November 19, 2025 • 34 mins
The Coach's Calling
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Jessie Craig, a phenomenal coach from the TCU Women's Basketball staff who helped steer the team to a historic "Cinderella" season. This episode goes beyond the court, charting Coach Craig's incredible 4,000-mile personal and professional journey from her homeschooled, Christian roots in Fairbanks, Alaska, to the high-stakes world of Division I basketball in Texas. Hear how a series of career-ending injuries became a pivotal moment, forcing her to rely on her faith and unexpectedly launching her coaching career—starting as a high school JV assistant at just 17. Her story is a testament to how God can turn setbacks into opportunities, shaping her into the faithful, driven leader she is today.
Faith, Mentorship, and a Historic Season
Coach Craig dives into the dramatic turnaround of the TCU team, including their first Big 12 championships and Sweet 16 appearance, highlighting how recruiting character and fostering a strong team culture are the core ingredients for success. Discover the profound influence of legendary coach Fred Crowell ("Papa Suave") and his mantra of "Relentless Pursuit of Excellence" on both her coaching style and her spiritual walk. Learn about the unique environment at TCU that allows Christian principles to integrate with elite athletics, and how her faith sustains her in the high-pressure world of collegiate sports. This is a story about trusting the process, patiently enduring affliction, and witnessing God's faithfulness at every turn of a remarkable career.
"Amazing Greats" is a library of interviews with highly successful people who have amazing career and life stories and who share how God has impacted their journey. Hosted by broadcaster Ric Hansen & produced by Klem Daniels. Available on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Google and our YouTube Channel.
Please help us grow our audience by "liking", "subscribing and "Sharing". Thanks so much.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:03):
Hey Rick Hansen here with Texas Christian University
women's basketball coach, JesseCraig.
(00:41):
Well, this is a great daybecause we have another of our
special guests on AmazingGreats.
Welcome to our audience, to thispodcast where we celebrate
stories of faith and inspirationfrom athletes, actors, authors,
musicians, and more.
One of our past guests was a manwho made a huge impact on the
(01:01):
world in the world ofbasketball, Fred Kroll.
And we've had the opportunity totalk to a few of his success
stories.
Fred is past, but his legendlives on.
And so we get a chance today toinvite you to this conversation
with a powerful coaching umgiant.
(01:22):
Can we say that?
No.
unknown (01:24):
No, no.
SPEAKER_05 (01:26):
No.
I'm not going to giants.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
This is going to be the story of not only her
coaching career, but herpersonal career.
She is one of the coaching staffat Texas Christian University, a
women's basketball team that hasset all kinds of records just in
this last year, an amazingseason that you've had this last
year.
We're going to track uh yourstory from your native roots in
Fairbanks, Alaska, all the wayto Texas, 4,000 miles away, and
(01:57):
how all that kind of happened.
So everybody, help me welcomeour coach, Jesse Craig from TCU.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_05 (02:07):
Thank you for having me.
It's a very much an honor.
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
All righty, good deal.
So let's get started.
So I want to talk about TCU andthe incredible season that
you've had this last year.
But first to kind of build thestory, let's start with you as a
person.
Um, you are a Christian forsure.
Uh, where did that start?
What did you have a Christianhome that which you grew up in?
SPEAKER_05 (02:30):
Yeah, I was very fortunate.
Both of my parents were umChristians, and it's kind of
cool.
My dad, uh, my mom grew upCatholic, Christian, and then um
my dad actually wasn't abeliever until after college,
and he went to he got saved in aBilly Graham crusade.
Oh, yeah.
And so which is kind of cool.
Um so so growing up, yeah, I wasraised in the church from a
(02:54):
young age and um definitelynurtured up in that and and but
nurtured along to have my ownfaith and not just have my
parents' faith.
SPEAKER_02 (03:04):
Is there a pivotal moment that it was like um that
you found your own personalrelationship with Jesus and you
found your way to be a followeruh in your own way?
Was there a certain time orplace?
SPEAKER_05 (03:17):
Honestly, I remember at a really young age, like my
parents didn't force us intolike accepting Jesus.
I just remember like being ayoung, uh probably around the
age of six or seven, and andseeing my parents' faith and and
wanting that relationship withJesus.
And so um I wouldn't say I wouldsay from then on, it's just, I
(03:39):
mean, obviously your your faithand everything else, your walk
has has valleys and it has andmountaintops and and so all
along, but I would say kind ofall al from then on it was a
relationship that was myrelationship.
And obviously, you know, we wererequired to go to church and we
were required to do all of thosethings, um, and encouraged, you
(04:02):
know, even as adults, encouragedto um to seek the Lord.
But I think just even from thatyoung age, it was something that
really was a desire of my heartwas to follow in like after
Jesus.
SPEAKER_02 (04:16):
Yeah.
So that's and that's always anintriguing question for me
because some people, it's likeuh they spin on a dime.
I mean, it changes one day tothe next or one moment to the
next, and others are kind ofgrown and mature along the way
and and and grow in theirrelationship.
And that's kind of me too.
That's where I was at.
It wasn't like just one night itall happened.
(04:37):
It was it was so great.
So so let's um as a uh youngbasketball player, uh you
started at your in in highschool, right?
Played basketball in highschool?
SPEAKER_05 (04:49):
Yeah, so I kind of have a unique story um playing
with my basketball career aswell, in that uh my parents
homeschooled us.
And so when I uh grew uporiginally in Idaho until about
eighth grade, and there youcould play on the school teams.
And so um my sisters and Iplayed on the school teams and
(05:10):
we played as a family, you know,out in the park at the one room
schoolhouse down the street, youknow, after Sunday after church,
we would go play as a family.
Um, and then moving to Alaska,they had rules that if you're
homeschooled, you couldn't playon the high school teams, you
couldn't play on the schoolteams.
SPEAKER_04 (05:25):
Really?
SPEAKER_05 (05:25):
And so um it was a little tricky.
I mean, we played, I have twosisters and we played on church
league and we played pickup atthe gym all the time, and we
generally played with guys allthe time because that's
generally who plays pickupgames.
And so um, we did that and weplayed AAU, and then my AAU
(05:46):
coach was also the coach of oneof the high schools, so he
brought me on as a senior to behis assistant coach so that I
could practice with his team,but then they ended up not
having a JV assistant coach.
So the JV assistant coach talkedhim into letting me be her
assistant coach.
So I ended up not practicingwith the varsity, and I started
(06:08):
my coaching career.
And so my senior year of highschool, I was the JV assistant
coach.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Really?
Wow.
That'd be the youngest coachingcareer ever.
SPEAKER_05 (06:17):
Yeah, right.
So kind of unique.
And then I ended up going toschool outside of Alaska.
Um, I got recruited by somesmall schools, but academics
were really big for my family.
And so the schools I gotrecruited to didn't really have
the acad the degree I wanted.
So I played Purdue.
I went to Purdue and playedrugby actually for a couple of
(06:38):
years, just on their club team,and then transferred back to
Alaska and ended up walking onthe team there.
And I played for UAF, and soended up walking onto the team
at UAF, um, and then earned ascholarship my next year.
SPEAKER_02 (06:53):
Okay.
All right.
And so it was there that you raninto this gentleman named Fred
Kroll.
Is that correct?
SPEAKER_05 (07:01):
No, so so this is kind of fun because so I coached
there.
I mean, I played there, but Iended up tearing my ACL.
I broke my foot sophomore year,tore my ACL my next two years.
So I ended up not actuallygetting to play a bunch.
And so I became kind of a playercoach.
Um, they would travel me becausewe had a lot of injuries, so
(07:21):
they'd travel me some as um asecond set of eyes on the road.
Um, and I really got to know,well, I got to know some people
that were in the community thathave been there for a long time,
Milo Griffin.
And he was the boys' coach atone of the high schools in town.
