Joan Crawford (basketball player)

This article is about the basketball player. For the actress of the same name, see Joan Crawford .

Joan Crawford
Information about the player
Full name	Joan Audrey Crawford
birthday	22nd August 1937 (age 83)
place of birth	Fort Smith , Arkansas , United States
size	180 cm
position	center
college	Nashville Business College
1 As of April 19, 2012

Joan Audrey Crawford (born August 22, 1937 in Fort Smith , Arkansas ) is a former American basketball player. As a player on the position of the center , she was active for 14 years in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), where she won ten championship titles with the team of the Nashville Business College . With the USA women's national team Crawford won various international titles, including the 1957 World Basketball Championship. For her career achievement, she was inducted into the 1997 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame .

Childhood and youth

Crawford is the second oldest of five children and took an interest in basketball when she was in fifth grade. A brother taught her the basics of the game. In her first year of high school , Crawford was named to the senior school team. Overall, she and her team lost only one game in four seasons.

Her athletic success enabled Crawford to receive a scholarship to Clarendon Junior College and, on a personal level, helped her overcome shyness that was due to a congenital speech impairment.

Career

After successfully graduating from Clarendon Junior College and becoming an All-American , Crawford was offered another scholarship. The Wayland Baptist University was at that time a stronghold in basketball, but Crawford declined the offer of the University to instead of the amateur team of the Nashville Business Colleges join. In each of the ten seasons in which the team won championship titles, Crawford was named All-American. In addition, she was voted Most Valuable Player in the AAU Finals every season between 1962 and 1964 .

Characteristic for Crawford's style of play were exceptional rebound strength, good passing play and her use of hook throwing .

Joan Crawford represented the United States twice in the women's basketball tournament at the Pan American Games . In 1959 the team won gold and Crawford was the second best basket hunter of the selection with 11.4 points per game. 1963 succeeded in winning gold again, with Crawford this time with 16.3 points per game was the best basket hunter and most valuable player of the tournament. However, she celebrated her greatest international success in 1957 when she won the women's world championships.

Crawford has also been a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame since 1999 .

See also

• List of members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Web links

• Joan Crawford in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame On: Hoophall website; Springfield, MA, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2019 (in English).
• Joan Crawford in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame On: WBHOF website; Knoxville, TN, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2019 (in English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} usabasketball.com ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2012) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1957 World Cup. Retrieved April 19, 2012.  
2. ↑ ^{a b} hoophall.com ( Memento from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 19, 2012.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} via books.google.de , David L. Porter. Basketball: a biographical dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005, Westport. P. 93f. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
4. ↑ usabasketball.com ( Memento of April 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Pan American Games 1959. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
5. ↑ usabasketball.com ( Memento from April 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Pan American Games 1963. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
6. ↑ wbhof.com ( Memento of the original from March 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 19, 2012.