SYDNI SALVATO | HEAD COACH
John Brown announced the hiring of Sydni Salvato as the 12th head women's basketball coach in program history on May 6, 2024.
The Lubbock, Texas native takes the reins of the women's hoops program after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Nazarene (Okla.), helping lead the Crimson Storm to consecutive Great American Conference titles and the best season (30-3) in the program's NCAA II era history in 2024.
During her time at SNU, Salvato and the Crimson Storm compiled an impressive 57-8 (.877) over two seasons and made the program's first Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA II tournament last year. The Crimson Storm fell to eventual national champion, Minnesota State University at Mankato in 2024 while dropping out of the tournament the season before at the hands of eventual national runner-up, University of Minnesota Duluth.
During Southern Nazarene's incredible two-year run, Salvato was responsible for scouting reports, recruiting, practice and game plans, film sessions and on-court walkthroughs, and managed game situations. She also served as head junior varsity coach for three consecutive seasons, dating back a year earlier during her time at Mid-America Christian (Okla.).
Before her one-year stint at MACU as a graduate assistant where she helped the Evangels make the program's first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championships during its most successful season in program history, Salvato was mentored for four seasons as a student assistant by the venerable Steve Gomez at Lubbock Christian University. At LCU, Salvato was part of a program that captured the 2019 and 2021 NCAA II national championships, secured three consecutive regional titles and additionally won four straight Lone Star Conference crowns.
During her time as a Chaparral in West Texas, Salvato was charged with creating scouting reports, organizing recruiting visits, planning individual skill workouts, organizing and planning for road trips and administrating summer camps.
Salvato succeeds the program's all-time winningest coach in Jeff Soderquist, who retired after guiding the Golden Eagles to a single-season program record 29-4 mark in his final season, which included the program's first-ever Sooner Athletic regular season and tournament titles and a seventh NAIA National Championships appearance. Soderquist led the program for 27 seasons, compiling a 424-402 (.513) career record during his nearly three-decade tenure.
A graduate of Lubbock Christian with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Science degree, Salvato recently completed her Master of Arts in Leadership at Mid-America Christian.
KYLEE HARRIS | ASSISTANT COACH