And so I couldn't play anymore.
It was my senior year.
I couldn't play anymore.
(07:42):
I had torn my ECL.
I was done with like the doctortold me no more basketball
playing if you want to walk bythe time you're 30.
So that was um a tough time inmy life where definitely my
relationship with the Lord gotstronger because I had to rely
really heavily on him of like,okay, God, you put this desire
into my heart.
But now what do I do?
(08:02):
Like it's taken away.
And so he opened up this door togo be an um assistant boys
varsity basketball coach.
And Milo Griffin happened to bethe star player that played for
Fred Kroll at UAF.
SPEAKER_02 (08:18):
This is getting so complicated.
SPEAKER_05 (08:20):
I know, I know we need a blowchart.
So Fred Kroll was the very firstthe coach at University of
Alaska Fairbanks, the firstcoach that where they had
scholarship money.
SPEAKER_03 (08:32):
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (08:32):
And Milo Griffin was another really cool story.
Now he's a giant, both of thosemen are giants.
Um, but he was in the militaryand then they saw him brought
him over and he played and setall kinds of records.
He still holds a scoring recordat UAF.
Um, but he played for Fred.
SPEAKER_03 (08:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (08:51):
And they would go one, they would go at it
one-on-one.
Because I think they were aboutMilo might have been a little
older than Fred because Fred wasreally young.
He was the youngest um DivisionII, I think it might be a
college head coach at the time.
He was really young.
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
Yeah.
So I remember that a part as apart of his story.
SPEAKER_04 (09:09):
Super cool.
SPEAKER_02 (09:10):
So this okay, so now this is a a piece that I didn't
realize that you were sidelinedbased on an injury.
And that's a similar story.
Another gentleman that we talkedto on this podcast was also a
Fred Kroll guy, uh, was uh R R JBarsh.
Oh, yeah, it's my guy.
He was set aside as well at anearly age and struggled through
(09:31):
that whole, all right, I'minjured now.
What do I do?
Basketball's my life, right?
So, how did can you give me anyspecifics of the what the kinds
of prayers?
How did you approach this withyour savior and Lord who now has
put you on the sidelines?
SPEAKER_05 (09:46):
You know, it was and it was interesting because it
was three years in a row, and itwas like I would get better and
I would do all the things.
You know, I was like the kidthat was like, I'm gonna outwork
you.
Like, I like if you tell me whatI need to do, and I'm gonna do
it to the T, to the max.
And then, which is almost morefrustrating because then when it
doesn't come to fruition, you'relike, well, I literally did
everything I was supposed to.
(10:06):
And so it's funny how sometimesGod uses even non-believers to
speak into your life.
And I remember my coach at thetime when I broke my foot the
the first my sophomore year, hetold me, Well, Jess, you're in a
bad situation.
You can either you're in the badsituation no matter what.
(10:27):
You can either make it worsewith your attitude or you can
make it better with yourattitude.
And that's something that's likestuck with me kind of forever,
and especially through all ofthose injuries, because it was
like, Okay, God, what like youtell us in your word that you'll
give us the desires of ourheart.
So if this desire to play andcompete, if you're gonna take
(10:53):
that away, take the desire toplay away.
And that kind of became myprayer of like, okay, God.
And of course, you have thoserough days where you're like, oh
gosh, like this is really tough.
Like, I don't understand.
Um, but Jeremiah 20, sorry,Romans 12, 12 is kind of stuck
(11:14):
with me and that became kind ofmy mantra of like joyful in
hope, patient in affliction,faithful in prayer.
Like hope that Jeremiah 29, 11is true, that God has a plan for
me and it's to prosper me andnot to harm me.
And patient in affliction, I'mnot a very patient person.
I like, I'm like, I'm gonna workhard, I'm gonna work really hard
(11:35):
for it, but being patient in theprocess and then just praying
continually, like joyful inhope, patient affliction,
faithful in prayer, that likeGod's gotten me through other
things.
SPEAKER_02 (11:45):
You're listening to Amazing Greats today with TCU's
women's basketball coach, JesseCraig.
SPEAKER_05 (11:52):
Have you ever heard of raising your Ebenezer?
SPEAKER_02 (11:54):
Oh no, okay.
Tell me that.
SPEAKER_05 (11:56):
So basically, when Israel, Israel was coming out um
of coming out of the desert, andand God said, Okay, I want you
to build your build a tower ofrocks.
So when you look back, you canremember that God brought you
out of like all of the things Hedid for you.
And so it was just really ofthat, like raising my Ebenezer,
(12:19):
where it's like I look back andI see, okay, God's been faithful
of, okay, I was homeschooled andI got a scholarship to play
college basketball when peoplesaid I never would.
Um, he was faithful there, uh,trusted him in that.
Um, broke my foot, God wasfaithful in that.
Like all of these things in mylife, I could look back and say,
God has done all these things.
(12:40):
So it's like just reallyteaching me to raise my Ebenezer
and and really trust it in himthat maybe his like I had this
idea of what my what my plan forme was.
And God was like, that's cute,it's not gonna happen.
Like this is actually what I'mgonna do.
And and yes, you had thesepivotal, changing, life-changing
(13:03):
things, but I turned beauty fromashes, and it's gonna be a
blessing in disguise.
And because of X, Y, and Z, nowI'm became like Milo's.
I started as a volunteerassistant coach for him.
And instead, I ended up beinghis like second in command, and
I was running half of hispractices, which I used to think
(13:25):
he was just busy, but reallylooking back, I'm like, I think
he was wanted me to getexperience running practices.
So for four years, it's like Igot experience doing that
because I was injured.
But if I hadn't been injured, Iwouldn't have got like that door
wouldn't have been opened forme.
SPEAKER_03 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (13:42):
And so it's like through that, and and then you
know, it's funny because God isfaithful and He doesn't He keeps
His promises.
And so the desire to play, likeit used to be hard for me to go
into a gym when people areplaying and watch.
I couldn't watch.
SPEAKER_03 (13:58):
Oh, I bet, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (14:00):
It was rough.
And um, it's funny because likethat desire, and I was like a
gym rat.
Like I'm hooping.
Oh, there's people in at noon,I'm hooping with the old guys at
noonball.
Oh, there's people after school,I'm hooping with the dropouts.
Like, I'm hooping.
Like if there's a run going, Iam getting in there somehow.
And it's kind of like God justchanged that, and where that
(14:20):
desire wasn't there anymore.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
Seriously, how amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:24):
I love basketball and I love coaching basketball,
but I can sit and watch himplay, but there's not that like
deep down, like really longingto go play anymore.
So it's yeah, just like thefaithfulness of God of like,
yeah, I'm not gonna, yeah, Itook that away, but yes, yes,
I'll take the desire away too.
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
Yeah, and what well, I don't know where it's in the
Bible, but the phrase um whatthe enemy meant for for uh uh
evil, uh God turned into ablessing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:53):
So exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (14:54):
Yep, that's part of that story too.
That's great.
So all the stuff is new for me,uh because I did some research
on you, and I'm like, I've gotthese list of questions, and
this is taking me in a wholedifferent direction, which is
wonderful.
SPEAKER_05 (15:06):
Sorry, I'm throwing you off.
SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
So the so from from and you were in Fairbanks as a
coach for a long time.
How many years?
SPEAKER_05 (15:16):
So I coached boys high school for four years, and
then my last year as anassistant, as my last year, I
coached both, I was a head coachfor girls across town and the
assistant boys varsity coach.
So in total, seven years in highschool, and then I coached in
college for five years atDivision II in at University of
(15:38):
Alaska Fairbanks.
SPEAKER_02 (15:39):
And how did um how did the TCU opportunity present
itself?
SPEAKER_05 (15:46):
When I coached high school, I coached a young lady
named Ruthie Heber, who was oneof the best players to ever come
out of Alaska, and she washeavily recruited by pretty much
everybody under the sun.
