Spring Break
Former Nevada assistant moves back to S.j. to coach volleyball team
Josh Weaver
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: Sports
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On Monday, he stepped back onto the SJSU campus, this time as the new head coach of the SJSU women's volleyball team.
"My friends say that I have been picky about coaching positions, but I thought that this was an ideal situation," Crespo said.
Crespo graduated from SJSU in 1990 with a bachelors degree in art history. He said that he has been interested in coming back to the West Coast and California in particular.
"Not only do I have the support of the volleyball community and my family," Crespo said, "I know the campus and I know the atmosphere around here."
"You know, it is like coming back home, I don't need a map to get around," Crespo said.
In a statement made in an article on the Spartan athletics Web site, SJSU Athletic Director Tom Bowen said Crespo, "is a man of tremendous integrity, passion and is more than capable of bringing our program to a national level of respect and prominence."
Crespo began his career coaching volleyball at a local high school in the early 1980s as a favor to a friend. He was an assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley for three years in the mid-90s before taking a job at the University of Nevada in 2000. Crespo served as the associate head coach at Nevada for the past seven years.
"Oscar is an excellent coach, and I think he is going to do a fantastic job at San Jose," Nevada head coach Devin Scruggs said. "I am very pleased and excited for him. It is a perfect fit for him and his family."
Crespo's ties to San Jose State go back even further than his 1990 graduation. His wife, Lisa Ice-Crespo, was a three-time All-American volleyball player for SJSU from 1982-1986 who helped lead the team to a Final Four appearance in 1984.
"The maintenance man who just came in here (told) a story about my wife from when she played here," Crespo said.
Aside from the family connection, Crespo said there were other factors in his decision.
"The familiarity I have with the program in addition to the overall history and the national success the program has had over the years, to me was a huge part of it," Crespo said. "I would say that this is one of the top 25 programs."
Crespo said that he was able to meet briefly with the players on Tuesday.
"I used the opportunity to say 'hi' and that I am here," Crespo said. "We have very short time to be able to meet with them right now, so I gave them a brief idea of where I want the team to go."
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