Staff Directory
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Croak will join the Golden Eagle staff as an Assistant Coach for the 2025-26 season. Croak spent the previous two years at Fulton City High School in Kentucky where he served as the Athletic Director and head boy's basketball coach.
“I’m very grateful to Southern Miss and Coach Ladner for the opportunity to join the men’s basketball staff," Croak said. "Hattiesburg and Southern Miss are special places and have welcomed my family and I with open arms. We are prepared to help the men’s basketball team climb back to the top of the Sun Belt Conference. I know fans will be ecstatic with our team this year and the effort put forth into our whole program.”
In those two years in Kentucky, Croak helped double the programs win total from each of the previous seasons and finished 22nd in three-point percentage in the state during the 2024-25 season. Fulton City also ranked top 50 in offensive rebounding and saw major improvements in its shooting game with Croak's development skills.
Before his time in Fulton, Croak spent the 2022-23 season at Tarleton State as an assistant coach. The Texans went 17-17 during Croak's lone season in Stephenville. Croak helped the Texans to a CBI appearance during that season and picked up wins in the regular season over Boston College, Belmont and second-seeded Utah Valley.
Croak made the move north to Stephenville following a year-long stint as an assistant coach at Prairie View A&M. He previously served as an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator under fellow Texan assistant coach Zach Settembre at Tallahassee Community College (TCC) from 2019-2021. Croak also made assistant coaching stops at Dodge City Community College and Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Croak went to Tarleton as the youngest active Division I men’s basketball assistant coach. While at Prairie View, Croak leant his efforts to all areas of team operations on one of the most successful programs in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Croak also coached senior guard Jawaun Daniels to All-SWAC first team honors. Daniels ranked fifth in the conference in scoring (15.1 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (6.7 rpg), leading the Panthers in both categories.
Croak was invaluable in helping TCC enjoy a historic two-year run alongside Settembre. The Eagles accumulated a 46-9 overall record and won back-to-back Panhandle Conference Championships in 2020 and 2021 with Croak serving as associate head coach. His recruiting prowess was on full display throughout his time in Tallahassee. Croak signed and developed 16 players who went on to sign National Letters of Intent with D1 programs.
During the 2019-20 season, a school record nine players put the pen to paper with D1 schools and all 15 players on the roster accepted scholarships with four-year programs. Croak helped coach El Ellis, who signed with Louisville in 2021, to consecutive Panhandle Conference Player of the Year accolades and mentored Tariq Silver (Oregon State) and Jeremiah Kendall (Prairie View) to conference Newcomer of the Year honors. In total, Croak coached 11 all-conference players while at TCC. With Croak on staff, TCC was one of the most efficient teams at both ends of the court in the D1 junior college ranks.
The Eagles ranked in the top-10 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency ratings in both seasons. In 2019-20, TCC shot 40.2 percent from deep to the tune of 362 made 3-point field goals, setting school records in both categories. The Eagles finished with a 27-6 overall record and 9-3 mark in conference play in 2019-20 en route to the outright Panhandle Conference Championship – their first since 2001. The team’s march toward the conference crown was foreshadowed by a 16-2 record in nonconference action that featured victories over traditional Texas junior college powers Odessa College and Trinity Valley CC.
TCC then advanced to the championship game in the NJCAA Region VIII/FCSAA State Tournament and secured an at-large bid to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in school history. Croak helped ensure TCC did not miss a beat during the 2020-21 campaign despite challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The Eagles finished 19-3 overall and posted a 9-3 conference record to earn a share of the Panhandle Conference Championship. The consecutive conference championships were the first in program history since 1996 and 1997. The 13 conference victories signified a school record.
The Eagles also excelled in the classroom with Croak on staff. TCC owned the distinction of being the only team to rank in the top-10 of the NJCAA D1 Men’s Basketball Rankings and in team GPA. Before moving to the Sunshine State, Croak served as the associate head coach at Dodge City CC in 2018-19. There, he coached three All-Region players, two Academic All-Americans and ensured all players on the roster graduated with their associate degrees and moved on to four-year institutions. Croak first began his ascension to the D1 ranks during a two-year run at Kentucky Wesleyan College alongside Hall of Fame head coach Happy Osborne.
He helped the NCAA Division II Panthers notch a combined 71-23 overall record and consecutive conference championships and maintain a spot in the top-10 of the D2 Men’s Basketball Rankings in both seasons. Fifteen of the players Croak coached signed professional contracts. He has also spent time on the AAU circuit, coaching the 17U Boys with Distinxion squad, which is run by the family of NBA players Tyler, Cody and Luke Zeller.
Croak is a 2016 graduate of Indiana University and resides in Stephenville.
