Ashley Crawford
Assistant Coach

Ashley Crawford joined the UT Arlington coaching staff on May 2, 2013. The Mesquite native comes to UT Arlington after spending three year as an assistant coach at Lamar University.

Before coaching, Crawford played for the Lady Cardinals where she overcame a serious knee injury to post two solid seasons. In her final campaign, she started 26 of Lamar's 34 games, averaging 6.3 points per game while often accepting the role of shutting down the opposition's top scorer.

Crawford played an important role on the 2009-2010 Lamar squad that posted a 26-8 record en route to winning the Southland Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

In the classroom, Crawford earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and completed her master's degree in kinesiology in 2010. She posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in her master's program during her final season on the court, earning her first-team District 6 All-Academic honors.

Crawford attended Horn High School, where she earned all-region honors as a senior. She averaged seven points per game at Trinity Valley Community College, where she set the school single-game assist record with 19. She attended UT Arlington for one season before transferring to Lamar.

Talby Justus
Assistant Coach

Justus joined Maverick basketball in May 2013 after spedning three years as a member of the New Mexico State Junior College coaching staff. In his first year assisting with the women's basketball program, the Lady Thunderbirds set four new program records. In 2012 the Lady Thunderbirds went 32-5, won their first ever WJCAC Conference Championship, then went on to win one of the toughest Region tournaments in the Nation. Winning The Region 5 Tournament qualified them for the NJCAA Div. 1 National Tournament in Salina, KS.

At the National Tournament, the Lady Thunderbirds went 3-1 and finished fifth in the country. These accomplishments were new benchmarks for the rising program. In 2013 the Lady Thunderbirds split the WJCAC Conference Title and went 23-5. Justus' combined record at NMJC is 55-10. In his final season, he helped coach the Lady Thunderbirds to their fourth-straight regional berth.

Prior to his move to the collegiate level, the Stillwater, Oklahoma native worked in the high school ranks, most recently at Ripley High School. He built the girls program at Ripley into a respected program by going 68-18 the past three seasons with a trip to the Area Tournament and two conference championships. He spent three years previous at Glencoe High School where he led that program to the first state championship in school history in 2006 and in 2007 led them to the State Runner-up. He finished his tenure at Glencoe with a record of 76-17 and led the state in points allowed per game for three straight years.

Justus was one of four finalists for Oklahoma's Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2006 and named by his peers the District II Basketball Coach of the Year in 2007. In 2006, Justus was asked to coach in the Oklahoma All-Star Games. He was also named the Cimarron Valley Conference Coach of the Year on four different occasions.

Justus played four years of college basketball. He first attended Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, Okla., then finished his collegiate career at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. During his tenure at Tabor, he was named KCAC All-Conference and made an Elite Eight and Final Four appearance in the NAIA II National Tournament in 1996 and 1997. On May 15, 2010 Tabor College inducted the 1996-97 team into the Tabor College Hall of Fame.

During his high school career, at Pawnee High School, Justus played for his father, Harley Justus, who has coached in Oklahoma for more than 35 years. Justus earned his Bachelor's Degree from Tabor College in 2007 earned a Master's Degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Justus and his wife, Lori, are very proud of their three children Talby Jr., Holton, and Makenna.

Courtney Lee
Director of basketball Operations

Courtney Lee joined Maverick basketball in May 2013 as director of basketball operations after spending one season under Krista Gerlich at West Texas A&M as the director of student-athlete services.

She made the move from player to coach after a successful four-year career on the WT basketball team. Lee was a three-year starting guard for the WT Lady Buffs, playing in 114 games and starting 100. She shot 47.7 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from 3-point range, averaging 10.9 points per game in her career. She totaled 1,246 points, finding her place in the WT record books at number 11 for career points. She also made the career free-throw percentage list at seventh with a .739 shooting clip and is listed at third in the 3-point field goal percentage season record with 44.9 percent shooting.

Lee was named as the Lone Star Conference defensive player of the year for two consecutive years, and listed on the LSC South Division all-conference second team twice. She was also named to the LSC South Commissioners honor roll for her performance in the classroom.

An Arlington, Texas native, Lee graduated from Kennedale High as one of the most proficient scorers in her high school's history, netting over 2,000 career points. She was a two-time TGCA All-State honoree and a three-time TABC All-Region selection, as well as the District MVP as a senior. Lee was also a four-year letter winner in track. She also received a Masters degree in Sports & Exercise Science in May 2011.