DeAnn Craft has the experience- and she’s been a winner as a coach at both the collegiate and the professional levels. So she was a natural choice to lead The University of Texas-Pan American’s women’s basketball team as the Lady Broncs continue to move onward and upward.

Craft, who has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience, has compiled 105 victories in seven years as a head coach at the collegiate level while also coaching at the highest level of women’s professional basketball.

Craft came to Texas-Pan American after recording 39 wins in four years at the NCAA Division I level as head coach at Lamar University of the Southland Conference, and serving as the top assistant coach as well as recruiting coordinator for the Lady Broncs last year. She also was in charge of the Lady Broncs’ offense.

At Lamar, Craft recorded 39 wins in four years as the head coach. The Cardinals went 12-16 during the 2000-2001 season, finishing 10-10 in the Southland Conference, which was their best conference finish ever. Shawnta Vanzant, the SLC Player of the Year, was the first LU women’s basketball player to be so honored.Under Craft’s direction, the Cardinals posted wins over NCAA post-season qualifiers Stephen F. Austin, Rice, and Texas-Arlington. Under her tutelage, Shawnta Vanzant went on to become the first Lamar University women’s basketball player to be chosen as Southland Conference Player of the Year. Vanzant also earned the distinction of being the only Southland Conference player ever to be invited to the Women’s National Basketball Association Pre-Draft Camp. During Craft’s four-year tenure, she had 21 players named to the prestigious Southland Conference Commissioner’s List.

A native of Garden City, Kansas, Craft played at Garden City High School, where she became the first female athlete inducted into the GCHS Athletic Hall of Fame. She also played for Barton County Community College, where her team was ranked among the nation’s top ten. At Central Florida, Craft averaged 20.9 points per game as a senior and was ranked among the top 40 players nationally in scoring. She also led the nation with a free throw percentage of 92.6 per cent.

When her playing days ended, Craft began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Central Florida. Craft then served as an assistant for four years under Linda Hargrove at Wichita State, where she was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator, before moving into the head coaching ranks.

Craft then compiled a 66-30 record as the head coach at Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, KS for three seasons, Her team was ranked nationally by the National Junior College Athletic Association in two of those three seasons, and she was the first coach in CCCC history (male or female) to win 25 games in her initial season at Cowley County. All three of her teams finished among the top three teams nationally in grade-point average.

Moving on to the professional ranks, Craft served as an assistant coach for the Richmond Rage, who advanced to the finals of the American Basketball League playoffs before losing in the seventh game of the championships to Columbus. When the ABL folded, Craft Craft accepted a position as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at San Diego State for a year before accepting the head coaching position at Lamar.

”I am very committed to bringing a competitive women’s basketball program to UTPA and to the Rio Grande Valley,” said Craft. “Rebuilding programs have been a forte of mine, and I’m not afraid of the work that’s going to be required. We need to immediately address the task of recruiting, by building a broad base of competitive players, and we also need to make sure that our schedule remains competitive and challenging, but does not hurt our confidence.”

Craft said that her year at Texas-Pan American was a big plus. “Being here was one of the biggest bonuses, as it allowed me to see the quality of everything at UTPA from the inside,” Craft said. “I was able to see how committed the academic program was, and that’s incredible. I was also able to see the commitment of the administration, because no one wants to see this program succeed more than the administration itself. You can’t put a value on things like that. The commitment we have academically, and the thoroughness of our athletic compliance program is going to allow the coaching staff to spend their time coaching and recruiting. We want to raise the level of our talent, without sacrificing the character and chemistry of the players we have here.”

The challenge of building a winner at Texas-Pan American is something that Craft embraces. “The big questions-whay can we make UTPA a winner-we have the experience to build,” said Craft. “You must have a firm hold on the basics of the game of basketball and the ability to relate it to your student-athletes. You must have a well thought out plan of action to get your program moving forward. You must not surrender your values, take shortcuts, make promises, or unwisdely spend a day. I have surrounded our program with a staff of excellent people. They are treasures that I value and our program will be the benefactors of their knowledge, work ethic and successes. This program will win, we will graduate our players, and we will make history.”

”Coach Craft is an outstanding teacher of the game,” said UTPA Director of Athletics William J. Weidner “Her teams are well-prepared and highly motivated to succeed. Her ability to effectively prepare her teams for each opponent they face has earned the respect of her peers in the profession. Coach Craft’s prior experience as a head coach and recruiting coordinator has prepared her well to be able to establish a systematic approach in regards to recruiting organization that will insure that our program is in position to successfully locate, recruit, and sign talented student-athletes on a local, regional and national level.”