David Grace (basketball)

David Grace is an American basketball coach who has coached with a high degree of success at multiple levels such as D1 college, high school, and AAU, and is retired from the United States Air Force. He is the former Head Coach at Campbell Hall School in Studio City, CA and left the school after taking it to the Division 1 Elite 8 of the California state championship tournament last year for the first time in school history. He was previously Head Coach at Centennial HS in Peoria, AZ. At the D1 college level he was most recently the associate head coach for the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference under former NBA great Jerry Stackhouse.

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, Sicily (Comiso AB), Saudi Arabia, Georgia, and Virginia before settling down at Luke AFB in the Phoenix, Arizona area for the last few years of his enlistment.

A decorated former technical sergeant who has seen combat in Operation Desert Storm, Grace is a supporter of his fellow military veterans, especially those who have faced challenges after they have returned home from war zones. 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 youth 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 relocating 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 Philadelphia 76ers 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). They finished the AAU season ranked 21st in the nation and were 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 and teaching 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 (Rivals.com) and Arizona Informant Coach of the Year.

Grace started his college coaching career at California State University, Sacramento in 2006 as an assistant coach to head coach Jerome Jenkins, after receiving a recommendation from University of Arizona coach Lute Olson. Grace's first major recruit there was 2006-07 Big Sky Freshman of the Year Vinnie McGhee from Oakland's McClymonds High School.

After one year in Sacramento, Grace 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 1996-97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball National Championship team.