Um, but she got she ended upultimately ended up going to
Oregon.
And so Mark Campbell, who's thehead coach of TCU now, was the
(16:08):
coach that predominantly was herpoint of contact at Oregon.
And so I got to know him reallywell um over those years and he
kind of became a mentor to meand somebody that um I would
call about different thingsthroughout my coaching career,
and um, and so that is theconnection there.
SPEAKER_02 (16:26):
Okay, all right.
So so you sh so you just twoyears ago went to TCU, correct?
SPEAKER_05 (16:33):
Uh was it um so then I'm just starting my third year.
SPEAKER_02 (16:36):
Third year, yeah.
You've had two seasons there.
First season was a little sququestionable.
Uh uh it wasn't great.
Was it I I think I saw one in 17or something.
SPEAKER_05 (16:47):
Oh, no, no, no.
That was before we got here.
SPEAKER_02 (16:48):
Oh, okay, all right, okay.
SPEAKER_05 (16:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So then March we did havetryouts, open tryouts our first
year.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05 (16:57):
We had a lot of injuries, and so we had open
tryouts.
Oh man.
From school, we joked that theywere in class with Uggs and a
coffee yesterday and thenplaying on the basketball team
with some hoop shorts today.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Wow, wow, wow.
But then the next year was thisamazing year.
It's the Cinderella year, uh,which was just this last season,
which is an amazing season.
Some of the stats I've found uhthat it's a lot of firsts,
including winning the first Big12 regular season and tournament
championships.
Uh, you your team earned itshighest ever NCAA tournament
(17:34):
seed at number two and made itto the Sweet 16 for the first
time.
This is all in the same year.
Uh the 2025 season is isdescribed as the Cinderella year
due to the team's dramaticturnaround.
And this is where it says from aone to 17 record becoming one of
the nation's top teams, which iswhere you're at today.
Correct.
(17:54):
How did you get there?
I mean, first of all, your yourhead coach uh must be
phenomenal.
He's also a Christian gentleman,as I understand it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:04):
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (18:04):
And uh so tell me a little bit about him and then
and then how the um leadership,the Christ kind of leadership
led you to kind of thisdramatic, really dramatic kind
of turnaround.
SPEAKER_05 (18:18):
Well, I think um even at Oregon, when he was at
Oregon, and what drew Ruthie togo there, and what drew me to
have that our connection wasthat he really generally cares
about people.
And so he's not just recruitingbasketball players, he's
recruiting character.
(18:38):
And I think that um that isreally huge, especially in any
program, but especially ingirls.
Um girls, we have to like eachother to play well together.
And so um, if you recruitcharacter people, then it's a
lot easier to get thatcontinuity and that great team
(18:59):
culture there and to get thatpiece right.
And then um obviously they'regreat basketball players as
well.
But if you miss on the culturepart and and the person part and
the character part, it's reallyhard to get the other part down.
And so I think that that'ssomething that um Coach
Campbell's really great at, ishe is really good at uh
(19:21):
recruiting kids that have greatcharacter.
And then he's also a phenomenalbasketball coach.
So you put those two togetherand um great success, great,
great recipe for success.
And you know, everybody who hebrings on staff, he's not only
bringing good character kids onstaff, but all I mean on on the
(19:41):
team, but also making sure hisstaff has good character people
as well.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
Coach Jesse Craig joins us from TCU Women's
Basketball on Amazing GRETES.
More inspiration just ahead.
TCU is a Christian university,but there's no there's uh lots
of non-believers that go toschool there and lots of uh
non-believers who play inathletes.
Are you capable of integratingChristian principles into the
(20:07):
daily basketball team?
SPEAKER_05 (20:10):
I think it's really cool university to be at because
a lot of schools are eithercompletely non-faith-based and
you can't really bring it up atall, and you can't talk about
your faith.
It's very tricky to talk aboutyour faith, or it's the opposite
where it's so faith-based thatnon-believers, um, there's not
(20:30):
really a place for them to bethere.
And so TCU is a really coolmarriage of the two where we
have players from all differentbackgrounds, but you can be very
open about your faith.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Okay.
So it's really cool.
But are there such things aslike a team Bible study or any
of that kind of stuff?
SPEAKER_05 (20:49):
Yeah, so actually the the shirt that I have um
TCA, it's from our FCA.
So FCA stands for Shell ofFellowship of Christian
Athletes.
And so we have um, they havecharacter coaches and they're
for the whole university, andthey're actually in universities
across the nation.
Um, and so they have charactercoaches for the different teams.
(21:13):
And so two of the charactercoaches do a weekly Bible study
with any of the girls who wantto go, and then they also have a
big FCA meeting uh once a weekthat they do with all of the
athletes.
So it's really cool because youget to fellowship with other
athletes also, other than justyourself.
SPEAKER_02 (21:30):
Yeah.
So um let's just jump back intoFred Kroll.
So you uh not only you met himback in the day, but then you um
were very instrumental in whatwas going on at the NBC camps,
right?
I mean, you were you traveledwith the coach, and uh what was
what was your relationship withhim and how what what was the
(21:52):
takeaways from that period oftime with Fred?
SPEAKER_05 (21:56):
Yeah, Fred is oh, he is one of a kind.
He was one of those guys that heis he is a great and he is a
giant.
Um, I think when we talkedpreviously, I said he's the kind
of person that like the theanalogy of throwing a pebble
into water and the ripple effectis huge.
That is Fred Kroll.
And um he really followed hisfaith and did what the Lord told
(22:21):
him to do.
So he started his camps aftercoaching in Alaska.
He started camps in villages inAlaska, across Alaska, smaller
than a lot of the smallercommunities up there.
And so when he came back toAlaska um to visit one of his
past colleagues, I reconnectedwith him.
(22:44):
And um, I had quit, I have anengineering degree, I'd quit my
engineering degree and was kindof just all right, God, where do
you have me next?
What do you want me to do?
Um, and I remember I it was likeon a weekend, Saturday or
Sunday, that he was there and mylast day of work was the next
Wednesday.
And I remember he said, Yeah, Ireally wish that I could hire
(23:05):
you to work for me MBC camps,but you were construction in
summer.
And I said, Well, that's funnybecause that Wednesday is my
last day, construction.
So it's like there's again likeGod's faithfulness.
And so with that, and he waskind of stepping out on a limb.
He's like, I didn't know if Ihad some work for you or what I
had to for you, but I just feltlike God was telling me to hire
(23:27):
you.
And so um, I ended up doing 12weeks that summer with him, uh
11 weeks that summer with him.
And he, I went with him to a lotof different camps, including we
would go out to some of therural communities that he was
really close to.
And so I got to travel with himfor the next six summers.
(23:48):
I went to a lot of the campsthat he, because he didn't, as
he was got um later on in hiscareer, he didn't always go to
as many camps.
And he had so many of them, hecouldn't code all of them.
And so a lot of the camps thathe did go to, there was kind of
a couple of us that would go tothose camps with him.
And he had uh he had kind ofsome some separate um a little
(24:11):
bit more intense camps.
Um, and he would run those andwe would help him run those
camps.
So I got to know Fred reallywell.
He became kind of my my go-to,my guy, my um, you know, kind of
my grandfather um mentor figure.
Um talk to him pretty much everyday on the way to work.
SPEAKER_02 (24:31):
Spiritually as well as basketball coaching.
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (24:36):
Uh always challenge you.
Fred was not never afraid.
They called him Papa Suave, andSuave was never afraid to
challenge you to be better.
Whether I was you know, call himup and be like, uh, Fred, my
team isn't doing this, I don'tknow how to get them.
And he would always flip it.
Okay, Jesse, well, what do youneed to do?
Get better.
He would always call you up.
And that was the same thing withyour faith.
