CHICAGO – The UIC men's basketball program added a Power Four conference transfer to its 2025-26 roster on Friday when sophomore point guard Elijah Crawford (Augusta, Ga./Brewster Academy/BYU) committed to suit up for the Flames next season. Crawford becomes the sixth member of UIC's transfer portal class for the '25-26 campaign, teaming up with redshirt junior forward Ante Beljan, junior guard Mekhi Lowery, graduate student forward Abdul Momoh, graduate student guard Sam Silverstein, and graduate student guard Josiah Hammons as the newest faces on Chicago's College Team.
 
"Elijah is a true competitor and a dynamic guard who is capable of scoring at all three levels," said second-year UIC head coach Rob Ehsan. "He also gets to the paint extremely well, makes plays for himself and others, and can really impact the game on the defensive end as well. We're thrilled to welcome Elijah to our Flames Family and look forward to getting in the gym with him very soon!"
 
A 6-foot-2, 185-pound point guard from Augusta, Ga., Crawford played his freshman season at BYU, appearing in 21 games and averaging 1.2 points per night for the Cougars, who finished third in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Crawford scored a season-high five points on two occasions, including against Cincinnati, and also picked up valuable postseason experience with appearances in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals against eventual national runner-up Houston and later in the Sweet Sixteen against Alabama.
 
Crawford committed to BYU as a four-star prep standout who was No. 96 in the nation in the ESPN 100 and one of the country's top 20 point guards, and earned considerable interest from a wide range of other Power Four programs including Florida, Georgia, Kansas, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Louisville, UCF and Stanford. Prior to landing in Provo, he was the MaxPreps New Hampshire Player of the Year during his senior season at powerhouse Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., where he averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He was also a near 50/40/90 shooter, finishing at .541 from the field, .487 from beyond the arc and .831 at the line.
 
Earlier in his prep career, Crawford attended Legacy Early College High School in Greenville, S.C., helping that program rise as high as No. 9 in the MaxPreps national rankings. He previously matriculated from Augusta (Ga.) Christian School, leading the Lions to the 2022 South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) Class 3A state title. While at Augusta Christian, he averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game, leading the state in steals and was named the 2022 SCISA Region 1-AAA Player of the Year.
 
A cousin of former Pitt guard and NBA first-round draft pick Vonteego Cummings, Crawford also experienced success on the AAU level with The Skill Factory at the Augusta-based EYBL Peach Jam in 2021, when he was an All-Session II second-team selection and named Breakout Player of the Session after averaging 20.0 points per game. He was also instrumental in helping The Skill Factory take home the 15U EYBL Peach Jam title.
 
During Ehsan's first season at UIC, the Flames finished with a 17-14 record and tied for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. UIC also registered its best regular-season winning percentage (.567) since 2004 and picked up four Quad 1-2 wins (second-best in the Valley). What's more, the Flames posted five wins over teams that competed in the postseason, including victories over Drake, Yale, Bradley and Illinois State, and produced the program's second-highest scoring offense (76.0 ppg. – fourth in MVC) in the past 30 years.
 
Details on season ticket packages for the 2025-26 Flames' men's basketball campaign will be available in the coming weeks. For more information, fans are encouraged to contact the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312.413.8421; athleticsticketing@uic.edu).
 
For more information on UIC men's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mbb and @uicflames).
 
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