Cliff Crandall (September 26, 1925 – April 9, 2019) was a two-time All-American at Oregon State and led the Beavers to the NCAA Tournament West Region Final in 1949. Crandall grew up in Astoria playing for former Oregon State standout Wally Palmberg. He helped the Fishermen reach the semifinals of the 1943 state tournament and was voted All-Tournament first team.
After service during WWII, Crandall enrolled at Oregon State, where he helped define the concept of a small forward. He was the first Beaver player to score 29 points in a game and eventually set a school record for scoring with 1,250 points. In four seasons, Crandall missed just one of 127 games, also a program record at the time.
The Beavers beat UCLA in a best-of three series to win the 1947 Pacific Coast Conference title and reach the eight-team NCAA Tournament for the first time. They lost to No. 1 Oklahoma. Two years later, the Beavers won a tournament game for the first time to reach the regional final where they lost to Oklahoma A&M in the Final Four.
Crandall was named All-American in 1948 and ’49. He was drafted by two different teams in the old Basketball Association of America (pre-NBA) but did not play professionally.
Instead, he moved his family back to Oregon to begin a long and successful care
er in insurance. Crandall was inducted into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.