By T. Scott Boatright
The new big cat for the Grambling State men’s basketball coach appears to be out of the bag.
On Tuesday, the GSU Athletics Department announced an 11 a.m. press conference on Friday inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center but kept a tight lid on who the next head Tiger would be.
But news broke in Tallahassee, Florida, Thursday afternoon that Florida A&M basketball coach Patrick Crarey II is reportedly leaving FAMU to become the head coach at Grambling.
In a case of Southwestern Athletic Conference musical chairs, he’ll replace Donte Jackson, who last week took over as head coach of the men’s hoops program at Alabama A&M.
Crarey signed only a one-year, $150,000 contract at the recommendation of FAMU’s Board of Trustees last summer, but FAMU’s Board of Trustees approved an offer for a two-year extension worth $330,000 for him in February.
The posting for the Grambling State job started at $230k.
FAMU finished with a 14-17 record and a 10-8 mark in the SWAC in its only season with Crarey at the helm.
The Rattlers’ 14 wins were the most in a season since 2008, and Crarey led them to their first SWAC Tournament game since 2002, their first season in the conference since moving from the MEAC, with FAMU beating Prairie View in the tourney opener before falling to Jackson State in the second round.
Under Crarey’s leadership, Florida A&M’s Sterling Young was named the SWAC Player of the Year and the Rattlers’ Milton Matthews was named the league’s Freshman of the Year, but both along with other FAMU players opted to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after the season ended.
Just as Jackson came to Grambling from an NAIA school, Crarey took over at Florida A&M after a successful NAIA coaching stint.
During the 2023-24 season, Crarey led St. Thomas to a record 22-9, with his Bobcats clinching the Sun Conference regular season title, and earning a berth in the NAIA Tournament.
St. Thomas won its NAIA Tournament before falling in the second round, ending the season ranked 21st nationally.
St. Thomas posted a program-record 26 wins during the 2022-23 season.
Crarey’s first season at St. Thomas came in 2021-22, as the Bobcats had four All-Conference players.
Before taking over at St. Thomas, Crarey coached for 10 years at Washington Adventist University, where he won a United States Collegiate Athletic Association national title in 2014 and twice was named the USCAA Coach of the Year.
