Entering into her fifth season at the helm of the Bethune-Cookman Women’s Basketball program, Janell Crayton Del Rosario helped the Wildcats turn around a six-win season in her first season to adding five wins to the program a year later. Ever since, she has continued to raise the bar in wins since leading the program.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Crayton coached Asianae Nicholson, who finished the year third nationally in double-doubles (22), as well as leading the SWAC in rebounds. Nicholson had double-figure rebounds in 24 games, including 12 consecutive to end the campaign. In the process, Crayton Del Rosario helped guide the Wildcats back to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament taking place in Atlanta, Georgia.
Crayton Del Rosario, a 2006 graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina, arrived to Bethune-Cookman prior to the 2021-22 season. In her first year, she picked up a 6-21 overall record, including five wins in BCU’s inaugural season in the SWAC. Bethune-Cookman grabbed SWAC victories against Alcorn State, Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State and Texas Southern, respectfully.
In her third year during the 2023-24 campaign, Crayton once again raised the Wildcats’ wins total, this time by four wins from the prior season. Bethune-Cookman went 15-16 overall with key nonconference wins against teams from Georgia State, Iona, Jacksonville and Mercer, respectively. In league play, B-CU played four games without at least four regular starters due to injury and/or illness, including two games in which B-CU used just six players total.
For the month of November, B-CU posted a 4-2 record – the first time since the Cats registered a winning record for the month of November since 2019-20.
In 2022-23, Crayton guided the Wildcats to a winning record in SWAC play, finishing with a 10-8 league record and advancing to the SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history. Throughout the way, the Cats lost four games by a combined 14 points, including a triple overtime setback away to Alabama State. The Cats finished tied for sixth in the SWAC standings, earning the No. 6 seed in the tournament. Along the way, the Cats won four of their first five SWAC games to begin the league campaign.
Crayton has an extensive résumé of leadership on and off the court. She arrived to Daytona Beach from Kennesaw State where she served two years as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the Owls. Prior to Kennesaw State, Crayton worked under David Six at Hampton University, where she was part of three consecutive winning seasons for the Pirates, which included a place in the NCAA Tournament during the 2016-17.
Prior to Hampton, the Atlanta, Georgia native served as an assistant coach at such schools as UNC Asheville, William and Mary, Colgate, Oberlin and Oglethorpe, respectively.
Off the court, Crayton served as a campaign associate for The United Way of Greater Atlanta where she led multiple fundraising campaigns and coordinated with large corporate partners to help raise money for the organization.
As a basketball player, Crayton boasts international playing experience that includes stops throughout the Czech Republic and Turkey, having also run youth camps in those respective countries. Additionally, Crayton had the opportunity to teach basketball fundamentals to high school students at Wesley Girls School in Ghana, West Africa.
She received her M.S. from Ohio University, where she completed the prestigious Sports Administration program.
Included on Crayton’s list of accolades is being a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), as well as the Black Coaches Association (BCA), and she has also graduated from the NCAA Women's Coaches Academy.
