Sylvia Crawley

Last updated
Sylvia Crawley
SylviaCrawley.jpg
Crawley in 2008
Biographical details
Born (1972-09-27) September 27, 1972 (age 51)
Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1990–1994 North Carolina
Position(s) Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2002North Carolina (assistant)
2004–2006 Fordham (assistant)
2006Fordham (interim)
2006–2008 Ohio
2008–2012 Boston College
2014 Indiana Fever (assistant)
2016–2019North Carolina (assistant)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
As a player
Medal record
Women's Basketball
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
WUG
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995 World University Games
Fukuoka, Japan 		Team Competition
Jones Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1996 Jones Cup
Taipei, Taiwan 		Team Competition
Pan American Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg Winnipeg 1999 Team Competition

[1] Sylvia Crawley (born September 27, 1972) is a former American professional women's basketball forward, licensed minister and motivational speaker. She was also the head women's basketball coach of the Boston College Eagles, from 2008 to 2012, and an assistant coach with the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. She is currently an assistant coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball team, her alma mater, where she also held the same position from 2000 to 2002. [2]

Contents

Playing career

After starring at Steubenville High School, Crawley played collegiate basketball for the women's basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). She was a member of the UNC's NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship team in 1994, her senior season. [3]

After graduation from UNC, Crawley played for the Portland Power and Colorado Xplosion of the American Basketball League (ABL). She won the ABL's slam dunk contest in 1998 with a blindfolded dunk and a second dunk. [4]

After the ABL folded due to financial problems, she was selected by the Portland Fire, and played with them for three seasons. When the Fire folded, Crawley was selected by the Indiana Fever during the WNBA's dispersal draft in April 2003. But prior to the start of the 2003 season, the Fever traded Crawley and a rookie player Gwen Jackson to the San Antonio Silver Stars, in exchange for Natalie Williams and Coretta Brown. [5]

Crawley spent that one season with the Silver Stars in 2003, mostly in a reserve role, that was marred when she suffered a sprained neck injury after a collision with Washington Mystics player Tonya Washington while chasing for a loose ball.

Shortly before the 2004 WNBA season began, Crawley announced her retirement from basketball. But just prior to the start of the 2006 season, Crawley came out of retirement and signed a contract to return to the Silver Stars for the season. However, the day before the season started, the Silver Stars waived her from the training camp roster. [6]

North Carolina statistics

Source [7]

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
YearTeamGPPointsFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
90–91North Carolina2811146.2%0.0%32.6%3.60.30.31.14.0
91–92North Carolina3125445.8%0.0%54.0%4.40.20.61.08.2
92–93North Carolina3031653.7%0.0%66.7%5.40.50.80.810.5
93–94North Carolina3547755.1%0.0%62.6%5.20.91.11.113.6
Career124115851.4%0.0%57.2%4.70.50.71.09.3

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game FG%  Field-goal percentage 3P%  3-point field-goal percentage FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold Career best°League leader

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGTOPPG
2000 Portland 313030.048.00.069.66.01.10.90.82.811.5
2001 Portland 323228.844.90.076.66.31.70.60.81.99.3
2002 Portland 323125.640.141.269.84.21.50.61.21.98.7
2003 San Antonio 33817.138.50.068.23.20.60.50.61.23.5
Career1 year, 3 teams12810125.343.635.071.64.91.20.70.82.08.2

USA Basketball

Crawley was named to the team representing the USA at the 1995 Pan American Games, however, only four teams committed to participate, so the event was cancelled. [8]

Crawley represented the USA at the 1995 World University Games held in Fukuoka, Japan in August and September 1995. The team had a record of 5–1, securing the silver medal. The USA team won early and reached a record of 5–0 when Crawley's 25 points helped the USA beat Yugoslavia. In the semi-final game, the USA faced Russia. The team was behind much of the first half but managed to tie the game at the half. The USA broke the game open in the second half and won 101–74. The gold medal match was against unbeaten Italy. The Italian team started strong, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the contest. Crawley scored eight consecutive points to end the first half, but that left the USA nine points behind. The USA took a small lead in the second half, but the team from Italy responded with a ten-point run, and won the game and the gold medal by a score of 73–65. Crawley was the second leading scorer for the USA team with 15.1 points per game. [9]

Crawley was named to the team representing the USA at the 1996 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The team won all nine games to win the gold medal. Crawley averaged 8.4 points per game and blocked ten shots. She was named to the All-Tournament second team. [10]

