popping into a Bible study that Emmanuel was doing,” Sauer said. “I would be considered a pretty avid Michigan State fan, so I knew who he was.”

As Sauer learned about Crouch’s history and struggles with depression, he discovered a person yearning for more than a cheerleader.

“It was really clear that he didn’t need somebody who knew him as a football player,” Sauer said. “When you’re a five-star kid coming out [of high school], and you’re going to a high-level SEC program and transferring to a Big Ten program he’s had a lot of people who only ever knew him and only ever cared about him as a commodity that could produce outcomes on a football field.”

“[Crouch] had been through a lot,” Sauer added. “He was very transparent about his issues and what he had been through.”

Streets 517, which partners with local schools to mentor at-risk students, gave Crouch a job. In addition to earning money for his legal bills, he bonded with children by sharing his experiences.

“I think it was just a match made in heaven,” Sauer said. “He has automatic equity with every single kid that he comes in contact with because of his own story.”

Sauer feels Crouch hasn’t reached his full potential – not as a football player but as a person.

“It does not take long before you know immediately that this young man is going to have a kingdom impact that I’m not quite sure he’s fully aware of yet,” he said. “He’s just got this infectious, charismatic, just attractive energy and presence that I think is really just a byproduct of some giftings God has imparted into him. Over time, as [Crouch] continues to pursue Him, God will begin to reveal bits and pieces along the way.”

Boateng, Crouch’s mentor and pastor, helped out as well. When Crouch needed a place to live after leaving Michigan State, he offered a small loft above his garage.

“I just put myself in his shoes,” said Boateng, who is with Trinity Church’s children and young adults ministry. “I said to myself that if I was in his shoes, I would want someone to help me. I think in doing so, it allowed me to see myself in him even though at the time I could have cared less about football.”

Home for a fresh start

Crouch returned to Charlotte last year with the intention of playing at UNC Charlotte, which  hired Biff Poggi as the new head coach.

“It turned out that I wasn’t eligible to play,” Crouch said. “It is as simple as that. I lost all my grades and what happened was I couldn’t get a grade dropped from my record from Lansing Community College. I thought I was going to be able to play. I even saw my name on a locker and everything, but it didn’t work out.”

While interviewing at Harding about his football journey, Crouch overheard a conversation about historically Black Johnson C. Smith University, where the Golden Bulls went 7-4 and earned a berth in the Florida Beach Bowl. It represented a fresh start.

“It hit me right then,” Crouch said. “There is a Division II school right there in front of you in the middle of the city. So, I took that opportunity to get signed up.”

JCSU head coach Maurice Flowers, an East Mecklenburg High graduate and All-American quarterback for the Golden Bulls during his playing days, is excited to have Crouch on campus.

“I’m really happy for him to get back home and get back towards earning his degree,” said Flowers, who was hired in 2022. “That is the major thing that sticks out to me – a young man is getting to come home, earn his degree, and play the game that he loves so much.”

Crouch will play running back at JCSU, but Flowers knows it will take time to adjust. Crouch hasn’t played the position regularly since high school and off the field since 2021.

“There is no hurry for him to make an immediate impact,” Flowers said. “He’s got to get his running back mojo back. He’s got to knock the rust off, and he will have every opportunity to do that. … Our program is built on competition and having an opportunity to compete, so he will be able to come back slowly, at his pace. I’m sure we will all see when he starts to get comfortable.”

Said Crouch: “Coach Flowers is just a down-to-earth type of guy. He was honest with me about what he wanted and wanted to know what I wanted as well. He is helping me a lot. The people at Johnson C. Smith are also helping me a lot.”

Crouch started classes on Jan. 18 and can’t wait to get back to football. He has two years of eligibility left and can play immediately.

“[JCSU] is really growing on me,” Crouch said. “I am just blessed to be able to glorify God by playing football again.”

Also:

Former Tennessee, Mich. St. LB Quavaris Crouch at JCSU

Comments