(24:57):
Like, if you like what whatever,what it what's your faith
looking like?
He all every aspect of my life,he called me up instead of just
allowing.
He never allowed you to stayhere.
He called you up in everythingyou did.
SPEAKER_02 (25:10):
And he he had some phrases that he threw out at
camps and kind of became uhnotable for.
Was there a favorite one ofyours?
SPEAKER_05 (25:19):
Um, well, one that he, and they actually gave at
his memorial service, they gaveus a little stone.
It's RPE, relentless pursuit ofexcellence.
Oh, and that's what he always,you know, don't ever settle.
So that was a good one.
Um, where are you right hereright now?
I'd done in a lot of those campsthat I did.
Um, we would do uh speak a lotto like um to kids with about
(25:46):
mental health stuff and how tomove on, how to how to have
good, how to have confidence,how not to um have low
self-esteem in games or in life.
And so it was like, where areyou?
You're right here right now.
Because if you live in the past,if you think about the past,
you're gonna be depressed.
If you live in the future,you're gonna be you're gonna
have anxiety and worry.
(26:07):
So you gotta be right here,right now.
And that was a good one.
Um, what are you?
You're a miracle.
Um, why has God made you?
I so many, so many.
So many.
SPEAKER_02 (26:18):
Yeah, yeah.
So that he was an incredibleguy, and I just was so fortunate
to have an opportunity to chatwith him.
And I didn't know anything abouthim until that time we were on
Zoom together.
And I learned so much from him,Jeefs, just in that short
40-minute segment.
So it was amazing.
Uh, so what is your biggesttakeaway from your time in
(26:43):
coaching?
What's what's um, I guess thequestion is is is where do where
do you see God in the day-to-daylife of being a coach at a an
important college program likeyou're with?
SPEAKER_05 (26:55):
I think that um, you know, a lot of times we think
about mission fields as acrossthe across the ocean or
whatever.
And I think that for me, I justhave really been like, okay, I
never thought I would live inTexas.
Um I'm a I'm a I'm a mountaingirl.
SPEAKER_02 (27:14):
I I'm it's kind of like being it's kind of like
being in a different country.
SPEAKER_05 (27:19):
Yeah, it's flat, and I live in DFW.
Fort Worth is the 12th largestcity, and Dallas is like number
five.
Like, yeah, yeah.
There's some people here.
And so um, but it's just it'scool because I think that for
me, it's like everything in lifeI can see where God has opened
doors.
I never have a booming voicedown, but he just opens the door
(27:41):
and gives me a piece about itand kind of pushes me through
the door there.
And so it's just knowing thatlike God has me here for a
purpose and using being tryingto be a conduit for him every
and a servant heart every day.
We come into contact with somany people, and you have young
(28:03):
women who are um really at ahigh, a really high level, but
they're also just getting readyto be out as adults, and so and
everything in between.
SPEAKER_02 (28:14):
Have you found that there have been like some
seekers along on the team alongthe way that have actually
become believers because oftheir experience with you or the
or the team?
SPEAKER_05 (28:24):
You know, sometimes I I think in my life I have had
more people that I've plantedthis, that I've planted seeds
and not necessarily been theharvester, but then I see it
down the line five, 10 years.
And that's even when I was aplayer where I just like invite
them to church randomly, youknow.
I definitely have some kidswhere, you know, they'll ask me,
(28:48):
they know I go to church andthey know that that is that I am
a believer and ask me, you know,about some churches and didn't
go the entire time they werehere.
But now, as they I see them asthey're adults now, I'm like,
oh, she started to go to church.
Or, oh, this person is like,she's in ministry in church, and
she literally never tookaccepted one invitation, but
(29:09):
came back years later and said,Oh, it's because you invited me
to church all those times, eventhough I never went then, it
planted a seed.
SPEAKER_02 (29:16):
Faith, leadership, and life on and off the court
with coach Jesse Craig onAmazing Greats.
And I think, yeah, I think whatour job is um is sharing our
testimony, share, model ourtestimony, and um plant the
seed, and then God takes overfrom there.
Exactly.
He's he's the one that does theconversions.
SPEAKER_04 (29:37):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (29:38):
Yeah.
So that's great.
So I got the lightning roundhere as we kind of come to an
end to our our few minutestogether.
Uh so we you've already answeredmy first lightning round
question, and that is yourfavorite Bible vi vi uh Bible
verse.
You've already explained.
What's your is there a favoriteworship song that lifts you up
during tough seasons?
SPEAKER_05 (29:58):
Oof man.
I kind of go through cycles ofsongs.
Um so there is um John Reddick.
Pretty much anything by JohnReddick has been on repeat for
the last couple months.
So you have to look him up.
Um but I w I don't have like aone song that I'm like that's it
(30:23):
I totally get that because I Ilike a lot of music.
So it's changing.
I'm I'm rotating.
SPEAKER_02 (30:29):
All right.
Your most inspiring Christianathlete or coach who you look up
to.
Maybe you've already answeredthis too.
SPEAKER_05 (30:35):
It's probably I did.
Fred Kroll, he he has shaped mein a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
All right.
One thing you're currentlylearning from God, is there
something right now that you'regoing through?
SPEAKER_05 (30:46):
Um, I think we're doing a series at my church
right now on um beingintentional living.
And I think that um for me inour profession, it's a very
active profession, if you canimagine as you can imagine, um,
very time consuming.
And so it's very easy to justget swept along.
And so just like when you go tothe gym, you're intentional
(31:09):
about your workout, or it's anot a good workout, it's just
being intentional about um mytime with the Lord and making
sure that I am not just gettingswept along and just like but
being very, very intentional andand choosing um choosing to dig
deeper and to be intentionalwith interactions that I have
(31:32):
with people during the day andum and let the Lord lead me in
things.
So that's the big lesson he'sI'm learning right now.
SPEAKER_02 (31:40):
I love that.
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
Uh then I I'm wondering if youhave any advice for young
Christian women who are choosingsports as their dream, as what
they are wanting to do.
What would you what would yousay to somebody like that?
SPEAKER_05 (31:56):
I think the um first thing on basketball is just uh
trust the process and just keepchipping away at your craft and
keep perfecting that and um andbe patient, but also remember
that God does have a plan foryou and to keep that open.
You want to be the best you canbe, but don't let that become an
(32:18):
idol and end up putting thatabove your faith with the Lord
because that's really easy todo.
Um, because you're told to begreat and you're told to do all
these things, but at the end ofthe day, we're called to be the
best for the Lord, not be thebest for ourselves or the stats
or the fans or our coach, even.
(32:40):
Um, and so really learn how tobe in the words so that you can
walk that line.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
All right.
Well, you have um your firstgame is not too far down the
line, is it?
Start is it?
SPEAKER_05 (32:54):
Yeah, we have it yep, first week of November.
SPEAKER_02 (32:56):
Yeah.
Uh and so where are you where isTCU looking for this coming
season?
Did you have a lot of peoplegraduate and you're starting
rebuilding, or are you gonna bea powerhouse like you were last
year?
SPEAKER_05 (33:09):
The plan is to be have another great year.
Um, the plan is to have anothergreat year.
We got a lot of we graduated alot of great kids, had some ones
that some players that are stillhere from last year that didn't
graduate, and then we got a lotof really great transfers.
So I think AP poll just cameout.
We're number 17 in the eightpeople.
SPEAKER_04 (33:30):
Really?
SPEAKER_05 (33:30):
Um that was the highest record, highest um
preseason AP poll in schoolhistory.
So that was exciting.
So honestly, though, we gottastay humble and hungry, and and
that can it can say whatever itwants, but we rents due every
day, you know.
So we we gotta face each gameand go forward with that.
SPEAKER_02 (33:51):
I love your smiling, uplifting attitude, and you're
inspiring to not only ouraudience, but to me.
