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The Basketball Podcast: EP378 with Patrick Crarey on Relationships then Championships
In this week’s coaching conversation, Grambling State head coach Patrick Crarey shares insights on relationships then championships.
Crarey comes to Grambling State after spending one season as the head coach at Florida A&M. Crarey reignited the FAMU men’s basketball program, exceeding expectations and guiding the Rattlers to the SWAC Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2022. He led the Rattlers to a 13-16 overall record and a 10-8 mark in conference play. He also coached Sterling Young, who was named the SWAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year.
Prior to coaching at FAMU, he served as head coach at St. Thomas University for three years, posting a 61-27 record with two consecutive NAIA Tournament appearances and three straight winning seasons.
Crarey led the Bobcats to a 22-9, 10-4 record in 2023-24 and were the Sun Conference Regular Season Champions. The Bobcats made it to the NAIA Tournament 2nd Round and finished the season ranked 21st in the nation. The Bobcats regular season success led to Crarey being named the Sun Conference Coach of the Year.
His coaching journey has taken him from assistant roles at La Sierra University to head coaching stints at Washington Adventist University, St. Thomas University, and Florida A&M. Crarey’s track record of success includes multiple championships and accolades, including the 2014 USCAA Men’s Division I National Championship, conference titles, and six NAIA National Tournament appearances. He has guided six teams to 20-plus win seasons, earning Coach of the Year honors in both the ICAA and Sun Conference.
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Patrick Crarey Quotes:
“it’s all about the relationship. It starts with your players. That’s the biggest one. I’ve learned, as players have changed over time, the complexities of relationships are different now. Some of them might be a little more transactional. Sometimes kids want you to really be involved, and so you’ve got to respect each relationship and framework as being different. All of them won’t be the same.”
“How you show up for class, how you prioritize your time, how you get in the weight room, how you get into the practice gym, and how disciplined you are in practice determines how good you’re going to be, period.”
“No matter what you’re doing in this life, if you are not disciplined in it, your destiny is going to suffer. And so, it’s not really about what you have or what is thrown at you. It’s about how hard you’re doing it and what regularity you’re doing it with in your discipline level. We try to teach our guys that on a daily basis to try to get them where they need to be.”
“Players really want to get smarter. And the part of the game that they really want to get better at is reading the ball screens because they know that no matter where they go, no matter what level they’re at, no matter how high they go professionally, they’re going to have to get better in the ball screens.”
“We want to make sure that we are always showing them, teaching them, developing them, holding them accountable and letting them see it on a daily basis. So, when they go to the next level or they go pro overseas, they’re not overwhelmed with that type of data.”
“You have to really find the niche about your school. Is your school a glitz and glamour school? Is your school a rough and tough school? How does that adapt to the players that you recruit? There are some players that I could have recruited at St. Thomas that I probably couldn’t have recruited at Washington Adventist.”
“I’ve been here on the ground running now for almost six or seven weeks, and my whole focus has been roster-building. I don’t think there’s anything more important than the people you have in your building.”
“You’re going to get better with that [your weaknesses]. So, I always show them, I don’t want to hide from it. Other people are looking at it. It’s not a reason to get discouraged. It’s a reason to get better and work harder and know what you got to do.”
“We really try to educate our guys on the numbers-based system because if you want to go to the NBA or you want to go to high level Europe, they’re going to sit you down and say, ‘Hey, your efficiency rating is just not high enough. That’s why you’re not playing.’”
“Don’t let anybody put any limits on your life or your dreams or what they think you can do. It’s up to you, your work ethic . . to get you where you need to be.”
Patrick Crarey Breakdown:
Patrick Crarey Selected Links from the Podcast:
Patrick Crarey
Brett Brown
Matthew Driscoll
Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Joe Mazzulla
Sullivan Phillips
Milton Matthews
Shaka Smart
Amir Abdur-Rahim
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