It wasn’t the big D-I or NBA name some had hoped for. Still, it was a solid pick. All coach Patrick Crarey II has done since he began coaching was build winners. Right now, Florida A&M basketball needs a reboot on its once-storied program and a kickstart into contention in the SWAC. It has been 15 years since FAMU defeated Delaware State to win the 2007 MEAC championship in its former conference.
Curiously, the coach to win that MEAC title was Mike Gillespie. Gillespie won two MEAC championships during his tenure and won FAMU’s only game of the NCAA tournament when they defeated Niagara in the play-in game. One reason that Crarey could be the answer for FAMU is the similarity in Crarey and Gillespie’s journeys.
Gillespie dominated junior college basketball in Tallahassee. As head coach of Tallahassee Community College, it was often thought that the best college team in Tallahassee was neither at FSU nor FAMU, but at TCC. He transitioned to FAMU and with his recruiting prowess, he pulled in some talented players. The brand of ball was exciting, and his popularity helped fill Gaither Gym with people from across the Tallahassee community.
Patrick Crarey II comes in from a very successful stint at the NAIA level. While coaching at Washington Adventist, he had great talent working in the Washington, D.C. area. In fact, in 2016 he took his team to face the Hampton Pirates. In a game at Hampton, Crarey’s Washington Adventist team lost to the Pirates by just two points. The 69-67 win by Hampton propelled them into the MEAC tournament where they went undefeated en route to the NCAA tournament. Let that sink in. His NAIA program took the MEAC Champion Pirates to the brink. To say that Washington Adventist was a low resource program is an understatement.
He led the St. Thomas University Bobcats to a 61-27 record. By any standard, that is winning. Winning has followed Crarey and there is no reason to believe he will not return the Rattlers to the top of the conference.
Crarey has worked in low resource institutions
While FAMU and most HBCUs are considered “low resource” by NCAA definition, it does not mean that FAMU is not equipped to be a major player in the conference and possibly the NCAA. The Lawson Center, where the Rattlers play, is one of the best basketball facilities in all of HBCU basketball and mid-major arenas as well. The locker rooms are pristine and there is a player lounge. With a full complement of scholarships, Crarey’s recruiting reputation should allow him to pull in some much-needed players to bolster the roster.
As a 40-year-old, Patrick Crarey II should connect with today’s era of players. With NIL, the transfer portal, and social media, today’s basketball coach has a lot more to deal with than previously. With new rules on the horizon, the scope of college basketball will change even more dramatically. As Power Five and Group of Five schools dig deeper into NIL funds, balancing your roster will become an annual task.
Florida A&M didn’t necessarily need one of the big names floating out there. They needed a winner. The name will grow with success. The parity in the SWAC has been a revolving door for the championship. Florida A&M could be primed in the next few years to take the mantle with a successful building of the program by Crarey.
FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes was firmly behind the selection. This would be her second selection of FAMU basketball coaches.
Last year, she hired former WNBA, University of Tennessee, and Olympic star Bridgette Gordon to lead the Lady Rattlers. In her first campaign, without being on campus for a full year, Gordon would lead the team to nine wins, which equaled the wins of the two previous years combined.
More importantly, everyone who knows basketball appreciated the brand of basketball the team transitioned to. Rattler faithful are hoping that Sykes has the magic touch in choosing basketball coaches and the Rattlers can begin to rebuild to championship caliber.