Um, so I thank you so much.
SPEAKER_05 (33:59):
And you probably you came right home from practice
tonight and jumped out of thecouple of morning, but I'm I'm
also the ops, director of ops onmaking sure all of our logistics
are good to go for the schoolyear.
SPEAKER_02 (34:13):
Okay, yeah.
So I appreciate you jumping onand before dinner.
Yeah, definitely with us onamazing great.
It's been really nice to meetyou and to have you on.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_05 (34:23):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been awesome and areally cool podcast that you're
doing.
SPEAKER_02 (34:28):
Coach Jesse Craig's story reminds us that God's work
is in every season.
From Alaska to the Big 12,shaping leaders who serve with
heart and with faith.
Thanks for listening to AmazingGreats, celebrating the stories
behind amazing faith.
See you next time.
Hey Rick Hansen here with Texas Christian University
women's basketball coach, JesseCraig.
(00:41):
Well, this is a great daybecause we have another of our
special guests on AmazingGreats.
Welcome to our audience, to thispodcast where we celebrate
stories of faith and inspirationfrom athletes, actors, authors,
musicians, and more.
One of our past guests was a manwho made a huge impact on the
(01:01):
world in the world ofbasketball, Fred Kroll.
And we've had the opportunity totalk to a few of his success
stories.
Fred is past, but his legendlives on.
And so we get a chance today toinvite you to this conversation
with a powerful coaching umgiant.
(01:22):
Can we say that?
No.
unknown (01:24):
No, no.
SPEAKER_05 (01:26):
No.
I'm not going to giants.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
This is going to be the story of not only her
coaching career, but herpersonal career.
She is one of the coaching staffat Texas Christian University, a
women's basketball team that hasset all kinds of records just in
this last year, an amazingseason that you've had this last
year.
We're going to track uh yourstory from your native roots in
Fairbanks, Alaska, all the wayto Texas, 4,000 miles away, and
(01:57):
how all that kind of happened.
So everybody, help me welcomeour coach, Jesse Craig from TCU.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_05 (02:07):
Thank you for having me.
It's a very much an honor.
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
All righty, good deal.
So let's get started.
So I want to talk about TCU andthe incredible season that
you've had this last year.
But first to kind of build thestory, let's start with you as a
person.
Um, you are a Christian forsure.
Uh, where did that start?
What did you have a Christianhome that which you grew up in?
SPEAKER_05 (02:30):
Yeah, I was very fortunate.
Both of my parents were umChristians, and it's kind of
cool.
My dad, uh, my mom grew upCatholic, Christian, and then um
my dad actually wasn't abeliever until after college,
and he went to he got saved in aBilly Graham crusade.
Oh, yeah.
And so which is kind of cool.
Um so so growing up, yeah, I wasraised in the church from a
(02:54):
young age and um definitelynurtured up in that and and but
nurtured along to have my ownfaith and not just have my
parents' faith.
SPEAKER_02 (03:04):
Is there a pivotal moment that it was like um that
you found your own personalrelationship with Jesus and you
found your way to be a followeruh in your own way?
Was there a certain time orplace?
SPEAKER_05 (03:17):
Honestly, I remember at a really young age, like my
parents didn't force us intolike accepting Jesus.
I just remember like being ayoung, uh probably around the
age of six or seven, and andseeing my parents' faith and and
wanting that relationship withJesus.
And so um I wouldn't say I wouldsay from then on, it's just, I
(03:39):
mean, obviously your your faithand everything else, your walk
has has valleys and it has andmountaintops and and so all
along, but I would say kind ofall al from then on it was a
relationship that was myrelationship.
And obviously, you know, we wererequired to go to church and we
were required to do all of thosethings, um, and encouraged, you
(04:02):
know, even as adults, encouragedto um to seek the Lord.
But I think just even from thatyoung age, it was something that
really was a desire of my heartwas to follow in like after
Jesus.
SPEAKER_02 (04:16):
Yeah.
So that's and that's always anintriguing question for me
because some people, it's likeuh they spin on a dime.
I mean, it changes one day tothe next or one moment to the
next, and others are kind ofgrown and mature along the way
and and and grow in theirrelationship.
And that's kind of me too.
That's where I was at.
It wasn't like just one night itall happened.
(04:37):
It was it was so great.
So so let's um as a uh youngbasketball player, uh you
started at your in in highschool, right?
Played basketball in highschool?
SPEAKER_05 (04:49):
Yeah, so I kind of have a unique story um playing
with my basketball career aswell, in that uh my parents
homeschooled us.
And so when I uh grew uporiginally in Idaho until about
eighth grade, and there youcould play on the school teams.
And so um my sisters and Iplayed on the school teams and
(05:10):
we played as a family, you know,out in the park at the one room
schoolhouse down the street, youknow, after Sunday after church,
we would go play as a family.
Um, and then moving to Alaska,they had rules that if you're
homeschooled, you couldn't playon the high school teams, you
couldn't play on the schoolteams.
SPEAKER_04 (05:25):
Really?
SPEAKER_05 (05:25):
And so um it was a little tricky.
I mean, we played, I have twosisters and we played on church
league and we played pickup atthe gym all the time, and we
generally played with guys allthe time because that's
generally who plays pickupgames.
And so um, we did that and weplayed AAU, and then my AAU
(05:46):
coach was also the coach of oneof the high schools, so he
brought me on as a senior to behis assistant coach so that I
could practice with his team,but then they ended up not
having a JV assistant coach.
So the JV assistant coach talkedhim into letting me be her
assistant coach.
So I ended up not practicingwith the varsity, and I started
(06:08):
my coaching career.
And so my senior year of highschool, I was the JV assistant
coach.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Really?
Wow.
That'd be the youngest coachingcareer ever.
SPEAKER_05 (06:17):
Yeah, right.
So kind of unique.
And then I ended up going toschool outside of Alaska.
Um, I got recruited by somesmall schools, but academics
were really big for my family.
And so the schools I gotrecruited to didn't really have
the acad the degree I wanted.
So I played Purdue.
I went to Purdue and playedrugby actually for a couple of
(06:38):
years, just on their club team,and then transferred back to
Alaska and ended up walking onthe team there.
And I played for UAF, and soended up walking onto the team
at UAF, um, and then earned ascholarship my next year.
SPEAKER_02 (06:53):
Okay.
All right.
And so it was there that you raninto this gentleman named Fred
Kroll.
Is that correct?
SPEAKER_05 (07:01):
No, so so this is kind of fun because so I coached
there.
I mean, I played there, but Iended up tearing my ACL.
I broke my foot sophomore year,tore my ACL my next two years.
So I ended up not actuallygetting to play a bunch.
And so I became kind of a playercoach.
Um, they would travel me becausewe had a lot of injuries, so
(07:21):
they'd travel me some as um asecond set of eyes on the road.
Um, and I really got to know,well, I got to know some people
that were in the community thathave been there for a long time,
Milo Griffin.
And he was the boys' coach atone of the high schools in town.
And so I couldn't play anymore.
It was my senior year.
I couldn't play anymore.
(07:42):
I had torn my ECL.
I was done with like the doctortold me no more basketball
playing if you want to walk bythe time you're 30.
So that was um a tough time inmy life where definitely my
relationship with the Lord gotstronger because I had to rely
really heavily on him of like,okay, God, you put this desire
into my heart.
But now what do I do?
(08:02):
Like it's taken away.
And so he opened up this door togo be an um assistant boys
varsity basketball coach.
And Milo Griffin happened to bethe star player that played for
Fred Kroll at UAF.
SPEAKER_02 (08:18):
This is getting so complicated.
SPEAKER_05 (08:20):
I know, I know we need a blowchart.
So Fred Kroll was the very firstthe coach at University of
Alaska Fairbanks, the firstcoach that where they had
scholarship money.
