After a challenging season in which the team finished with alosing record both against SWAC and non-conference opponents, Florida A&M University is turning a new page with the appointment of Patrick Crarey II as the new men’s head basketball coach.
Crarey, who recently signed a one-year deal, is tasked with revitalizing the program and instilling a winning culture.
During the offseason, Crarey heavily utilized the transfer portal, bringing in a diverse group of new players from various levels while retaining some players from the previous team.
“All those guys that came back, we like them,” Crarey said.“And they are good culture guys that represent Florida A&M to the highest. Good students, good athletes.”
Crarey also acknowledged the intangibles of his returners.
“Really their toughness,” Crarey said. “That’s what really got me was the toughness.”
Among the new faces are transfers Shaqir O’Neal from Texas Southern University, Kaleb Washington from Butler Community College, Sterling Young from the University of North Carolina Charlotte and Milton Matthews. Matthews followed his coach from St. Thomas University.
With a group of new players who have never played together, this team is poised to make a significant impact in the SWAC after finishing second to last in their conference. They aim to bring numerous wins to Al Lawson, generate excitement in the SWAC, and showcase a polished style of basketball for Rattler fans to appreciate.
“Our team goal is to win,” Milton said. “Win as much as we can, win the SWAC, and hopefully go to the big dance. We are going to start one game at a time and keep climbing.”
Returning guard Jordan Chatman says he has been bonding with his new teammates throughout the summer.
“I feel like we have a team full of people with a chip on their shoulder,” Chatman said. “Because we want to prove a lot of people wrong since the past two years we haven’t had the best record. We have a lot of stuff to prove, so I feel like we have a lot of dogs on the team.”
It has been almost two decades since FAMU made the NCAA Tournament.
Under then-head coach Mike Gillespie, they finished with a 21-14 record in the MEAC conference.
“We never won a SWAC tournament game,” Crarey said. “We got to be a competitive team to be good in the tournament and put ourselves to win the tournament.”
The men’s basketball team season begins on Monday, November 4th when they travel to Fort Worth to play Texas Christian University.