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

About this episode

Patrick Crarey discusses his journey from Adventist church league to becoming the head coach at Grambling State University and his experiences coaching at various institutions.

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…

People in this episode

Guest: Patrick Crarey

Topics covered

• basketball
• coaching
• Adventist roots
• NAIA competition
• sports achievements
• Grambling State University
• San Antonio Spurs

Keywords

• Patrick Crarey
• Grambling State University
• basketball coaching
• Adventist
• NAIA
• San Antonio Spurs
• Victor Wembanyama
• Washington Adventist University
• Saint Thomas University
• championships

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Grambling State University, Takoma Academy, La Sierra University, San Antonio Spurs, Washington Adventist University, Saint Thomas University

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