SPEAKER_03 (08:32):
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (08:32):
And Milo Griffin was another really cool story.
Now he's a giant, both of thosemen are giants.
Um, but he was in the militaryand then they saw him brought
him over and he played and setall kinds of records.
He still holds a scoring recordat UAF.
Um, but he played for Fred.
SPEAKER_03 (08:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (08:51):
And they would go one, they would go at it
one-on-one.
Because I think they were aboutMilo might have been a little
older than Fred because Fred wasreally young.
He was the youngest um DivisionII, I think it might be a
college head coach at the time.
He was really young.
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
Yeah.
So I remember that a part as apart of his story.
SPEAKER_04 (09:09):
Super cool.
SPEAKER_02 (09:10):
So this okay, so now this is a a piece that I didn't
realize that you were sidelinedbased on an injury.
And that's a similar story.
Another gentleman that we talkedto on this podcast was also a
Fred Kroll guy, uh, was uh R R JBarsh.
Oh, yeah, it's my guy.
He was set aside as well at anearly age and struggled through
(09:31):
that whole, all right, I'minjured now.
What do I do?
Basketball's my life, right?
So, how did can you give me anyspecifics of the what the kinds
of prayers?
How did you approach this withyour savior and Lord who now has
put you on the sidelines?
SPEAKER_05 (09:46):
You know, it was and it was interesting because it
was three years in a row, and itwas like I would get better and
I would do all the things.
You know, I was like the kidthat was like, I'm gonna outwork
you.
Like, I like if you tell me whatI need to do, and I'm gonna do
it to the T, to the max.
And then, which is almost morefrustrating because then when it
doesn't come to fruition, you'relike, well, I literally did
everything I was supposed to.
(10:06):
And so it's funny how sometimesGod uses even non-believers to
speak into your life.
And I remember my coach at thetime when I broke my foot the
the first my sophomore year, hetold me, Well, Jess, you're in a
bad situation.
You can either you're in the badsituation no matter what.
(10:27):
You can either make it worsewith your attitude or you can
make it better with yourattitude.
And that's something that's likestuck with me kind of forever,
and especially through all ofthose injuries, because it was
like, Okay, God, what like youtell us in your word that you'll
give us the desires of ourheart.
So if this desire to play andcompete, if you're gonna take
(10:53):
that away, take the desire toplay away.
And that kind of became myprayer of like, okay, God.
And of course, you have thoserough days where you're like, oh
gosh, like this is really tough.
Like, I don't understand.
Um, but Jeremiah 20, sorry,Romans 12, 12 is kind of stuck
(11:14):
with me and that became kind ofmy mantra of like joyful in
hope, patient in affliction,faithful in prayer.
Like hope that Jeremiah 29, 11is true, that God has a plan for
me and it's to prosper me andnot to harm me.
And patient in affliction, I'mnot a very patient person.
I like, I'm like, I'm gonna workhard, I'm gonna work really hard
(11:35):
for it, but being patient in theprocess and then just praying
continually, like joyful inhope, patient affliction,
faithful in prayer, that likeGod's gotten me through other
things.
SPEAKER_02 (11:45):
You're listening to Amazing Greats today with TCU's
women's basketball coach, JesseCraig.
SPEAKER_05 (11:52):
Have you ever heard of raising your Ebenezer?
SPEAKER_02 (11:54):
Oh no, okay.
Tell me that.
SPEAKER_05 (11:56):
So basically, when Israel, Israel was coming out um
of coming out of the desert, andand God said, Okay, I want you
to build your build a tower ofrocks.
So when you look back, you canremember that God brought you
out of like all of the things Hedid for you.
And so it was just really ofthat, like raising my Ebenezer,
(12:19):
where it's like I look back andI see, okay, God's been faithful
of, okay, I was homeschooled andI got a scholarship to play
college basketball when peoplesaid I never would.
Um, he was faithful there, uh,trusted him in that.
Um, broke my foot, God wasfaithful in that.
Like all of these things in mylife, I could look back and say,
God has done all these things.
(12:40):
So it's like just reallyteaching me to raise my Ebenezer
and and really trust it in himthat maybe his like I had this
idea of what my what my plan forme was.
And God was like, that's cute,it's not gonna happen.
Like this is actually what I'mgonna do.
And and yes, you had thesepivotal, changing, life-changing
(13:03):
things, but I turned beauty fromashes, and it's gonna be a
blessing in disguise.
And because of X, Y, and Z, nowI'm became like Milo's.
I started as a volunteerassistant coach for him.
And instead, I ended up beinghis like second in command, and
I was running half of hispractices, which I used to think
(13:25):
he was just busy, but reallylooking back, I'm like, I think
he was wanted me to getexperience running practices.
So for four years, it's like Igot experience doing that
because I was injured.
But if I hadn't been injured, Iwouldn't have got like that door
wouldn't have been opened forme.
SPEAKER_03 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (13:42):
And so it's like through that, and and then you
know, it's funny because God isfaithful and He doesn't He keeps
His promises.
And so the desire to play, likeit used to be hard for me to go
into a gym when people areplaying and watch.
I couldn't watch.
SPEAKER_03 (13:58):
Oh, I bet, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (14:00):
It was rough.
And um, it's funny because likethat desire, and I was like a
gym rat.
Like I'm hooping.
Oh, there's people in at noon,I'm hooping with the old guys at
noonball.
Oh, there's people after school,I'm hooping with the dropouts.
Like, I'm hooping.
Like if there's a run going, Iam getting in there somehow.
And it's kind of like God justchanged that, and where that
(14:20):
desire wasn't there anymore.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
Seriously, how amazing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:24):
I love basketball and I love coaching basketball,
but I can sit and watch himplay, but there's not that like
deep down, like really longingto go play anymore.
So it's yeah, just like thefaithfulness of God of like,
yeah, I'm not gonna, yeah, Itook that away, but yes, yes,
I'll take the desire away too.
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
Yeah, and what well, I don't know where it's in the
Bible, but the phrase um whatthe enemy meant for for uh uh
evil, uh God turned into ablessing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:53):
So exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (14:54):
Yep, that's part of that story too.
That's great.
So all the stuff is new for me,uh because I did some research
on you, and I'm like, I've gotthese list of questions, and
this is taking me in a wholedifferent direction, which is
wonderful.
SPEAKER_05 (15:06):
Sorry, I'm throwing you off.
SPEAKER_02 (15:09):
So the so from from and you were in Fairbanks as a
coach for a long time.
How many years?
SPEAKER_05 (15:16):
So I coached boys high school for four years, and
then my last year as anassistant, as my last year, I
coached both, I was a head coachfor girls across town and the
assistant boys varsity coach.
So in total, seven years in highschool, and then I coached in
college for five years atDivision II in at University of
(15:38):
Alaska Fairbanks.
SPEAKER_02 (15:39):
And how did um how did the TCU opportunity present
itself?
SPEAKER_05 (15:46):
When I coached high school, I coached a young lady
named Ruthie Heber, who was oneof the best players to ever come
out of Alaska, and she washeavily recruited by pretty much
everybody under the sun.
Um, but she got she ended upultimately ended up going to
Oregon.
And so Mark Campbell, who's thehead coach of TCU now, was the
(16:08):
coach that predominantly was herpoint of contact at Oregon.
And so I got to know him reallywell um over those years and he
kind of became a mentor to meand somebody that um I would
call about different thingsthroughout my coaching career,
and um, and so that is theconnection there.
SPEAKER_02 (16:26):
Okay, all right.
So so you sh so you just twoyears ago went to TCU, correct?
SPEAKER_05 (16:33):
Uh was it um so then I'm just starting my third year.
SPEAKER_02 (16:36):
Third year, yeah.
You've had two seasons there.
First season was a little sququestionable.
Uh uh it wasn't great.