Crawley again played with the USA team at the 1999 Pan American Games. The team finished with a record of 4–3, but managed to win the bronze medal with an 85–59 victory over Brazil. Crawley averaged 5.5 points per game. [11]

Coaching career

Crawley served as an assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of North Carolina, from 2000 to 2002 and returned in 2015. In her first two seasons with the Tar Heels, the team was 41–23 and made a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. After the completion of her professional playing career in 2004, she served as the top assistant at Fordham University under head coach Jim Lewis. Following Lewis' retirement at the end of the 2005–2006 season, Crawley was named interim head coach.

Shortly thereafter, Crawley was named head coach of the Ohio Bobcats' women's basketball team on April 18, 2006. On April 28, 2008, Crawley was named the head coach of women's basketball at Boston College. Upon her hiring BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo stated "This is an exciting day for BC women's basketball. Sylvia Crawley has enjoyed phenomenal success both as a player and as a coach. As a North Carolina graduate, she knows the ACC inside and out. We are very fortunate to have her as our new coach." [12] In her first season at the Heights, Sylvia led the Eagles to a 23–12 record and an appearance in the WNIT Final Four. [13] [14] In her next three seasons at BC, Crawley's teams went 17–15, 20–13 and 7–23. In her four season tenure at BC, Crawley's teams never posted a winning record against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents (overall ACC record: 20–38). [1] On March 15, 2012, Crawley announced her resignation from the BC head coaching job, citing an unspecified medical issue. [15]

After the departure of Mickie DeMoss, the Indiana Fever and head coach Lin Dunn named Crawley as an assistant coach with the team. [16]

Crawley served as an assistant coach with her alma mater, the University of North Carolina from 2016 until 2019, when Sylvia Hatchell retired.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference)(2006–2008)
2006–07 Ohio 18–1210–63rd (East)
2007–08 Ohio 20–1310–63rd (East)
Ohio:38–25 (.603)20–12 (.625)
Boston College Eagles (Atlantic Coast Conference)(2008–2012)
2008–09Boston College 23–127–77thWNIT Semifinals
2009–10 Boston College 17–156–8T-7th
2010–11Boston College 20–125–9T-7thWNIT Sixteen
2011–12Boston College 7–232–14T-11th
Ohio:67–62 (.519)20–38 (.345)
Total:105–87 (.547)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Basketball League (1996–1998)</span> Defunct professional womens basketball league in the United States

The American Basketball League, often abbreviated to the ABL of 1996 was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. At the same time the ABL was being formed, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was creating the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The ABL began league competition in the Fall of 1996, while the WNBA launched its first game in June 1997. Both organizations came into existence during a surge in popularity for women's basketball in the United States that followed the perfect 35–0 national championship season for the Connecticut Huskies in 1995 and the undefeated, gold medal-winning performance of the United States Women's basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Charlotte Smith is a retired American professional women's basketball player for the Charlotte Sting, Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever in the WNBA, and for the Colorado Xplosion and San Jose Lasers in the ABL. She is currently the women's basketball head coach at Elon University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Edwards</span> American basketball player

Teresa Edwards is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn Staley</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1970)

Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and spent eight seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), primarily with the Charlotte Sting. Staley also played on the United States women's national basketball team, winning three gold medals at the Olympic Games from 1996 to 2004, and was the head coach of the team that won an Olympic gold medal in 2021. She is the first person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yolanda Griffith</span> Basketball player (born 1970)

Yolanda Evette Griffith is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. An eight time WNBA All-Star, she was named the 1999 WNBA MVP and the WNBA Finals MVP in 2005 when she won the WNBA championship with the Sacramento Monarchs. One of he top defensive players in WNBA's history, she was the 1999 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in rebounds and steals two times each. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. She is sometimes called by her nicknames: "Yo" and "Yo-Yo". Griffith was inducted into the 2014 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's class on her first year of eligibility. In 2021, she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Sheri Lynette Sam is an American professional women's basketball coach and player who played in the WNBA. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana as the youngest of eight siblings, and where she was a standout at Acadiana High School. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1996. She was an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kara Wolters</span> American basketball player (born 1975)

Kara Elizabeth Wolters is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player and a current sports broadcaster. Standing at six feet seven inches (2.01 m) and nicknamed "Big Girl," she is the tallest player in University of Connecticut women's basketball history and one of the tallest women to ever play in the WNBA. During her playing career, she was an NCAA national champion (1995), FIBA world champion (1998), WNBA champion (1999), and Olympic champion (2000) becoming one of 11 women with those accolades. She also won AP College Player of the Year in 1997

Natalie Jean Williams is an American basketball executive and former player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She was also an accomplished volleyball player at UCLA. Since 2022, Williams has served as the General Manager of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Smith</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1974)

Katie Smith is an American basketball coach and former player who is the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Donovan</span> American basketball player and coach

Anne Theresa Donovan was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun.

