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Sylvia Crawley Bio (PDF Format)
Sylvia Crawley is in her second season as a coach but her sixth as a part of the Carolina program. A 1994 graduate of North Carolina, she was the captain and MVP of the '94 NCAA Championship team. Crawley currently is a member of the WNBA's Portland Fire, playing professionally during the college basketball offseason. A native of Steubenville, Ohio, Crawley was a standout center during her days at UNC. As a senior, she was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament team after Carolina won the 1994 crown, and to the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament team as Carolina marched toward the national championship. She ranks third on the UNC career charts in blocks (123) and sixth in field goal percentage (51.4). Since graduation, she has played professionally in the U.S. and abroad. As the starting Fire center in 2001, Crawley averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds (14th in the WNBA) with four double-doubles. Over two years with the team, she has averaged 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Prior to joining the WNBA, she played two seasons in the ABL, for the Colorado Explosion in 1996-97 and the Portland Power in 1997-98. She also has played for teams in France and Spain, where she was named MVP of the Professional European League all-star game in 1995. One of few women who can dunk a basketball, she won the slam dunk contest at the 1998 ABL All-Star Game with a blindfolded dunk. Later that year, she was featured in a Sports Illustrated for Women story on how to dunk. She was named USA Basketball's Female Athlete of the Year in 1995 and has competed internationally on the 1994 U.S. Select team, the 1995 World University Games and Pan American Games teams, the 1996 R. William Jones Cup team and the 1999 Pan Am Games team. She was an alternate for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. Crawley is a clinic presenter and motivational speaker and has addressed numerous youth groups, schools, camps and other groups, dating back to her undergraduate days at UNC. At Carolina, she earned a double major in Communication and Radio, TV and Motion Pictures. On Feb. 27, 2000, at halftime of the UNC-Duke game, the #00 jersey Crawley wore for the Tar Heels was honored and now hangs in the Carmichael Auditorium rafters among those of eight other Tar Heel standouts. Crawley, 29, is a daughter of James and Marie Crawley. She has an older sister, Helen, and an older brother, Rex. |
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