Was it I I think I saw one in 17or something.
SPEAKER_05 (16:47):
Oh, no, no, no.
That was before we got here.
SPEAKER_02 (16:48):
Oh, okay, all right, okay.
SPEAKER_05 (16:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So then March we did havetryouts, open tryouts our first
year.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05 (16:57):
We had a lot of injuries, and so we had open
tryouts.
Oh man.
From school, we joked that theywere in class with Uggs and a
coffee yesterday and thenplaying on the basketball team
with some hoop shorts today.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Wow, wow, wow.
But then the next year was thisamazing year.
It's the Cinderella year, uh,which was just this last season,
which is an amazing season.
Some of the stats I've found uhthat it's a lot of firsts,
including winning the first Big12 regular season and tournament
championships.
Uh, you your team earned itshighest ever NCAA tournament
(17:34):
seed at number two and made itto the Sweet 16 for the first
time.
This is all in the same year.
Uh the 2025 season is isdescribed as the Cinderella year
due to the team's dramaticturnaround.
And this is where it says from aone to 17 record becoming one of
the nation's top teams, which iswhere you're at today.
Correct.
(17:54):
How did you get there?
I mean, first of all, your yourhead coach uh must be
phenomenal.
He's also a Christian gentleman,as I understand it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:04):
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (18:04):
And uh so tell me a little bit about him and then
and then how the um leadership,the Christ kind of leadership
led you to kind of thisdramatic, really dramatic kind
of turnaround.
SPEAKER_05 (18:18):
Well, I think um even at Oregon, when he was at
Oregon, and what drew Ruthie togo there, and what drew me to
have that our connection wasthat he really generally cares
about people.
And so he's not just recruitingbasketball players, he's
recruiting character.
(18:38):
And I think that um that isreally huge, especially in any
program, but especially ingirls.
Um girls, we have to like eachother to play well together.
And so um, if you recruitcharacter people, then it's a
lot easier to get thatcontinuity and that great team
(18:59):
culture there and to get thatpiece right.
And then um obviously they'regreat basketball players as
well.
But if you miss on the culturepart and and the person part and
the character part, it's reallyhard to get the other part down.
And so I think that that'ssomething that um Coach
Campbell's really great at, ishe is really good at uh
(19:21):
recruiting kids that have greatcharacter.
And then he's also a phenomenalbasketball coach.
So you put those two togetherand um great success, great,
great recipe for success.
And you know, everybody who hebrings on staff, he's not only
bringing good character kids onstaff, but all I mean on on the
(19:41):
team, but also making sure hisstaff has good character people
as well.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
Coach Jesse Craig joins us from TCU Women's
Basketball on Amazing GRETES.
More inspiration just ahead.
TCU is a Christian university,but there's no there's uh lots
of non-believers that go toschool there and lots of uh
non-believers who play inathletes.
Are you capable of integratingChristian principles into the
(20:07):
daily basketball team?
SPEAKER_05 (20:10):
I think it's really cool university to be at because
a lot of schools are eithercompletely non-faith-based and
you can't really bring it up atall, and you can't talk about
your faith.
It's very tricky to talk aboutyour faith, or it's the opposite
where it's so faith-based thatnon-believers, um, there's not
(20:30):
really a place for them to bethere.
And so TCU is a really coolmarriage of the two where we
have players from all differentbackgrounds, but you can be very
open about your faith.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Okay.
So it's really cool.
But are there such things aslike a team Bible study or any
of that kind of stuff?
SPEAKER_05 (20:49):
Yeah, so actually the the shirt that I have um
TCA, it's from our FCA.
So FCA stands for Shell ofFellowship of Christian
Athletes.
And so we have um, they havecharacter coaches and they're
for the whole university, andthey're actually in universities
across the nation.
Um, and so they have charactercoaches for the different teams.
(21:13):
And so two of the charactercoaches do a weekly Bible study
with any of the girls who wantto go, and then they also have a
big FCA meeting uh once a weekthat they do with all of the
athletes.
So it's really cool because youget to fellowship with other
athletes also, other than justyourself.
SPEAKER_02 (21:30):
Yeah.
So um let's just jump back intoFred Kroll.
So you uh not only you met himback in the day, but then you um
were very instrumental in whatwas going on at the NBC camps,
right?
I mean, you were you traveledwith the coach, and uh what was
what was your relationship withhim and how what what was the
(21:52):
takeaways from that period oftime with Fred?
SPEAKER_05 (21:56):
Yeah, Fred is oh, he is one of a kind.
He was one of those guys that heis he is a great and he is a
giant.
Um, I think when we talkedpreviously, I said he's the kind
of person that like the theanalogy of throwing a pebble
into water and the ripple effectis huge.
That is Fred Kroll.
And um he really followed hisfaith and did what the Lord told
(22:21):
him to do.
So he started his camps aftercoaching in Alaska.
He started camps in villages inAlaska, across Alaska, smaller
than a lot of the smallercommunities up there.
And so when he came back toAlaska um to visit one of his
past colleagues, I reconnectedwith him.
(22:44):
And um, I had quit, I have anengineering degree, I'd quit my
engineering degree and was kindof just all right, God, where do
you have me next?
What do you want me to do?
Um, and I remember I it was likeon a weekend, Saturday or
Sunday, that he was there and mylast day of work was the next
Wednesday.
And I remember he said, Yeah, Ireally wish that I could hire
(23:05):
you to work for me MBC camps,but you were construction in
summer.
And I said, Well, that's funnybecause that Wednesday is my
last day, construction.
So it's like there's again likeGod's faithfulness.
And so with that, and he waskind of stepping out on a limb.
He's like, I didn't know if Ihad some work for you or what I
had to for you, but I just feltlike God was telling me to hire
(23:27):
you.
And so um, I ended up doing 12weeks that summer with him, uh
11 weeks that summer with him.
And he, I went with him to a lotof different camps, including we
would go out to some of therural communities that he was
really close to.
And so I got to travel with himfor the next six summers.
(23:48):
I went to a lot of the campsthat he, because he didn't, as
he was got um later on in hiscareer, he didn't always go to
as many camps.
And he had so many of them, hecouldn't code all of them.
And so a lot of the camps thathe did go to, there was kind of
a couple of us that would go tothose camps with him.
And he had uh he had kind ofsome some separate um a little
(24:11):
bit more intense camps.
Um, and he would run those andwe would help him run those
camps.
So I got to know Fred reallywell.
He became kind of my my go-to,my guy, my um, you know, kind of
my grandfather um mentor figure.
Um talk to him pretty much everyday on the way to work.
SPEAKER_02 (24:31):
Spiritually as well as basketball coaching.
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_05 (24:36):
Uh always challenge you.
Fred was not never afraid.
They called him Papa Suave, andSuave was never afraid to
challenge you to be better.
Whether I was you know, call himup and be like, uh, Fred, my
team isn't doing this, I don'tknow how to get them.
And he would always flip it.
Okay, Jesse, well, what do youneed to do?
Get better.
He would always call you up.
And that was the same thing withyour faith.
(24:57):
Like, if you like what whatever,what it what's your faith
looking like?
He all every aspect of my life,he called me up instead of just
allowing.
He never allowed you to stayhere.
He called you up in everythingyou did.
SPEAKER_02 (25:10):
And he he had some phrases that he threw out at
camps and kind of became uhnotable for.
Was there a favorite one ofyours?
SPEAKER_05 (25:19):
Um, well, one that he, and they actually gave at
his memorial service, they gaveus a little stone.
It's RPE, relentless pursuit ofexcellence.
Oh, and that's what he always,you know, don't ever settle.
So that was a good one.
Um, where are you right hereright now?
I'd done in a lot of those campsthat I did.
Um, we would do uh speak a lotto like um to kids with about
(25:46):
mental health stuff and how tomove on, how to how to have
good, how to have confidence,how not to um have low
self-esteem in games or in life.
