NATCHITOCHES – Services have been set for Northwestern State N-Club Hall of Fame basketball player Mickey Crknovic.
 
A 2004 inductee into the N-Club Hall of Fame and a member of Northwestern's All-Century Team as part of the "Fantastic 50" Legends Era, Crnkovic, 92, passed away peacefully at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Bossier City on Jan. 28. Visitation will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Shreveport with a 10:30 a.m. mass of Christian burial at 10:30.
 
A Zwolle native who attended then-Northwestern State College for two years before being drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Crnkovic was the lone senior on the Demons' 1957-58 Gulf States Conference championship team. That season, Crnkovic earned Little All-American honorable mention honors along with a spot on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association's All-GSC first team.
 
He also was the 1958 Louisiana Invitational Tournament MVP and an all-tournament selection in a season where he was Northwestern's team captain. Crnkovic remained in the area following his playing career, establishing a long educational career as a coach and as an administrator.
 
Crnkovic also remained close to Northwestern basketball.
 
"He used to come to our reunions, and he was a regular when we had those fish fries in early October," former Demon head coach and fellow N-Club Hall of Famer Mike McConathy said. "My dad (John McConathy) used to talk about him being a really solid player. He was a gentleman who was a competitor who really loved the game of basketball and took a great deal of pride in being a Northwestern State alumnus."
 
Moving southwest to Florien, Crnkovic became a fixture in Sabine Parish education, eventually working his way into a position at the parish's central office.
 
Crnkovic's reputation of building relationships with his students was evident – on and off the court – especially in one who enjoyed a full-circle relationship with Crnkovic.
 
"I was his student, then when I got out of college, we taught together for several years," said Ed Corley, himself a three-time Northwestern State graduate. "Then the year I became principal (at Florien High School), he moved from Florien to the central office."
 
Crnkovic's success on the sideline at basketball-obsessed Florien – a school that has captured eight boys basketball state titles – were clear. The former basketball player, however, was just as successful in all areas of education and showed a knack for administration even while in the classroom.
 
"Coach Crnkovic probably most impressed me as a professional my first year as a teacher," Corley said. "We were K-12 (kindergarten through 12^th grade) at the time at Florien. We were getting SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) certification, and our principal at the time wanted us to go line item by line item through those packets. We were meeting and the elementary teachers were driving us crazy. They spent 30 minutes arguing about fair versus mediocre. I was watching coach Crnkovic and noticed he didn't have much to say. When he spoke up, we all of a sudden were on the same page and happy with him. He had his stuff all together."
 
Although they did not coach together, Dewain Strother – another NSU alumnus and a 2026 inductee in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame – did share some time at Florien together with Crnkovic.
 
Strother said their interactions were limited with most taking place in the teachers' workroom at Florien. Strother described his fellow coach and NSU alum as someone with "a dry sense of humor" who was "a big, likeable guy."
 
That understated sense of humor was made clear to Corley when he was still in school at Northwestern.
 
Corley had spoken with Crnkovic about substituting for him for a week in December.
 
"I did a lot of substituting – a college boy needs money," Corley said. "(Substituting for a week) was going to be a pretty decent paycheck. The principal told me, 'Coach put his lesson plans in his gradebook and put it in his mailbox.' I went to his mailbox and got his gradebook out. There was one sheet in it, it said 'Improvise.'
 
"I was teaching social studies and P.E. so it wasn't going to be a problem, but he probably wouldn't have left that as his plans if it had been anyone other than me. That just tickled the fire out of me. Improvise. I truly respected him as a friend, as a teacher and a fellow worker. I loved that man to death."