Assistant Coach
Queens College ‘88
3rd Season At St. John’s
When it was time for St. John's head men's basketball
coach Norm Roberts to make his first hire, he tabbed an excellent
teacher, friend and former teammate as his top assistant. Glenn
Braica (pronounced Brike-uh), now in his third season, was the
first assistant to join Roberts’ new coaching staff at St. John’s
in April 2004.
Braica is a proven recruiter, scout and strategist, and
was instrumental in helping St. John’s land a nationally-ranked Top
5 recruiting class of newcomers for the 2006-07 season. Braica’s
on-court instruction, particularly with the St. John’s guards, sets
the groundwork for the BIG EAST’s second-rated field goal
percentage defense (.394) and 3-point field goal percentage defense
(.322) from a season ago. Braica’s tutelage helped then-sophomore
Eugene Lawrence finish fourth in the BIG EAST in assists (4.9 per
game) and 10th in steals (1.6 per game) in
2005-06.
A native New Yorker, Braica attended St. Agnes High School
and Bishop Ford in Brooklyn in the early 1980s. The Brooklyn-born
Braica went on to join Roberts as part of the Queens College
Knights from 1984-88, where the two became fast friends.
Experience On The Bench
Braica began his coaching career at New York City Tech as an
assistant in 1988. Braica also served as a teacher at The Reece
School and in the New York Board of Education (District 30) school
system from 1989-1994.
He roamed the St. Francis College (N.Y.) sidelines on the
Brooklyn campus for 15 years, serving as Associate Head Coach from
the 2000-01 season to 2003-04. While at St. Francis, Braica worked
under Ron Ganulin, who spent last season as the Director of Player
Development for the NBA’s Washington Wizards. At St. Francis,
Braica served as the recruiting coordinator and participated in
on-court coaching, scouting, individual workouts, preseason and
postseason conditioning, film exchange and monitored each player's
academic progress.
St. Francis finished the 2003-04 regular season as Northeast
Conference (NEC) co-champions with Monmouth, posting a 12-6 league
record. The Terriers also had an impressive 8-4 mark at home,
completing the year at 15-13 overall.
Braica, 42, helped develop the Terriers' offensive system, which
ranked first or second in the NEC in each of the last five seasons
he was on staff. From 1998-2004, the Terriers had one player named
the league's Player of the Year, six first-team All-NEC selections,
five second-team All-NEC honorees, two players lead the league in
scoring, two NEC Rookies of the Year and a NEC Defensive Player of
the Year.
During Braica’s last seven years at St. Francis, the Terriers
posted a 118-83 record, including an 88-42 mark in the NEC. They
finished with a .500 or better record in the league seven-straight
years, the longest active streak in the NEC. They also reached the
NEC Semifinals five times and had two championship game appearances
in Braica’s last five seasons.
From 2001-03, Braica was the head coach for the Empire State Games
New York City men's open team, which won gold medals in 2001 and
2002, as well as a silver medal in 2003. The teams included former
St. John's players Anthony Glover, Andre Stanley and Sharif
Fordham.
Braica and his wife, Christine, were married on campus in St.
Thomas More Church during the summer of 2006.
The Glenn Braica File
Coaching Experience
1988-89 New York City Tech, Assistant Coach
1989-2004 St. Francis College (N.Y.), Assistant Coach
2004-present St. John’s University, Assistant Coach
Playing Experience
• Queens College (1983-87)
Personal
• Education: Queens College (1988), B.S. in health and
physical education; Bishop Ford High School (1982)
• Date of Birth: Sept. 16, 1964 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Family: Wife – Christine, married in summer 2006