Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

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Gravelle Craig begins his sixth season as Head Coach of the Bethune-Cookman University men's basketball team after seven years of playing a key part in the Wildcats' rise to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season champions and the program's first-ever appearance in the conference tournament championship game in 2012.

The Wildcats’ final record of 18-17 that season also made Craig the first Wildcat coach since Raymond McDoogle in 1966-67 (19-10) to have a winning record in his first season as head coach. His win total of was the 16th highest among first-year head coaches nationally in 2011-2012.

In his five seasons, Craig has posted a 40-40 record in MEAC play, the best among B-CU's Division I head coaches. To make Wildcat fans happy, Craig has won eight of his 10 games against arch-rival Florida A&M -- the best coaching winning percentage among all B-CU coaches and enters this season with a five-game winning streak in the series. 

His most recent team produced the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of The Year in LaRon Smith and HBCU All American Jordan Potts, who joins 2011 HBCU Player Of The Year CJ Reed and Adrien Coleman (2013) in receiving that honor.

Academic success has been a trademark of Craig’s tenure.  Five of his players received their Bachelor’s Degree at the 2016 Commencement ceremonies, bringing the total to 17 and two managers. In addition, Coach Craig set the example when he became the men's basketball program's fifth recipient of a Master’s Degree in 2015.   

In 2016, Bethune-Cookman was just one of 27 Division I men's team's to receive the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Team Academic Excellence Award for an overall team Grade Point Average of 3.0 or higher. In addition, Josue Salaam received individual recognition on the Honors Court for a year-long GPA of higher than 3.2.

Craig came to Bethune-Cookman after spending the 2003-04 season at Chicago State University as an assistant coach. While at Chicago State, he was a part of the coaching staff that guided CSU to the most wins in school history on the Division I level of athletics with 13 overall wins. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia for two seasons throughout the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.

Just before that, Craig spent the summer of 1998 as Director of the Cleveland Pro-Am Summer Basketball League where numerous NBA players such as former Florida State guard Bob Sura, James Posey, Earl Boykins and J.R. Bremer were featured as a part of his leadership.

Craig is a 1999 graduate of Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. While at Cleveland State, Craig was selected as a First Team All-Mid-Continent performer for the 1992-93 campaign. He helped the Vikings to the Mid-Con Championship in 1993, and holds the Mid-Continent Tournament single-game record for assists (14).

He is a native of Farrell, Pennsylvania. A multi-sport athlete at Farrell HS, he still is the fourth-leading scorer in the history of the basketball program there.

His son, Donovan, 15, resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.