Bill Crowder became head coach of the Westark Lions in the spring of 1966, and over the next three decades, the legendary coach turned the fledgling baseball program into one of the premiere programs in the region and nation.
Crowder coached Lions men’s basketball and baseball for three seasons before focusing exclusively on baseball for the final 30 years of his 33-year collegiate coaching career. He coached the first basketball game played in the Westark Fieldhouse, a win against Oklahoma State Technical Junior College.
During his tenure as Lions baseball coach, the Perryville, Ark., native turned the Lions into perennial title contenders for the Bi-State Conference and Region II, which was recognized as arguably the toughest region in the nation. Crowder compiled a 1,003-559 win-loss record as Lions baseball coach and is the program’s all-time winningest coach. He earned his 1,000th win on May 3, 1998, when his Lions beat rival Connors State. He retired later that year after 42 years of coaching that spanned the high school and collegiate ranks. Upon his retirement, he was one of the Top 5 all-time winningest baseball coaches in NJCAA history.
The veteran coach was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2001. He is one of four Bi-State Conference baseball coaches in the Hall of Fame, joining Connors State’s Perry Keith, former Seminole State coach Lloyd Simmons and former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M coach Homa Thomas.
Crowder coached more than 500 players who went on to play at four-year programs and had more than 30 players sign professional contracts. He coached four of the five UA Fort Smith players who went on to play in the Major Leagues – Jeff McKnight, Aaron Looper, Kevin Lomon and Ryan Nye.
Many of Crowder’s baseball players went on to become coaches, too, like Van Buren girls basketball coach Merrill Mankin, Alma boys basketball coach Stan Flenor, former Cedarville football and baseball coach Curt Ledbetter, former Southside baseball coach Steve Haaser and Northside basketball coach Johnny Mason.
