Sylvia Crawley

[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]

Sylvia Crawley
Crawley in 2008
Biographical details
Born (1972-09-27) September 27, 1972
Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1990–1994North Carolina
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2002North Carolina (assistant)
2004–2006Fordham (assistant)
2006Fordham (interim)
2006–2008Ohio
2008–2012Boston College
2014Indiana Fever (assistant)
2016–2019North Carolina (assistant)
Medal record
Women’s Basketball
Representing  United States
WUG
Gold medal – first place1995 World University Games
Fukuoka, Japan 		Team Competition
Jones Cup
Gold medal – first place1996 Jones Cup
Taipei, Taiwan		Team Competition
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place Winnipeg 1999 Team Competition

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
  GP Games 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
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
90–91 North Carolina 28 111 46.2% 0.0% 32.6% 3.6 0.3 0.3 1.1 4.0
91–92 North Carolina 31 254 45.8% 0.0% 54.0% 4.4 0.2 0.6 1.0 8.2
92–93 North Carolina 30 316 53.7% 0.0% 66.7% 5.4 0.5 0.8 0.8 10.5
93–94 North Carolina 35 477 55.1% 0.0% 62.6% 5.2 0.9 1.1 1.1 13.6
Career 124 1158 51.4% 0.0% 57.2% 4.7 0.5 0.7 1.0 9.3

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 2000–02 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
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
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)
2008–09 Boston College 23–127–77thWNIT Semifinals
2009–10 Boston College 17–156–8T-7th
2010–11 Boston College 20–125–9T-7thWNIT Sixteen
2011–12 Boston 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

References
  1. "BC WBB Record Book" (PDF). BC Eagles.
  2. "Tar Heels hire Sylvia Crawley". espn.go.com. 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. "Twelvth [sic] 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.
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