Sydney Crafton joined the Leatherneck staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2015-16 season after being a four-year letterwinner on the University of Missouri women's basketball team and following a year of playing professionally.
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"We are extremely thankful to have Sydney join our coaching staff," said Gravina. "Our staff and players can really learn from her experience as a top-notch college basketball and professional-level player. Her personality will help draw in recruits and allow her to mentor our current players."
Crafton has coached a pair of All-League honorees as well as two All-Newcomer players. During the 2016-17 campaign, Crafton helped guide the Leathernecks to a record-breaking season, which included seven regular season awards amongst four different players on the team in Emily Clemens (All-League First Team/Summit League Player of the Year), Morgan Blumer (All-League First Team/All Newcomer Team/Transfer of the Year), Taylor Higginbotham (All-League Second Team) and Olivia Braun (All-Newcomer Team). The Leathernecks also broke a combined 15 individual and team program records, while capturing The Summit League regular season and tournament championship, as well as the team's first NCAA Tournament berth in 22 years.Â
In 2015-16 Crafton guided Michelle Maher and Sophie Reichelt to Second Team accolades while Taylor Higginbotham earned All-Newcomer recognition. Under Crafton's watch, the 2015-16Â team broke five team records, including most points in a season (2,434) most 3-point field goals in a season (292), and most field goals in a season (856) while ranking in the top-10 all-time in seven additional categories.
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A native of Jefferson City, Missouri, Crafton spent four seasons with the Tigers basketball program, making 63 starts in 96 career games. In her senior year, the team captain started in 27 of Missouri's 30 games, and finished the year third on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg). Crafton, who averaged 22.2 minutes per game in her final year, led the team in field goal percentage as a senior, connecting on 53.4 percent of her attempts. She dropped in a career-high 26 points in a victory over Southeast Missouri State.
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Following her time at Mizzou, Crafton spent a year playing professionally, spending time in both Ecuador and Italy.
"I am extremely honored to be able to join JD (Gravina) and his staff here at Western," said Crafton. "After being here for only a week, I have bought into the program and feel that we will do special things this coming season. This is an outstanding University for academics and athletics, and I look forward to starting my coaching career here at Western Illinois."
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Crafton oversees all facility and visiting team scheduling, community service opportunities and special events while assisting with all aspects of the basketball program. This includes opponent scouting and recruiting, as well as practice and game preparation.
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Crafton graduated from the University of Missouri in May of 2013, with a degree in agribusiness management and an emphasis in animal science and economics.
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