David Grace (basketball)

David Grace (USAF Retired)
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Assistant Coach
Team 2015-16 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
Conference Pacific 12 Conference
Biographical details
Born Aberdeen, Maryland
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2004 Trevor G. Browne High School (Bruins), Phoenix, Arizona (Assistant Coach)
2004-2006 South Mountain High School (Jaguars), Phoenix, Arizona (State Champion Head Coach)
2006-2007 California State University, Sacramento (Hornets) (Assistant Coach)
2007-2008 University of San Francisco (USF Dons)(Assistant Coach)
2008-2013 Oregon State University (OSU Beavers)(Assistant Coach)
2013-2016 University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA Bruins) (Assistant Coach)

David Grace is a NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Coach, former High School and AAU Head Coach, and is retired from the United States Air Force.

Military career

Grace grew up in Aberdeen, Md. and his father Gerald worked long hours as a mechanic. His mother was a beautician and he began military life after she re-married a serviceman and moved to a series of bases over the years. He joined the military at age 18 and served for 20 years. For 16 years (of his 20) as a fuel specialist and accountant, Grace traveled between Air Force bases in Turkey, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, and Virginia before settling down in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports said the importance of discipline, teamwork, and following the chain of command became ingrained in Grace and three months in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm also taught him to appreciate the difference between the life-threatening pressure of a combat zone and the day-to-day challenges of a job. [1]

Grace began his coaching career in 1997 while he was stationed at Langley AFB, Va. After leaving Langley, Grace was stationed at Luke AFB near Phoenix and coached two AAU teams and a team in high school. "I've been very proud of him seeing the progress he's made from the time he began here as an assistant coach at a high school to becoming an assistant coach at OSU," said Ronald Goodwyn, 56th Fighter Wing equal opportunity director. "He has taken the Air Force core values and tied them into his coaching to prepare the athletes to be successful even after their life in basketball." [2]

Early coaching career in AAU and High School

Grace started coaching with the Boo Williams Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) program in Hampton, Virginia, and the Compton Magic AAU program in Los Angeles, CA.[3]

He also co-founded the Arizona Magic AAU program in the Phoenix, Arizona area, as an affiliate of the Compton Magic, that made it to the Elite Eight (of 338 AAU teams) of the 2004 Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team featured Milwaukee Bucks player Jerryd Bayless (Arizona), Kaleo Kina (Naval Academy), Darren Jordan (Oral Roberts), Ty Morrison (Creighton/Grand Canyon), and former Stanford All-Conference selection and European League professional Lawrence Hill (Le Havre, France). [4]

Grace began his high school coaching career at Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix while at Luke AFB, and then retired and moved into coaching full time.[5]He then became Head Coach at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, AZ for the 2004-05 season and won the 2005-06 Division 5A-2 State Championship with a win/loss record of 29-4, and was the Arizona Varsity and Arizona Informant Coach of the Year.[6] [7]

NCAA D1 career

David Grace became a basketball coach at the NCAA D1 level after retiring from 20 years of active duty in the United States Air Force.[8] He started his college coaching career at California State University, Sacramento in 2006 as an Assistant Coach after receiving a recommendation from Coach Lute Olson at the University of Arizona to Head Coach Jerome Jenkins.[9]

After one year there he then became an Assistant Coach at the University of San Francisco in 2007-08 under Head Coach Jessie Evans who had been an Assistant Coach under Lute Olson on his 1996-7 Arizona Wildcat's Men's Basketball National Championship team.[10]

Grace was hired as an Assistant Coach of the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team in 2009 by Head Coach Craig Robinson, the older brother of U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, and served there in that role through the 2012-13 season. His first major Beaver recruit was All-Conference Team selection Roberto Nelson, who became the 2012-13 Pac 12 Conference scoring champion (20.7 points per game), and is currently a European pro in Italy (Trieste).[11]

Current position

Grace has completed 8 years of coaching in the Pacific 12 Conference where he is one of the longest tenured coaches. As of 2016, he is Assistant Coach at UCLA under Head Coach Steve Alford and has been there since the 2013-14 season.[12] Grace's first two seasons at UCLA ended with consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. [13] He was rated the seventh best recruiter in the USA and the highest ranked on the West Coast by ESPN's coaches survey for 2016. [14]

The 2016–17 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team includes new recruits Lonzo Ball (the Naismith National Prep Player of the Year), T.J. Leaf, Kobe Paras, and Ike Anigbogu, and was rated the fifth best recruiting class in the nation by ESPN. [15] His former recruits and players now in the NBA include Kevon Looney, Jerryd Bayless, Zach LaVine, Eric Moreland, Jared Cunningham, Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams, Norman Powell, and Lou Amundsen.

Personal life

Grace grew up in Aberdeen, Md., and played basketball and baseball at Aberdeen High School (Maryland). He is of Native American descent (Cherokee) and has worked with the Nike N7 program for several years to honor Native Americans. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in management (human resources) from Park University and degrees in logistics and social services from the Air Force. He and his wife, Crystal, have six grown children: Troy, Terrell, Tierra, David II, Aubrey, and Andre. His father Gerald was a high school basketball referee and baseball umpire in Maryland for 35 years. [16]

References

  1. ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/ucla-assistant-david-grace-took-unlikely-path-top-185751864--ncaab.html
  2. ↑ http://www.luke.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/3070/Article/358818/airman-pursues-dream-of-becoming-first-d-1-coach.aspx
  3. ↑ "Rivals.com - David Grace rising to the top". www.rivals.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  4. ↑ "Rivals.com - The Magic gains national attention". www.rivals.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  5. ↑ "Airman pursues dream of becoming first D-1 coach". Luke Air Force Base. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  6. ↑ "What's up with former South Mountain boys basketball coach David Grace". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  7. ↑ "David Grace Biography". uclabruins.com. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  8. ↑ "UCLA assistant David Grace took unusual route into coaching world". www.dailynews.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  9. ↑ "UCLA’s David Grace Ready for the Next Step | Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News". www.basketballinsiders.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  10. ↑ "OSU Assistant Grace Leaves for UCLA". CSN Northwest. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  11. ↑ "Roberto Nelson". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  12. ↑ "UCLA assistant David Grace took unlikely path to coaching after serving 20 years in the Air Force". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  13. ↑ "UCLA assistant coach says Bruins 'will step up' for game against Gonzaga". For The Win. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  14. ↑ "Duke's Jeff Capel tops CBB recruiter rankings". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  15. ↑ "2016 Basketball Class Rankings". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  16. ↑ http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=207913802
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