And so it was like, where areyou?
You're right here right now.
Because if you live in the past,if you think about the past,
you're gonna be depressed.
If you live in the future,you're gonna be you're gonna
have anxiety and worry.
(26:07):
So you gotta be right here,right now.
And that was a good one.
Um, what are you?
You're a miracle.
Um, why has God made you?
I so many, so many.
So many.
SPEAKER_02 (26:18):
Yeah, yeah.
So that he was an incredibleguy, and I just was so fortunate
to have an opportunity to chatwith him.
And I didn't know anything abouthim until that time we were on
Zoom together.
And I learned so much from him,Jeefs, just in that short
40-minute segment.
So it was amazing.
Uh, so what is your biggesttakeaway from your time in
(26:43):
coaching?
What's what's um, I guess thequestion is is is where do where
do you see God in the day-to-daylife of being a coach at a an
important college program likeyou're with?
SPEAKER_05 (26:55):
I think that um, you know, a lot of times we think
about mission fields as acrossthe across the ocean or
whatever.
And I think that for me, I justhave really been like, okay, I
never thought I would live inTexas.
Um I'm a I'm a I'm a mountaingirl.
SPEAKER_02 (27:14):
I I'm it's kind of like being it's kind of like
being in a different country.
SPEAKER_05 (27:19):
Yeah, it's flat, and I live in DFW.
Fort Worth is the 12th largestcity, and Dallas is like number
five.
Like, yeah, yeah.
There's some people here.
And so um, but it's just it'scool because I think that for
me, it's like everything in lifeI can see where God has opened
doors.
I never have a booming voicedown, but he just opens the door
(27:41):
and gives me a piece about itand kind of pushes me through
the door there.
And so it's just knowing thatlike God has me here for a
purpose and using being tryingto be a conduit for him every
and a servant heart every day.
We come into contact with somany people, and you have young
(28:03):
women who are um really at ahigh, a really high level, but
they're also just getting readyto be out as adults, and so and
everything in between.
SPEAKER_02 (28:14):
Have you found that there have been like some
seekers along on the team alongthe way that have actually
become believers because oftheir experience with you or the
or the team?
SPEAKER_05 (28:24):
You know, sometimes I I think in my life I have had
more people that I've plantedthis, that I've planted seeds
and not necessarily been theharvester, but then I see it
down the line five, 10 years.
And that's even when I was aplayer where I just like invite
them to church randomly, youknow.
I definitely have some kidswhere, you know, they'll ask me,
(28:48):
they know I go to church andthey know that that is that I am
a believer and ask me, you know,about some churches and didn't
go the entire time they werehere.
But now, as they I see them asthey're adults now, I'm like,
oh, she started to go to church.
Or, oh, this person is like,she's in ministry in church, and
she literally never tookaccepted one invitation, but
(29:09):
came back years later and said,Oh, it's because you invited me
to church all those times, eventhough I never went then, it
planted a seed.
SPEAKER_02 (29:16):
Faith, leadership, and life on and off the court
with coach Jesse Craig onAmazing Greats.
And I think, yeah, I think whatour job is um is sharing our
testimony, share, model ourtestimony, and um plant the
seed, and then God takes overfrom there.
Exactly.
He's he's the one that does theconversions.
SPEAKER_04 (29:37):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (29:38):
Yeah.
So that's great.
So I got the lightning roundhere as we kind of come to an
end to our our few minutestogether.
Uh so we you've already answeredmy first lightning round
question, and that is yourfavorite Bible vi vi uh Bible
verse.
You've already explained.
What's your is there a favoriteworship song that lifts you up
during tough seasons?
SPEAKER_05 (29:58):
Oof man.
I kind of go through cycles ofsongs.
Um so there is um John Reddick.
Pretty much anything by JohnReddick has been on repeat for
the last couple months.
So you have to look him up.
Um but I w I don't have like aone song that I'm like that's it
(30:23):
I totally get that because I Ilike a lot of music.
So it's changing.
I'm I'm rotating.
SPEAKER_02 (30:29):
All right.
Your most inspiring Christianathlete or coach who you look up
to.
Maybe you've already answeredthis too.
SPEAKER_05 (30:35):
It's probably I did.
Fred Kroll, he he has shaped mein a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
All right.
One thing you're currentlylearning from God, is there
something right now that you'regoing through?
SPEAKER_05 (30:46):
Um, I think we're doing a series at my church
right now on um beingintentional living.
And I think that um for me inour profession, it's a very
active profession, if you canimagine as you can imagine, um,
very time consuming.
And so it's very easy to justget swept along.
And so just like when you go tothe gym, you're intentional
(31:09):
about your workout, or it's anot a good workout, it's just
being intentional about um mytime with the Lord and making
sure that I am not just gettingswept along and just like but
being very, very intentional andand choosing um choosing to dig
deeper and to be intentionalwith interactions that I have
(31:32):
with people during the day andum and let the Lord lead me in
things.
So that's the big lesson he'sI'm learning right now.
SPEAKER_02 (31:40):
I love that.
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
Uh then I I'm wondering if youhave any advice for young
Christian women who are choosingsports as their dream, as what
they are wanting to do.
What would you what would yousay to somebody like that?
SPEAKER_05 (31:56):
I think the um first thing on basketball is just uh
trust the process and just keepchipping away at your craft and
keep perfecting that and um andbe patient, but also remember
that God does have a plan foryou and to keep that open.
You want to be the best you canbe, but don't let that become an
(32:18):
idol and end up putting thatabove your faith with the Lord
because that's really easy todo.
Um, because you're told to begreat and you're told to do all
these things, but at the end ofthe day, we're called to be the
best for the Lord, not be thebest for ourselves or the stats
or the fans or our coach, even.
(32:40):
Um, and so really learn how tobe in the words so that you can
walk that line.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
All right.
Well, you have um your firstgame is not too far down the
line, is it?
Start is it?
SPEAKER_05 (32:54):
Yeah, we have it yep, first week of November.
SPEAKER_02 (32:56):
Yeah.
Uh and so where are you where isTCU looking for this coming
season?
Did you have a lot of peoplegraduate and you're starting
rebuilding, or are you gonna bea powerhouse like you were last
year?
SPEAKER_05 (33:09):
The plan is to be have another great year.
Um, the plan is to have anothergreat year.
We got a lot of we graduated alot of great kids, had some ones
that some players that are stillhere from last year that didn't
graduate, and then we got a lotof really great transfers.
So I think AP poll just cameout.
We're number 17 in the eightpeople.
SPEAKER_04 (33:30):
Really?
SPEAKER_05 (33:30):
Um that was the highest record, highest um
preseason AP poll in schoolhistory.
So that was exciting.
So honestly, though, we gottastay humble and hungry, and and
that can it can say whatever itwants, but we rents due every
day, you know.
So we we gotta face each gameand go forward with that.
SPEAKER_02 (33:51):
I love your smiling, uplifting attitude, and you're
inspiring to not only ouraudience, but to me.
Um, so I thank you so much.
SPEAKER_05 (33:59):
And you probably you came right home from practice
tonight and jumped out of thecouple of morning, but I'm I'm
also the ops, director of ops onmaking sure all of our logistics
are good to go for the schoolyear.
SPEAKER_02 (34:13):
Okay, yeah.
So I appreciate you jumping onand before dinner.
Yeah, definitely with us onamazing great.
It's been really nice to meetyou and to have you on.
So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_05 (34:23):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been awesome and areally cool podcast that you're
doing.
SPEAKER_02 (34:28):
Coach Jesse Craig's story reminds us that God's work
is in every season.
From Alaska to the Big 12,shaping leaders who serve with
heart and with faith.
Thanks for listening to AmazingGreats, celebrating the stories
behind amazing faith.
See you next time.
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