Episode 34 - Patrick Crarey - D1 head coach at Grambling State University, Takoma Academy and La Sierra University grad, guest coach for San Antonio Spurs summer league with Wemby

The new head coach at Division 1 Grambling State University talks about his Adventist roots, from playing in Adventist church league in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Takoma Academy (TA), to La Sierra University, where he quickly got his first coaching opportunities while still a college student there. Patrick returned home to coach TA for a year before starting as assitant athletic director at then NCAA Division 2 Washington Adventist University (WAU), just down the street. He was quickly promoted to head athletic director and became the men’s head basketball coach, turning around a losing program through a culture shift where losing was not accepted as the standard. 

In 2014 Patrick led WAU to a USCAA National Championship, and after transitioning to NAIA, later went on to beat two Division 1 schools and win their conference. He talks about just how good the level of competition is at the NAIA level after spending so many years coaching there. In the 2021-2022 season Patrick took a job at Saint Thomas University where he led them to the most wins in school history, and a conference title in 2023-2024.

That summer, at the invitation of his former TA and La Sierra teammate, Brian Wright, General Manager for the San Antonio Spurs, Patrick had the opportunity to be a guest coach for the Spurs during summer league. It was Victor Wembanyama's rookie year, so Patrick describes the hoopla surrounding the team and what it was like to sit on the first row of the bench as an NBA assistant for a game.

After the summer experience with the Spurs and taking Saint Thomas to the NAIA Sweet 16, Patrick got the call from Division 1 Florida A & M University (FAMU). He admits that he wanted the job so bad, he didn’t seek God’s guidance, because he didn’t want God to say “no.” Though he led FAMU to it’s first conference tournament win in school history, there were significant challenges, and after getting an opportunity at Grambaling State and consulting God, he made the transition to Louisiana for the 2025-2026 season.

Patrick talks about the biggest change going from NAIA to the Division 1 level, how he’s learned to handle the media, and how he’s developed as a coach without working much as an assistant all these years. He gives advice to Adventist kids to not let anyone determine your goals, how excited he was to watch the AdventistHoops All-American Weekend, and commits to being a part of the next All-American Weekend (pending any NCAA restrictions).

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