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Liberty County’s Destiny Craig always knew how long and tough the road to being an accomplished basketball player would be. She experienced it first hand by watching her brother. For Craig, the journey started years ago, thousands of miles away in Korea and will continue to Fort Valley next fall. “In the third grade while living in Korea, I began playing organized basketball and softball,” she said. “My favorite sport is basketball, and it is the only sport I play.” The youngest of five kids, Destiny has two older brothers and two sisters. At a young age she saw how the game develops. “I began to realize that basketball was more than just dribbling and scoring,” Craig said. “Winning didn’t matter as much as how my team played and worked together.” She started understanding the importance of seeing the game from a different perspective. She started to realize, at an age younger than most, that basketball is a team sport in which everyone needs to be moving in one direction. Craig also got some important hands-on work as a gym rat who watched her brother play basketball
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every summer. He eventually went on to play at the college level.
“In high school my game started developing from my older brother, who played college basketball,” Craig said. “Every summer I would spend every day in the gym with him. Watching him grow from a college basketball player to now a women’s college basketball coach has definitely made me grow and get better.”
Craig’s brother, Deion, played at East Georgia and Coker College. He currently is an assistant coach with the Charleston Southern University women’s basketball team. While Destiny started becoming a student of the game in middle school watching college and WNBA games, the time she spent with Deion helped make her game better. “Since I was in middle school, I loved watching the WNBA and college basketball,” she said. “When I watched those games, I always studied the teams that were play-
“Winning didn’t matter as much as how my team played and worked together.” — Destiny Craig
ing and picked someone on one of the teams who I admired, and I tried to understand their game personally, understanding why they made the move they did and how they treated their team. Doing that, I believe, made me the student of basketball I am today.” Destiny had a stellar junior year, averaging 10 points a game and a solid 41 percent behind the three point arc. She battled through her senior campaign at times, but still made every second on the hardwood count. A 5’ 10” guard, she plays strong defense and even as a guard can be a force on the boards.
“I want my legacy in high school to be that my coaches and teammates remember that I worked hard and did the best I could,” Craig said.
Liberty County Lady Panther coach Nicole Tazewell is in her second season as head coach of her high school alma matter, and while only having coached Craig for two seasons, said she has made an impression. “Although I only coached her for two seasons, I definitely developed
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