By Chris Stevens
(Source: HBCU Sports)
Patrick Crarey II shifted the HBCU basketball landscape after leaving Florida A&M to take over at Grambling State following Donte Jackson’s exit.
What does this move mean for each program? It’s not very complicated.
Grambling gets their man — again
Crarey is one of a legion of talented and successful young coaches in college basketball, and he has worked hard at every stop.
From taking Washington Adventist to a USCAA championship and NAIA tournament appearances to leading Florida A&M to their most wins in over 15 years, Crarey (just 41 years old) is a proven winner at various levels and an excellent recruiter.
Jackson had those two tenets in spades when guiding Grambling to its most successful era as a D1 basketball program. There won’t be much of a dropoff if Crarey gets the resources Jackson was concerned about in explaining his departure.
Crarey will have to hit the ground running, as the transfer portal is active and over 3,000 players are possibly looking for new homes.
However, if what he was able to do in his lone year at FAMU is any indication, Grambling has struck gold once again with its men’s basketball program.
Florida A&M bitten by their own fangs
As for the Rattlers, well…back to square one.
The drama surrounding Crarey’s hire by now-Virginia State athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes led to questions from FAMU’s board of trustees about his ability to coach and why weren’t higher-profile candidates sought out.
That led to what amounted to a temporary contract, as Sykes’s three-year proposed deal with Crarey was whittled down to a one-year contract. As the average NCAA basketball coach’s contract usually begins with three years, this was a bold gamble by the school’s brain trust.
The gamble paid off on the court, as Crarey led the Florida A&M men to only their second winning SWAC record (10-8) since joining the conference and their most overall wins (14) since the 2007-08 season. Crarey mentioned in a press conference this past season that his one-year contract and a predicted 11th-place finish didn’t change his expectations.
While Florida A&M offered him a contract extension during the season, the damage had already been done.
Mid-Major Madness — among other college basketball analysts — suggested that FAMU had ruined its already shaky reputation by opening the door for Crarey to walk because of circumstances it created.
Its X account on Thursday suggested that FAMU basketball was the least attractive job in all of Division I basketball.
And now once again, a Rattlers basketball program that has not had a winning season since 2006-07 is left to look for another coach willing to deal with unrealistic expectations from administrators and board members who have missed nearly every shot they’ve taken in recent memory.
