David Grace (basketball)
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Assistant coach |
| Team | UCLA |
| Conference | Pac-12 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | Aberdeen, Maryland |
| Alma mater | Park University |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999–2004 | Trevor G. Browne HS (assistant) |
| 2004–2006 | South Mountain HS |
| 2006–2007 | Sacramento State (assistant) |
| 2007-2008 | San Francisco (assistant) |
| 2008–2013 | Oregon State (assistant) |
| 2013–present | UCLA (assistant) |
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.
Grace grew up in Aberdeen, Maryland, while his father Gerald worked long hours as a mechanic and his mother worked as a beautician. He began military life after his mother remarried a serviceman and then moved to a series of bases over the years. He joined the United States Air Force at age 18 and served for 20 years. For 16 years 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, Arizona area for the last few years of his enlistment.
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.
Grace began his coaching career in 1997 while he was stationed at Langley AFB, Virginia. when he started coaching with the Boo Williams Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) program in Hampton, Virginia. After leaving Langley, Grace was stationed at Luke AFB near Phoenix and coached two AAU teams and a high school team. "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 (Oregon State University)," 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."
After re-locating to Luke AFB in Arizona, he began coaching AAU teams with the Compton Magic. He also co-founded and coached 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. That team that 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). That team finished the AAU season ranked 21st in the nation and was the highest ranked team ever from Arizona up until that time.
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.As an Assistant Varsity Coach he helped lead Trevor Browne to a State Final Four and the team finished ranked in the Top 40 in the nation by the Sporting News. Grace began working toward becoming a full time HS teacher and taught business and computer skills. He then became head coach at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona, 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.
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