Leslie Crane, like her father before her, has always been a teacher.
Her classroom just happens to be a basketball court.
Crane, an Iola native who has thrived at several coaching stops in her career, is returning to Allen Community College — her alma mater — to resume her coaching career.
She took a one-year hiatus because of COVID-19, “as precautions for my parents, more than anything else,” she said, and is eager to get back onto the sidelines.
That it’s at Allen is even better.
“This is home,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to get back to my alma mater. I have great memories of Allen County, running around the halls, and playing in the gym.”
If the Crane name sounds familiar, it should.
Small-town America is great. All I have to do is get kids sold on the phone. Once they come to Iola and see the college, it sells itself.Leslie Crane
Leslie’s father, Neil, coached the men’s team to some of its greatest heights from 1975 to 1990.
He retired at just about the time his daughter started making her name in the college coaching ranks.
After a standout playing career in Iola, Allen and then Arkansas State, Crane coached at Turner and Circle high schools before taking over a moribund Kansas City Kansas Community College program.
Before she arrived, the Blue Devil program was riding a 47-game conference losing streak.
She quickly established a new environment on and off the court. She led KCK to 117 wins over four years, and had the Blue Devils nationally ranked in her final three years at the school.
She went from there to work as a recruiting coordinator for the University of Missouri women’s basketball program before signing on to lead the Western Illinois University program.
There, she became the winningest women’s coach in WIU history, as well as the NCAA’s Summit League before her departure in 2011.