La'Keshia Frett is a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She is currently an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Auburn University.

Michelle M. Marciniak is a former All-American collegiate and professional basketball player who played point guard in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). As a floor general, Marciniak competed for two national championships during her three-year career at the University of Tennessee. She led the Tennessee Lady Vols to their 4th National Championship and was named MVP in the 1996 Final Four held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeLisha Milton-Jones</span> American basketball player

DeLisha Lachell Milton-Jones is an American retired professional basketball player and head coach of Old Dominion. Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. She was a first-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year her senior season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lin Dunn</span> American basketball coach

Lin Dunn is an American women's basketball coach, currently general manager with the Indiana Fever. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the Seattle Storm. She has more than 500 wins to her name.

Debbie Black is an American women's basketball former player and current coach. During her professional career, Black played in the Women's National Basketball League in Australia, the American Basketball League and the Women's National Basketball Association. She retired from the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA in 2005. Black was an assistant coach for the Ohio State University before being named the head coach of the Eastern Illinois University Women's Basketball team on May 16, 2013, in which position she continued until 2017.

Tonya LaRay Edwards is an American retired professional basketball player born in Flint, Michigan, who was most recently an assistant coach of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Alcorn State Lady Braves basketball team.

Nikki Kesangane McCray-Penson was an American basketball player and coach. She was the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team from 2020 to 2021 and a professional basketball player from 1996 to 2006. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons. In 2008 after leaving the WNBA, McCray joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. McCray-Penson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Fowles</span> American basketball player

Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles is an American former professional basketball player. Fowles played for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx during her WNBA career. She won the WNBA MVP Award in 2017 and the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times. She led the Lynx to win the WNBA Championship in 2015 and 2017, and she was named the MVP of the WNBA Finals both times. In 2020, Fowles overtook Rebekkah Brunson to become the WNBA's career leader in rebounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie White</span> American basketball player and coach

Stephanie Joanne White is an American former professional basketball player and the head coach of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team from 2016 to 2021. Prior to Vanderbilt, she was the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA for the 2015 and 2016 season. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliyah Boston</span> American basketball player (born 2001)

Aliyah Boston is an American professional basketball power forward and center for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was named 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year in a unanimous vote and the AP Rookie of the Year. She played college basketball at the University of South Carolina.

References

  1. 1 2 "BC WBB Record Book" (PDF). BC Eagles.
  2. ↑ "Tar Heels hire Sylvia Crawley". ESPN . Chapel Hill, N.C.: Associated Press. July 14, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  3. ↑ "NCAA Video Vault: The epic, title-winning buzzer-beater from 1994, and the unlikely story behind it | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  4. ↑ "BLINDFOLDED, CRAWLEY WINS SLAM-DUNK CONTEST". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  5. ↑ "Silver Stars Make Blockbuster Trade with Indiana". NBA.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  6. ↑ "WNBA.com: 2006 WNBA Transactions". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  7. ↑ "North Carolina Media Guide" (PDF). goheels.comaccess-date=2017-08-31.
  8. ↑ "Twelfth Pan American Games – 1995". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Seventeenth World University Games – 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "1996 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Thirteenth Pan American Games – 1999". USA Basketball. Jun 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 15 Oct 2015.
  12. ↑ "Crawley Named BC Women's Basketball Coach". Boston College Athletics. April 29, 2008. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  13. ↑ "Sylvia Crawley Receives Contract Extension". Boston College Athletics. August 4, 2010. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  14. ↑ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Black, A. J. (2012-03-19). "Globe's Lack Of Coverage On Sylvia Crawley's Resignation Raises Questions". BC Interruption. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  16. ↑ "Former WNBA Star Sylvia Crawley Named To Fever Coaching Staff". WNBA . Archived from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.