In the humid, raucous air of the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center on the Grambling State University campus, two teams with everything to play for will clash this afternoon. But the game within the game will unfold on the home sideline, where a man who once bled orange and green now wears the black and gold of the Grambling State Tigers.
The FAMU Rattlers (12-15, 9-7 SWAC) roll into town riding the high of a two-game winning streak, sitting squarely in fifth place in the conference. Their opponent, the Grambling State Tigers (12-16, 6-9 SWAC), is clinging to ninth, desperate for a win to keep their slim hopes for a favorable tournament seeding alive. The math is simple, the stakes are immense: the top six teams earn a coveted double-bye in the SWAC tournament. For FAMU, a win solidifies their position. For Grambling, a loss could spell the end.
But numbers can’t capture the narrative.
This is a story of a program facing its recent past. Just over a year ago, Grambling coach Patrick Crarey II was the architect of FAMU’s attack, the coach whose plays and energy fueled the Rattlers’ ambitions. Today, he is the first-year head man for Grambling, tasked with leading one of the marque programs in the SWAC and, this afternoon, tasked with derailing the very team he helped build.
“There’s no mystery here,” said FAMU Head Coach Charlie Ward, with a measured respect for his predecessor. “Pat knows our personnel inside and out. He knows what we like to run in late-clock situations. He knows our sets. The advantage is his. Our challenge is to be better than we were when he was here.”
The first matchup this season supports Ward's point on January 12th, the Rattlers outlasted the Tigers 91-84 in a track meet at the Al Lawson Center. It was a game of runs, a testament to two teams mirroring each other’s up-tempo, aggressive style—a style Crarey undoubtedly helped instill in both locker rooms.
Since that loss, Grambling’s season has been a rollercoaster of near misses and tough lessons. But in Crarey, they have a leader who understands the path to success in this league intimately.
“It’s definitely different,” Crarey admitted after a recent practice, the Grambling wind whipping across the court. “You build relationships with those young men. You recruit them. You celebrate with them. But now, my job is to beat them. This is business. We need this win, and sentiment can’t be a part of the equation.”
For the Rattlers, the equation is about momentum. Their two-game streak has been powered by a locked-in defense and timely scoring. A win today not only avenges any emotional and home court advantage Crarey may hold but sends a message to the rest of the SWAC that they are peaking at the perfect time.
For the Tigers, it’s about survival. A loss likely dashes any realistic chance at a top-six finish. A win, especially over a team directly above them in the standings, could ignite a final-week surge.
So this afternoon in Louisiana, X’s and O’s will be drawn up by a man reading from a familiar playbook, just for a different team. Shots will be taken with tournament seeding hanging in the balance. And for forty minutes, the FAMU Rattlers won’t just be playing the Grambling State Tigers.
They’ll be playing against the ghost of their own recent history, embodied on the opposite bench, fighting for its future.
Tip off is at 5 p.m. EST on SWAC TV.